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Casey says, “Watching my mother fight this disease is etched
in my heart, but what sticks in my mind is not how she looked,
but how she acted. She was always positive, focused on living.
She lived in the moment.”
To cope with the loss of her mother, Tracy started a journal the
day her mom died. It kept her close to her mother, allowed her
to vent her grief. As the days and months went by, they became
conversations she had with her mother. She never thought anyone
else would read it.
Casey found out she was BRCA1 positive three months after her
mother passed. BRCA1 is a genetic mutation in one's DNA that increases
susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer. With the positive
test result, Tracy was counseled by her doctor and offered three
medical options:
1. yearly monitoring, thru MRI, ultrasound and mammograms and
PAP tests
2. low doses of chemotherapy (tamoxifen)
3. prophylactic mastectomy and oophorectomy
Tracy Casey
now faced a hard decision about her future. She was a mother
of two young children, a wife, and she had a great career. After
seeing her mom lose her three year battle, and having two young
children, she decided the only sure way to be sure she wouldn't
develop cancer was to opt for number three. She knew no other
way to accept this decision than with a positive attitude.
“It could have been worse. I could have been diagnosed.
Instead, I was given information that saved my life, all because
of a simple blood test my mom agreed to take before she died.
I thank her everyday for that gift," explains Casey. Casey
was determined to survive. Her journal now took a different
turn. It was a support tool that kept her mother close, as she
needed her mom.
After the completion of her surgeries, Tracy felt an overwhelming
need to compose her journal into a book. She had never seen
herself as a writer, and never dreamt of publishing, but something
told her she needed to sit down and write. For three days straight,
she did just that. She believes it was her mother, nudging her
to share their story, to help and support other women, and enlighten
other woman about BRCA1 gene. Tracy submitted her book All
the Footprints in My Sand to Strategic and other publishers.
Strategic was the first one to ask to see more. She was then
offered a traditional publishing contract. “I believe
mom was with me through this. That was one thing about my mom,
she got things done! I truly believe she brought this journal
to life.”
Today, Tracy is a District Sales Manager with Avon Canada. She
was granted their support in allowing her to share her story
nationally and so has peaked the interest of many women across
Canada. Tracy is busy self promoting her book now as October
is National Breast Cancer Awareness month in the U.S and Canada.
But this is just the beginning.
She hopes to one day be on Oprah, take her kids to Disney, and
be a motivational speaker.
She also believes one day, we will find a cure. As Churchill
said, “Never, never, never give up. Never.”
To order Tracy's book, visit:
www.strategicbookpublishing.com/allthefootprintsinmysand.html
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