Melanie Penn is my first previvor guest on DJ Breast Cancer. Melanie was only 4 years old when her life was impacted by breast cancer with the diagnosis of her mom. In fact, her life has always had this lingering effect of did she too carry the BRCA gene that her mom carried. When tested at the age of 25, she realized she did carry the gene and an extremely high potential of contracting breast cancer. Melanie and I both have a very close relationship with our mom’s (both survivors). I can’t speak to their relationship entirely, but we chatted about how our mom’s are our rocks, they were our listening ears, and just “got it”. Melanie‘s mom after her own breast cancer, later prophylactically removed her other breast, resulting in both a survivor and previvor situations.
Melanie is a gifted artist and uses her artistic abilities to give back to those impacted by breast cancer and other life changing situations. Her artwork helps take back the narrative and features outlines of strong women with bold words and colors. Her artistic style was utilized in NYFW for metavivors on the runway.
Please check out our full talk on my Podcast DJ Breast Cancer, Season 3 Episode 2! ❤️
