Support Julie's Fight Against BRCA2 Gene

I have lived my life with a focus on health and wellness. My motto was “Eat well, live to 99.”

In October 2023, I was offered to be part of a research study at Mayo Clinic, after being treated there for a health issue. What happened next, changed the course of my life forever! I was diagnosed with the BRCA2 (cancer) gene. This was inherited from my father and puts me at risk for multiple types of cancer. Since October, I have been a full-time patient at Mayo Clinic. My weeks have been spent having medical procedures, blood tests, more blood tests, appointments with different medical departments, information overload, more procedures. I have had to make big decisions whether to have surgery to remove organs and which are a priority over others. I’ve been told that it’s not “if” I will get cancer, it’s “when.”

After months of appointments and diagnostic tests, I found out that I have a cyst on one of my kidneys that has to be removed because it is categorized in the high-risk category for cancer. I also made the decision to have a double mastectomy on 5/2/24 and have been recovering from that. I have at least 3 more surgeries ahead of me this year that are all related to my diagnosis.

What happened next on May 2-the day of my surgery is haunting! My father’s estate was finally settled after his death in 2022. 30 minutes before my mastectomy surgery, I received a message from my sister, sharing that my brothers were splitting the money from what was left of my father’s estate, disproportionately and to their benefit. I proceeded to ask questions and because I did, my brothers decided to keep my entire share of the money and they split it between them.

As if, losing my breasts wasn’t enough trauma that day, I went into surgery with added emotional pain. For the next 2 weeks, I begged my brothers to rethink their decision. I was ignored then told that they had debts to pay and apparently needed the money more than I did.

This past year, I have paid thousands of dollars to cover my medical needs. Since my surgery, I am trying to recover at home but also have to work because I do not qualify for FMLA at this time. I have used up all of my sick time and have to figure out how to balance recovering, working from home while continuing to maintain a medical appointment and procedure schedule.

Recovery from a double mastectomy is not easy. The physical restrictions are not easy for someone who has been active their whole life. The emotional trauma of my diagnosis and intentional trauma by my family has challenged my recovery.

I have been fortunate to have support from friends during this time and people have said and done kind things to me. I so greatly appreciate all the love and support I have received from my beautiful friends.

Please consider donating any amount to help alleviate the financial stress of taking unpaid, time off work over the next year. If you can’t donate, please just keep me in your thoughts

Please share my story through your social media accounts.

Love to all of you!

Julie