I have known about being BRCA-1 since 2014. My mother had passed away from ovarian cancer in 2001, and my grandmother is a survivor. It was a scary phone call from my doctor, getting the test results, but I felt thankful that I knew, and that I could stay on top of screenings.  I was pretty good at keeping up with my 6 month screening schedule ….until COVID happened. I went 9 months without getting my ovaries checked.  It was an abnormal discharge that lead me to make a doctors appointment in November of 2020.  During the ultrasound the technician said “Oh man, this is not my favorite ultrasound.” Immediately I knew it was cancer, and it was- caught at stage III. Thankfully I had the most incredible surgeon who spoke words of hope and encouragement to me. She said “You’re going to do great. You’ll make it through.  It’s  just something you gotta get taken care of!”  Those words totally brought me peace. Seven rounds of chemo and . two surgeries were not easy, but she was right!  I was okay in the end.  Today I take PARP inhibitors as maintenance, and I underwent a prophylactic mastectomy in July 2022.  Needless to say, I now know I can do hard things!  What an amazing time we live in, to have the ability to understand our genetics and take necessary actions.  And if someone is diagnose with cancer, there are many options! Hope is out there.