Kronikles of a Kurly Girl: April 2014

I can't believe it's April already. Every year I look forward to the Sister's Network Inc. Annual "Stop the Silence Breast Cancer 5K Walk". This year I went with a co-worker; normally I walk on my Mother's Team, this year I have been a bit busy, but next year I plan to have my own team. It's awesome to see that this event is getting bigger every year. I love to see so many Black women coming together for a great cause.

At age 16, Breast Cancer made it's way into my family. My grandmother was diagnosed with it, and Thank God technology was advanced enough to catch it before it was too late. I just remember thinking, Is she going to die? What does this mean? At that time I knew Breast Cancer as a White women's issue. This was in the early 90's, before the Pink ribbons and walks. Since Breast Cancer has effected so many women, of all races, we now have this awareness and prevention effort. Then my mother was diagnosed in 2005, even closer to home. She like my grandmother had a biopsy first, then a two week wait to see if it is Benign, it was not, and then off to the operating room for a Mastectomy. It was no time to even digest the diagnosis, just Wham! We need to cut off your breast. It was scary. Then Chemo and losing her hair. Glory be to GOD, my mother is an 8 yr. Survivor now.

I am a high risk candidate for Breast Cancer since both my mother and grandmother survived it. So it is nice to know that Organizations like Sister's Network exist.

Sisters Network^® Inc. is committed to increasing local and national attention to

the devastating impact that breast cancer has in the African American community.

Sisters Network® Inc., founded in 1994 by breast cancer survivor Karen E. Jackson, is a leading voice and only national African American breast cancer survivorship organization in the United States. With Karen E. Jackson serving as Chair and CEO, Sisters Network is governed by an elected Board of Directors and assisted by an appointed medical advisory committee. Membership is 3,000, which includes more than 40 survivor-run affiliate chapters in 22 states nationwide. The organization's purpose is to save lives and provide a broader scope of knowledge that addresses the breast cancer survivorship crisis affecting African American women around the country. For more information and make donations at http://www.sistersnetworkinc.org/