Susan and Linda
Left to right: Susan and Linda
By Linda, a Sister Study participant from Florida
It's amazing how quickly your world can change in a moment. In March 2003 my sister Susan called me and said, “Bad news, I have breast cancer”. At the same time our country had just gone to war, suddenly it felt like our family had its own personal war to fight. With my background as a nurse, together we studied more about the disease. We realized Susan's cancer was very serious, but she refused to sit around feeling sorry for herself. Her positive outlook was remarkable!
Susan's focus was to maximize her odds for a cure. After we read through literally hundreds of medical research articles and sought second opinions, Susan selected a treatment course in a promising clinical trial. To improve her chances, Susan was determined not to miss any treatments in the lengthy trial and she did it! I have no doubt that her strength of mind and ability to advocate for herself had a major impact on her recovery.
Only one year apart in age, Susan and I have always been very close. Watching her go through a year and a half of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and reconstructive surgery, I was continually amazed at the courage and grace she maintained. She has also been a tremendous help to many other breast cancer patients. Susan is always willing to share what she has learned, and to show others how they can advocate for themselves. I truly admire my sister.
This experience opened my eyes to all of the exciting research underway to find ways to prevent or cure breast cancer. When Susan sent me an email about the Sister Study, I was eager to participate. The study is very comprehensive and carefully designed. I am confident that by the end of this study vital information will be uncovered about the effect of environment, genes, and lifestyle on the risk for breast cancer. The findings from this research may enable us to prevent new cases of breast cancer in the future! With an ambitious goal of recruiting 50,000 participants, those of us who are eligible are needed to participate and everyone can help by spreading the news of the Sister Study. Let's all do what we can to put an end to breast cancer!