If you know Kirsten, you likely know me, her best friend Alexa. I’m writing this with a heavy heart & a lot of irony. On the year anniversary of my being admitted to Johns Hopkins for brain cancer, Kirsten was diagnosed with breast cancer. “Invasive mammary carcinoma with ductal & lobular features” to be exact.

Kirsten felt a lump over the summer & proceeded to get checked to be safe. She endured 2 awful biopsies, mammograms, ultrasounds & MRI’s. Turns out THAT lump was nothing but they found this instead. The breast cancer was caught fairly early, so she is stage 1A, grade 2 ER/PR positive, HER-2 negative. From what they can tell there are no obvious signs that this has spread. She’s also tested negative for the BRCA genes so there’s a small amount of good news there..

Although there are many routes to consider, Kirsten is opting for a bilateral mastectomy with direct silicone implant reconstruction at Mercy Hospitals Hoffberger Breast Center. This will give her the absolute best chance at avoiding a reoccurrence later down the road. We won’t have any post op plans until after the surgery is completed with full pathology results. We’re hopeful that she’ll be able to skip chemotherapy & radiation with this plan in place!

Last year when I was discharged from the hospital/rehab I moved in with Kir & her husband Dominic. They took the absolute best care of me & it is my honor to help them through this. Kir became my personal doctor at home & drove me to Baltimore every single day for 7+ weeks on top of being a full time mom to their now 2 year old. They currently & ironically are living with me while they are in a mid move to PA.

This diagnosis couldn’t be happening at a more inconvenient time as she’ll be getting surgery 2 days after they move. Which will leave her incapacitated right before the holidays & for weeks after. I’ll be doing my best to be there & help with whatever they may need but your prayers & well wishes will always be appreciated!

The generosity when I got sick left us speechless & we could never thank anyone enough. Ego tells us this is unnecessary but a lot of people are already asking what they can do to help so that is why I’m creating this gofundme. Any donations made will help with meals, medical supplies, supplements & whatever medical bills to follow.

Life has not been kind to us lately, but trust me when I say we’re laughing our way through it because what else can you do?! I can’t help that Kirsten wants to be so much like me but flattered either way. Everyone always says “you two do everything together” & this is just one more “thing”.

THANK YOU in advance for any well wishes & contributions of any kind. I’m going to provide Kirsten’s Venmo for those that don’t feel fully comfortable using this platform!

Venmo - @kirlanz