Sister Saturdays – Germaine Bartlett-Graff
For many young women, chemo at a young age for a hormone-driven breast cancer has life-lasting effects. One of these effects includes the possibility of being put into menopause, and thus not allowing your body to produce eggs, ovulate, and well—to put it bluntly—not be able to have children. Germain Bartlett-Graff was diagnosed at age 33, and like many young women her age, she was hoping children could be in her future. She joined B4BC at our 2017 Taos ‘Paint for Peaks’ inaugural event just barely post-treatment as a guest of the Anita Salas Foundation. Germaine has eyes that tell stories and a smile that will create your own! She comes from Taos, NM where she has grew up skiing and adventuring. We were so inspired by how obvious it was that the mountains are her friends and healers, but also of her story and connection with the Anita Salas Foundation. Since then, she has been able to join us at our 2019 Chasing Sunshine Ocean Wellness Retreat, where she learned to adjust to her ‘new normalcy’ in body and spirit and thoroughly enjoyed her ocean time. We love you Germaine, and thank you for sharing your story with us!
What is your connection to the Anita Saalas Fund?
I will never forget the day Diane from the Anita Salas Foundation called me back to tell me they would be able to help with the cost of my fertility preservation. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer on a Friday, and on Tuesday, I started fertility treatments in order to freeze my eggs. I was only 32, and I could not imagine the possibility that I may not be able to have a family someday. Everything was moving too quickly. I had to make life-changing decisions in minutes and had no idea how I was going to pay for it. So I started asking for help, and Diane and the Anita Salas Foundation came through for me at such a crucial time. The relief I felt just knowing that they were able to help with such a huge piece of this life-changing puzzle left me in tears. Relief and gratitude washed over me and almost knocked me off my feet.
Thoughts on your experience at the B4BC Retreat?
Now fast-forward a year. I was at the B4BC Shred The Love event in Taos, NM, and when Diane introduced herself, I knew instantly who she was. It brought me back to that exact moment from the year before. I hadn’t yet met her in person, and the minute I saw her, the same sense of overwhelming gratitude washed over me and brought me to tears. To hug someone who you have never met, who was so generous in a time of ultimate need is an indescribable feeling. To this day I cannot articulate the gratitude I feel for the generosity of the Anita Salas Foundation.
