By: Ben Preston
The recent news of
Angelina Jolie has sparked a nationwide conversation about hereditary cancer
once again.
For those who are
unfamiliar with Jolie’s recent news, she preventatively removed her ovaries—a
surgery called a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The
surgery was a response to a tumor scare that Jolie was faced with earlier this
month.
We want to publicly praise Angelina for her courage and
support her decision. The question remains, how can we turn this awareness into
action?
In Nebraska, we are very “tuned in” to cancer and its
affects on families. We all are touched by cancer in some way, and even with
this supportive community of cancer combaters, many families are still naïve to
their hereditary risk for cancer.
If you are connected to this foundation, you may already
know our mother’s story. Kamie died of breast cancer at age 40. She fought a
long, tireless battle… And, in the end, she fell victim to a plague that haunts
our family tree. Her death was not in vain, however, because she left behind
very valuable information—her genetics.
From these genes, our mother discovered she was positive
for BRCA 1. This information was later passed on to my sister and me, and we
have tested positive for this gene as well.
Equipped with genetic results and knowledge about risks,
we set out to combat hereditary cancer alongside physicians and medical
professionals. We are crusading forward to bring action from awareness.
How?
This fight on genetic mutations starts and ends with
knowledge. Our philosophy for our foundation gravitates around the idea that
knowledge is power. Once a family questions cancer in their lineage, they can
take that knowledge and test it. Once the test comes back positive (or
negative), they know their risks of getting cancer. Once they know their risks
of cancer, they can detect any early tumors in key target areas.
It all starts with one step. Question cancer.
Our foundation is dedicated to creating a community
centered on educating and supporting families with hereditary cancer and
physicians who combat it. We intend to take our community and spark action
among the high-risk population. Eventually, the fight against cancer will begin
long before the development of a tumor.