Hi, friends!
My name is Jessicca, and I am one of Fighting Pretty's Brand Ambassadors! I am a previvor from Iowa, a beer brewer, and am married to the love of my life!
I am passionate about advocacy, and am here to share my story with you.
So, here goes:
My husband and I moved to Des Moines Iowa in the fall of 2021. Shortly after moving, my sister called, with the news: “I have BRCA2”. I had no idea what that meant or what my life would look like moving forward but all I knew was that I was scared to go get tested.
BRCA is a genetic mutation where you lack tumor suppressors and are at high risk for multiple cancers. Of course, once my sister told me this diagnosis, google was my worst nightmare. In February of 2022, I finally went in, got tested and played the waiting game for several weeks.
The toll it took on me was unimaginable.
It was one of the roughest time periods of my life, but that quickly changed on March 16th.
I remember the phone call so vividly. I was standing at the bar at the brewery, about to leave for the day when I saw my doctor calling. I answered the phone with hopes that she would say, “You are okay!” but instead I heard, “Do you have a safe place to talk?”.
My diagnosis came back with one of the highest I've seen. I had a 90% risk for breast cancer in my lifetime, 84% risk for ovarian cancer, and 56% for pancreatic. My whole world turned upside down during that phone call. I fell to the floor and blacked out the rest of the conversation.
I couldn’t believe it. I'm only 27, how could this be happening? Surgery wasn’t an option at that point. My risk was too high and too many family members received breast cancer at an early age. So, a double mastectomy was in my near future.
The next month, I went in for my MRI with contrast and the next day they called to say they found something in my inner left chest wall, therefore they would take a biopsy during surgery. I went in for my double mastectomy to flat on May 28, 2021 and found out I had a precancerous tumor growth and that if I wasn't proactive on my genetic testing, I could've been further advanced in a breast cancer diagnosis.
This test saved my life.
I started Iowa's Largest Breast Cancer 5k 3 months later and we are heading into our third run this year. I started a beer nationwide called Scars are Beautiful, to empower anyone going through this journey. When I went flat at 27 years old, I didn't feel beautiful. I couldn't look at myself for weeks. But I have grown so much and I LOVE my body.
I love who I am. Your scars are beautiful.
Being a Fighting Pretty Brand Ambassador and the first previvor on the team means the world to me. I get to connect with some of the most amazing people, like the founder, Kara Frazier (pictured below). I get to express myself in ways I couldn’t before. Fighting Pretty makes me feel pretty. They empower me. They root me on. They are always there when I need them. I always say “We are in the worst club but with the BEST people” and I truly feel that way, being a part of Fighting Pretty.
I am always available to take if anyone needs advice or just needs to vent. Genetic testing is something I strongly advocate for everyone. I don’t have a cure for cancer but I know that genetic testing can save a lot of people's lives. Because it saved mine.
