On January 11, 2011, Claudia Gilmore will undergo a preventative double mastectomy with reconstruction. The 23-year old does not have breast cancer, but has a genetic mutation that makes her more likely to develop cancerous cells in the future. She began writing a blog about life with the mutation several months ago. Eventually, the blog became a hot topic in DC, coming up in casual conversation after conversation.

Maureen Dolan-Galvaniz, a local film-maker and classmate of Claudia’s, heard about her previving blog and was fascinated. Wanting to not only tell the story, but spread the word about preventative options, Maureen began working on a documentary about Claudia’s journey to surgery.

Claudia has now appeared in Ladies’ Home Journal, The Today Show, and several other media outlets, spreading the message about previving. We were lucky enough to catch up with the producer/director of the webisodes, Maureen, and get a behind the scenes look into Previve.com and what previving is all about.

How did you first hear about Claudia’s decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy?
I was out one Saturday evening with girlfriends when they started talking about this Georgetown
girl that was cutting off her breasts and blogging about it! They thought what she was doing was totally crazy – I don’t think either fully understood the BRCA mutations. I had never heard of the BRCA mutation either. I was so intrigued that I started Googling ‘Georgetown girl cuts off breasts’ when I got home. Sure enough, I came across Claudia’s blog. Claudia and I had been colleagues at Georgetown, we had taken our first documentary production class together.

Why do you think Claudia’s story needs to be told?
Because it is incredible and inspiring and touches on so many big ethical health issues. Would you want to know if you had a genetic mutation? What would you do once you found out? Should we test our children? What is life like once you know that you have an increased risk for a deadly disease? Previvors blow my mind. They are some of the most inspiring, joyous people I have ever met. For example, Claudia is so thankful that she knows that she has this genetic mutation that she doesn’t waste any time worrying about what life would be like if she didn’t. She seizes every day and doesn’t dwell on her really unfortunate mutation. Read More »

So we’re halfway through October (I know, how did that happen?!) and by now you should be well aware that it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And that means 2 things:

1) We’re reminded that we really should all be feeling ourselves up more often.
2) We’re reminded of the importance of funding breast cancer research to help find a cure. And that means we race or we shop.

And since, let’s face it, we’ve all been spending the last month eating late night cheesy bread, Racing for the Cure doesn’t seem like the best choice. But pair shopping, all things pink and a good cause together,  and call me Elle Woods because I am SO there.

There is no shortage the pink goodness to go around this month – it seems like everyone’s getting in on the fun (including the NFL!). The best thing about it (besides the fact that every dollar spent helps find a cure, of course) is that a lot of stuff we’d buy anyway is going pink, so it’s never been easier to contribute to the cause. And there are also so many luxury items that we’d never splurge for on a normal day, but now we finally have a reason to! Read More »

The following post was written by Liz, a CollegeCandy reader and 21-year-old breast cancer survivor.

I was your typical college sophomore. I was active on campus, had a great group of friends, and kept myself busy with schoolwork. I was enjoying my time at The College of New Jersey, and felt truly blessed with an amazing life.

Then in April 2009, everything changed completely. In the midst of studying for final exams and celebrating the end of the school year, I was going back and forth between TCNJ and New York City for doctor visits. I had found a lump in my right breast, and went for tests and exams just as a precaution. Although I was optimistic and really believed I had nothing to worry about, I received the news that nobody wants to hear: I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Read More »

Contrary to what all those fashion mags tell you, earth tones and jewel tones are not the color right now. No, maam. It’s October and the it color is pink!

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, peeps! This means that in addition to donning all your pink goodies and shopping for a (great and important) cause, there’s one thing on everyone’s mind this month: boobies. Lady lumps. Tatas. Gazongas. Head lamps.

All of this boob-talk got us thinking – first about the ever-important self-exam, then about all of the different and amazing names people have for breasts. Seriously, who knew two lumps of fat could spur such creativity?

Here are our top 20 faves. Share your own (names….not sexy pics) below! Read More »

I love my boobs!

[October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know that almost 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and the disease takes the lives of over 40,000? Scary stuff. Awareness and funding for the disease are the keys to finding a cure, but the most important thing we can do - yes, even this young - is a monthly self-exam. So whip out that breast and check it out. And speaking of breasts...]

As a kid, there were a lot of things I was looking forward to having once I became a “grown-up” — a boyfriend, my period (I don’t know why I was looking forward to that, but I was), and getting my very own set of beautiful breasts. Not only would their arrival mean I was turning into a woman, but I felt like they would make clothes look that much better. And I guess being able to feed my future children from my body is pretty cool too.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited when the time came for my mom to buy me my very first training bra. You know the one – the sports bra looking thing that doesn’t actually do anything but make you feel older. It wasn’t until I started wearing said bra that I realized that maybe it wasn’t so much fun – and that was before there was anything to fill it out.

As puberty progressed, so did the size of my chest. I’m not saying I had the biggest bust around (just a comfortable C), but it wasn’t long before I developed a love/hate relationship with my mammaries. I started realizing the pros and cons of starting to look like a woman, including the classic “my eyes are up here.” But how do other women view their breasts? And what to men really think while they’re drooling? There’s really no other way of knowing than to straight up ask, so I questioned a few friends of mine on their favorite and least favorite thing about boobs. Read More »