JLC Breast Cancer Awareness Event
October is the month of all things pink across America and Charlotte is no different. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has become highly marketed and for a good reason.
On October 17, dozens of JLC members gathered at the WearHouse to shop, eat, mingle and learn more about breast cancer and early detection. The event was part of the Training & Development committee’s Mind, Body, and Soul training series, and presented in partnership with the JLC WearHouse and Training & Development committee.
Aside from shopping and mingling, members heard guest speaker Jodi Huebner-Marquez share her inspirational story of how breast cancer has affected her life.
After several immediate family members were diagnosed with breast cancer, Huebner-Marquez made the decision to be screened and tested for BRCA.
The BRCA gene test is only offered to people who are likely to have an inherited mutation, based on personal or family history, or who have specific types of breast cancer. Women who have inherited mutations in these genes face a much higher risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer compared to the general population.
That’s when the doctor told her the news.
“He told me I had the gene and I had an 85% chance of getting breast cancer. My boys were very young and I looked at my situation and made my decision to have a complete hysterectomy and mastectomy,” says Huebner-Marquez.
She went on to say that her decision was made because she figured she would rather go through all of the surgeries and recovery sooner rather than later, given that her boys were young.
“I quickly forgot the pain and everything that I went through with my surgeries and recovery and remembered the precious time I would have with my boys for years to come.”
That was 2010, and now in 2013, Huebner-Marquez is living cancer free!
If you want more information regarding early detection or testing contact the local Susan G. Komen Foundation by visiting their website http://www.komencharlotte.org/ or calling them at (704) 347-8181.
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