As told by Michelle Primack

Survivor

Spending time with family and friends brings me the most joy. In addition, I spend most days collaborating with elementary school teachers in an effort to improve student achievement in my role as an elementary school instructional coach. In my free time, over the years, often through word of mouth, I have been able to help countless numbers of women dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis. I have been told that my calm demeanor and my positive outlook have made a difference to others.

At 36 years old, I heard those dreaded words, “This is cancer.” Breast cancer was not on my radar. I have no family history of breast cancer, nor did I associate myself with many breast cancer risk factors. I now know that more than 75% of women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease, and less than 10% have a known gene mutation that increases risk. Many people ask how I discovered my breast cancer, being that I was so young, and the answer is that it was because I knew my body. As I was getting ready for bed on November 1, 2011, I felt a small lump on my left breast, and I couldn’t remember it being there before. Normally, I would just ignore things that were going on with me and take care of everyone else, but when I got into bed and told my husband, Stu, he made me promise that I would call my doctor in the morning. I am forever grateful that I listened, took action, and with the help and skilled navigation from my amazing radiologist sister and doctor dad, appointments were made and rides were arranged as the wheels began turning on this journey for me. All the while, I did my best to maintain some level of normalcy at home for my children, who at the time were 6 and 8 years old, even though I felt like my life was spinning out of control. After 2 surgeries, 16 rounds of chemotherapy, and 28 rounds of radiation, I can say that I am cancer-free, and I am stronger and better than I was almost 11 years ago. None of my experiences were easy, and I can’t say that there weren’t times that I wanted to give up, but with the support of my family and friends, I came out on top. Through my breast cancer journey, I realized that moving forward, I would continue to prove to myself that I can achieve things that I didn’t think were possible.

I am inspired by watching others conquer big goals and overcome challenges. I want to inspire and serve others as I move forward in my life with an even greater sense of purpose.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

One foot in front of the other! Take each day as it comes and be your own advocate. Say “I love you!”

As a breast cancer survivor, developments in cancer research are undeniably the reason I got involved with ICRF. I want to make sure that others do not have to experience the pain and suffering I went through when I was diagnosed. Israel holds the key to helping eliminate the suffering of cancer. There are many institutions working on cancer research, but not many that fund Israeli scientists, and I truly believe that Israel holds the key to curing cancer.