A note from our Editor-in-Chief, Andrea Blanch: In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I would like to share a story that is personal to me. When I thought about who is best to talk about this issue I thought about my niece, Kim, who has been an inspiration with her grace, dignity, and courage.

Not too long ago, I got a phone call from my brother. I was excited since he rarely calls and picked up with a spirited “Hi!” Then he said, "I have bad news. Kim has breast cancer.” Tears filled my eyes. Kim is my niece, my only niece.

By: Kim Korenvaes Stein

At the age of 39 in April of 2019, I was diagnosed with Triple Positive, Stage II breast cancer. This was three and a half months after my third child was born. I thought, “No big deal, I will get a double mastectomy and a new pair of boobs.” It took about two weeks of non-stop scans and doctors’ appointments to realize that treatment was going to entail much more than just a double mastectomy and a new pair of boobs.

Previously, I spent the last four years building our family, beginning in 2015 with the birth of my first son. My second son was delivered in the spring of 2017 and my daughter was delivered at the end of 2018. I was so excited to get my life and my body back, free of pregnancies. I couldn’t wait to just raise my three beautiful children. I had worked hard and felt I had earned a breast lift after breastfeeding all three of my babies. I consulted three plastic surgeons, only one of which suggested that I get a mammogram. That was a Wednesday. Thursday, I got a mammogram. Friday, I got called back in and was diagnosed with cancer. I had no history of breast cancer in my family and I was not positive for any of the breast cancer genes. How could this happen? Even though I had had all the latest genetic testing and had been doing mammograms on and off since I was 25, I had no idea what was coming down the pipeline.

I had my double mastectomy three weeks ago. I have come a long way, but I still have so much left. I am now cancer-free, thank god. I just found out two weeks ago. Treatment started with chemotherapy, which included infusions every three weeks of four drugs. I had to ice my hands, feet, and head during infusions. I was shivering under ten blankets with blue lips each time. I iced my head with a cold cap, in hopes that I could save my hair. I saved about 10% of my thick head of hair but lost the rest. The cold cap didn’t really work for me. There are no words to describe how traumatic it was to lose my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. The hair was everywhere, and it just kept coming out. My oldest son (age 4) ran around the house with a dust buster. When I saw my scalp emerge through my dark hair for the first time, I collapsed into the fetal position in tears. I just couldn’t get over the hair thing.

I experienced every side effect and even ended up in the emergency room after my fifth chemo. I was treated for sepsis and given penicillin, even though I was allergic to penicillin. A week later, I broke into a rash from head to toe that was so itchy; I had to put my feet in an ice bath to get relief. The double mastectomy was off to a good start with clear lymph nodes, but part of my skin wasn’t getting enough blood flow and turned black, so I had to have a revision a week later. I did eleven hyperbaric dives to try to save my skin and help with healing. The revision went well, and I am still healing, but still in some pain.

I have about four more surgeries left to re-build my breasts. I will be on hormone suppressant therapy to keep me in medically induced menopause, and I will continue to get infusions of two of the four drugs through my port every three weeks through mid-April of 2020. At the end of my breast reconstruction, I will get my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. Last and most importantly to me (besides being cancer-free), is that I will be waiting for my hair to come back which will probably take two years.

This has been the most difficult experience of my life so I will likely spend the rest of my life trying to save other women from what I have had to endure. There is so much awareness to be had, even though everyone knows about breast cancer. Ladies, please be your own advocate and get that genetic testing and those mammograms done, no matter your age. In the end, I saved myself by acting quickly and I am still looking forward to getting my life and body back. Now free of cancer and having completed treatment, I can’t wait to raise my three beautiful babies with all of this in the rearview mirror.