Filmmaker’s Statement

“I am sorry, but you have breast cancer.” In the United States, one-in-eight women will hear these shattering words in her lifetime. As the daughter of a 12-year stage 4 metastatic breast cancer survivor and a filmmaker who has worked in the field of health educational documentaries for over 18 years, I was not exactly uninformed of the statistics and possibilities that I might be affected and yet…when my turn came, both times, I felt slammed, disoriented, disbelieving and determined that I had to snap out it quickly because there was a lot to be done in a very short amount of time if I wanted to save my life…

The nomenclature was bewildering, to say the least. I immersed myself in a parallel universe that featured thousands of women from all walks of life talking about lumpectomy, mastectomy, reconstruction, radiation, chemotherapy, BRCA, Oncotype DX, and all the permutations therein. How could this be happening to ME? The girl who became a vegetarian at 11, who aced the president’s PE tests in school, danced, climbed, biked, and skied. A "motion machine," the adult woman with a low pulse and blood pressure, and all that other stuff you get tested for in yearly physicals. I can even hear one of my doctors with admiration in her voice saying “That’s your reward for living a clean life!”

Breast cancer is an equal-opportunity disease and affects women from all walks of life. Age, health, ethnicity, socioeconomic, geography, or marital status make any difference when you are summoned to take your place in “THE DREADED SISTERHOOD.” Besides figuring out the technical aspects of our particular disease and treatment options, most of us go online to find comfort in meeting other women to hear their stories. The power of storytelling is informative and healing. Stories from women who have passed this way before are invaluable for navigating the treatments and keeping hope alive. Knowledge is power, the successful prevention and treatment of breast cancer depends on this. I adjusted to my new realities and survived. And I decided to make a film that I wish I could have seen when my world broke apart.