MEET GENNA

This year “okay” has become a huge part of my vocabulary.

Since January 25th, I have lost count of how many times that I have looked at another human being, especially in the medical field and simply said “okay”. When I have been anything and everything but okay all year long.

I was a loser of the genetic lottery and found out in September 2023 that I was a carrier of the BRCA 2 gene mutation, which wasn’t surprising since my mother had stage four ovarian cancer so my being tested, only seemed natural. Then four months later, January 2024, I met the wonderful Dr. Prier at St. AL’s Breast Cancer Institute in Boise.

We discussed multiple monitoring for preventative care, the prophylactic choice of a double mastectomy and then had an exam where a lump was found. The Doctor mentioning that it could be a cyst but it should be looked at right away, I reply “okay”.

After having my first mammogram which included an ultrasound, another doctor announced that it was more than likely breast cancer and asked if I had time for a biopsy, which I replied “okay”. From that point on, nothing in my world was my own. I was being shuffled from test to test and obtaining a new doctor. Chemotherapy started almost instantaneously.

By the middle of February, I had lost ALL my hair, dropped 15lbs and made a good friend with Zofran. My four children had quickly caught on and became my little nurses.

This journey has been one of the hardest I have ever had to experience but I have been blessed by some amazing women that have influenced my life and have given me so much strength. My mother who fought cancer and beat it because she had a young daughter to raise and dying wasn’t an option to her. To my mother’s sisters who in all their own way have impacted my life, dreams, beliefs and passions. To my two best friends, Monique my voice of reason and my constant reminder that if she can so can I. You’re my person through and through. To my beautiful Jazzy who was tragically taken from my world this June. She was my biggest cheerleader. I am a better person for knowing and getting to love her.

I’m so blessed to have a strong and determined life partner, who is always there to pick me up and be my rock. Anthony, I will love you till my last day. To my four biggest reasons for everything that I do in my life and why I’m fighting so hard to even have a chance at a few more years…my Brenden, my Rylan, my Lyla-Rae and my Garrett Dean…I will see you grow, I will see you flourish and find your passions in life. I will be there for all of your rises and even your falls…because at the end of this, after all these treatments and surgeries I will be OKAY!