What does the face of breast cancer look like? I learned this summer that, despite having no genetic risk and being decades younger than the average breast cancer patient, it looked like me. The data shows the rate of breast cancer is growing faster in patients under 50, and the largest rise is in hormone receptor positive breast cancer, like mine. I made a mistake last year — I was overconfident and skipped my mammogram because of a busy work schedule. But I was not immune to cancer.
Prior to living as a full-time cancer patient, my plate was full as the CEO and board member of 8am, a fast-growing tech company based in Austin. I am a mom to two energetic boys, ages 8 and 10, and wife to an equally busy husband. We love to travel and find new hobbies together. Cancer forced me to reprioritize everything — and life kept going at full speed even as I wasn’t physically capable to keep going at the same pace myself.
