Last night was the Family Time Hearts of Gold Gala where Family Time honors 13 women with the "Women of Achievement" Award. The award has been given to roughly 300 women since it was created so recipients are ushered into a special group of truly remarkable women. The stories of the impact that these women have made and continue to make on our community is inspirational! I was EXTREMELY honored to be chosen as a recipient this year.
The whole night was wonderful and I was grateful for the many friends and family that were there to celebrate the night with me. But one of the absolutely coolest parts of the night happened towards the beginning. I was saying hi to friends and giving and receiving lots of hugs when I ran into Diana, a friend and former Leadership Lake Houston classmate. Diana was with one of her friends who she introduced as Meredith. Diana began to tell Meredith why I was receiving the WOA award and I elaborated on some details particularly about Bright Pink and the educational talks I do. Meredith congratulated me and said that her daughter was the Chief of Staff at Kingwood Medical Center this year and that she wanted to pass my information on to her. I knew a few VIPs at Kingwood Medical Center so I asked what her daughter's name was. Meredith said my daughter is an OB-GYN-- Dr. Barnsfather. I swear I almost started crying! Why you ask? Well let's rewind just a bit...
Dr. Barnsfather was my OB-GYN when I was pregnant with Mason and for years prior to having Mason was always concerned about my strong family history with breast and ovarian cancer. Dr. B was very cutting edge and proactive and wanted me to have the genetic testing done to determine if I was a BRAC gene carrier. The BRAC gene exponentially elevates your chances of getting breast (87%) or ovarian cancer (54%). I told her that I wasn't ready to have the test until I was done having children. Well... that time came and Dr. B didn't forget about what I told her. She asked about the testing when Mason was just about a year old. I knew that I couldn't put it off longer so I agreed and we did the testing on the spot. The results were positive and Dr. B counseled me to reach out to Baylor or MD Anderson for my next possible steps. The rest you could say is history expect I live it everyday but you can read my other blogs about that journey.
I have always given credit to Dr. B for pushing me (in the best way) to have the testing and taking the initial steps with me down this life journey. I wrote Dr. B a thank you note the night before my double mastectomy letting her know that by the time she read it I will have already had surgery. The peace of mind that preventative surgery has given me is priceless and it was Dr. B's preventative mindset that helped me chose to live proactively.
So on a night that was a pretty big deal in my short 31 years of life, I received the gift of meeting the mom of the woman who propelled me on my journey--my personal journey and my advocacy journey to educate young women that they can take control of their breast and ovarian health. I can educate women on the facts just as Dr. B educated me.
And if I was ever in doubt that God wasn't planning my steps-- He reaffirmed that truth last night as everything came full circle and I was able to celebrate with my husband, my mom, my friends, AND Dr. Barnsfather's mom in the audience. She is pictured in the center of the picture at the top.
