3 Sisters Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in One Year

One breast cancer diagnosis in a family, is tragic enough. Multiply that by three–and you have the story of the O’Brien sisters– all diagnosed within a year of each other. Now, one of the sisters, who lives in Palm Desert is using her diagnosis to create awareness and hopefully save lives.

Kathleen O’Brien says, “When the first sister was diagnosed, we thought she was taking it for the team and then the second one was diagnosed, I thought there’s no way, it won’t happen to me. I’m going to be the lucky one.”

But, two weeks ago Kathleen underwent a double mastectomy. It’s just the beginning of a long road ahead. She says, “When I went into surgery I was told I had stage one. When I came out, I had stage 3A, which means I have to have chemo and radiation.”

The American Cancer Society says a woman’s risk of breast cancer almost doubles if she has a mother, sister, or daughter who’s been diagnosed. In the case of the O’Brien sisters, their mother was also diagnosed at 38. But they’re not alone…they’re standing together, battling the disease.O’Brien says, “When I went in for surgery, I asked them to put this picture under my pillow, because I wanted them to know it’s not just me, it’s all three of us…a team.”

Kathleen has basically assembled a team, to create awareness and hope. Her best friend since third grade wears one of the t-shirts they’re selling, to help cover medical expenses. A Christmas tree will stand year-round in her house, decorated with inspirational messages, pink ribbons and hearts. You can’t even walk by Kathleen’s house without seeing signs of breast cancer awareness in the front yard. She says she believes her and her two sisters are walking this walk, so that others hopefully won’t have to. She says, “It’s so undescribable. It’s like a dream, a bad dream you can hopefully turn into a good dream, so you can touch others’ lives and show others if we three sisters can do it, anybody can do it.

A big part of Kathleen’s plan is to spread awareness to women everywhere about the importance of listening to their own bodies, studying up on their family history and asking questions, especially if your doctor gives you a clean bill of health, you aren’t comfortable with. She says, “He was leaving the room and I told him I was looking on the internet last night and what you just showed me says if it’s in clusters, it’s cancer and he said, not always, until I told him about my sisters. They did a biopsy the next day and I had full blown invasive breast cancer.”

Asking to look at her mammogram film, is a move Kathleen says saved her life. Now, she can spend each day spreading her message of hope and the importance of a positive support system. She says, “Knowing I have 2 sisters to walk that walk with me…you have two choices. you can take that high happy road or the sad low road. My mom used to always say, if you stop dreaming, you stop living.”

To find out more about the O’Brien sisters and how you can help, log onto their Facebook page, Three Sisters Survival.