Annie and Janet
Left to right: Annie and Janet
By Annie, a Sister Study participant from Arizona
We were quite fun, my sister and I. We gleaned the best from the two countries we called our own: America and France. We learned so much and shared the specialties of the two cultures with appreciation and delight. Janet was the other half of me. I was mother earth, taken with my children and all the crazy activities that are thus associated. A “by the seat of my pants” worker. She was brilliant, a thespian, a scholar and a Democrat! “Truth and Beauty” was the reference to our “salons” of gal chats. Nothing was sacred and yet, it was all sacred and so very precious.
I went through some very difficult years with serious maladies, none common. Failed marriages added to the stress and chagrin. Janet stood by me always. Janet never had a sick day, never really had a doctor, aside her obstetrician! I made it, against all odds.
Janet was 37 years old, having recently had a perfectly normal mammogram; she was surprised by a lump in her breast. She knew instantly. After her mastectomy and removal of 16 bad lymph nodes, she looked at me, astonished and said: “We’d understand if this were you!” Yes, we would. Here, my healthy sister who ate tofu and veggies and kept a tidy kitchen (her culinary expertise was remarkable) was faced with the deadliest of health challenges. What invisible demon had attacked her?
I found that Grosse Pointe Michigan had an extraordinary breast cancer as well as autism rate. I found that while the automotive industry rose to greatness in Detroit, it perhaps had inadvertently soiled our Rouge River as well as portions of our Great Lakes. I learned that while Janet and her husband basked in the euphoria of their newlywed bliss, their landlord had dumped toxic waste on the property where they lived. Eventually, Janet would be among several victims of cancer who had once shared that beautiful environment.
After chemo and radiation, Janet regained strength enough to be angry. We have contaminated the environment. We have reached for every star at any expense. We are in a hurry. And Janet got hurt. She was sick because we have been human and hungry for everything.
Cancer isn’t just about genes. The Sister Study is unique in offering women like me, sisters in every way, an avenue to help find the hidden monsters that challenge us so mercilessly. We never walk alone and the Sister Study needs our help to retrace those steps. Finding the Sister Study brought me closer to my promise to my sister.