Hi, everyone! I’m Lisa G., a four-year survivor. (Some of you may remember me as determinedmom, the name I used on the old YSC boards.) Hope you enjoyed my list of Top 10 Reasons to Attend C4YW and are also planning to attend the conference.

In the summer of 2007, I had no palpable lump, but a stellate lesion was seen at my yearly mammogram. At age 45, after a stereotactic biopsy, I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. (Okay, so I barely qualify for the “young” part of the Young Survival Coalition. This was one time when I would have loved an AARP card!) But with a daughter starting kindergarten and my premenopausal body, I still felt young. While I appreciate the support offered by breast cancer survivors of all ages, I’m drawn to kindred spirits, women more likely to shop for cute sandals and goldfish crackers than Rockport lace-ups and Dentucreme.

After a breast MRI detected a second tumor (yikes!), I had a mastectomy. Luckily, my nodes were cancer-free. My Oncotype score was in the gray area between low and medium risk of recurrence. (Nobody ever warns you how hard it can be to make treatment decisions!) I decided to have chemotherapy. Unfortunately, some rare and serious complications meant I was unable to complete all of my sessions.

Then in early 2008, my mother was diagnosed with DCIS, so we both had genetic testing. Once again, the results only made me feel more confused. While neither one of us had any of the known BRCA1 or 2 genes, we both had a gene variant that they’d seen only 17 times. I’d been thinking about getting a prophylactic mastectomy -- this uncertainty just confirmed my instincts.

My plastic surgeon worked in conjunction with the breast surgeon, so I woke up with expanders. (I had been very interested in DIEP reconstruction – would have loved that bonus tummy tuck – but at the time no local surgeons were performing the procedure.) Several years past reconstruction, gravity may be setting in everywhere else, but my “foobs” still look pretty good!

Both the Young Survival Coalition and Living Beyond Breast Cancer were invaluable sources of support during my foray through Cancerland. In the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep, whenever I had a question or just wanted to talk to someone else who understood, these two organizations were my lifelines.

Battling cancer is never easy, but we face unique challenges in confronting our mortality decades earlier than expected. In what was supposed to be the prime of our lives, we must juggle surgeries and treatments with childrearing and career obligations. We also know that, unfortunately, due to misinformation and inadequate screening tools for younger women, our breast cancer is often diagnosed at a later stage. Also, fueled by hormones, it may be more aggressive than the disease in older women.

Hopefully, your circle of friends and family has been supportive. But at C4YW, you’ll find yourself among soul sisters who share your experience. Choose from 25 different workshops, hear inspiring keynote speakers, try out yoga or meditation, party to some New Orleans-style jazz and spend time with co-survivors who’ve got your back.

I’ve already booked my airline ticket. So let’s have a roll call -- who else is going?