Introduction to SoulFul Sunflower🌻




 Hi, my name is Jessie Lyn. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986. In 1995, I moved to Littleton, Colorado. When I was 18 I went off to college to Michigan State. GOOO GREEEN. 


When I was 20, my mom found out she had stage 3c Ovarian Cancer. When we did some research we found out a lot of her family had passed from or had ovarian cancer. We, as a family decided to all get tested for the gene. It was true, my whole family tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene. 

To spare all the details, and definitely for a later time, here I am 2020, 14 years later making a decision to undergo a double mastectomy. I have to do it in stages as that’s the way my breasts are. Too big.. hahaha... but ultimately the right decision as I attempt to save my nipples. Here I am during this Covid19 times and unfortunately I have to Quarantine prior to my surgery. I’m 4 days away from getting covid rested. 


My emotions: well.. I have great support. A few frustrations (family is family, most of you can relate) and well I still go up and down. I think will I recover? Will I look really different? Am I going to gain weight from lack of exercise? Will someone love me after all of this? Whew... that’s scary to admit. But I’d rather be honest than make a blog to follow my journey and not be completely transparent.  I don’t have the answers to my questions, but at this point it is time to go through this moment in time where I had to make a decision. One that will essentially save my life and have me worry a whole lot less of what my body can get and be anxious all the time with scan after scan. I am SO ready to put this gene behind me. I am scared, nervous, and uncomfortable. I notice myself more light headed than usual. I also feel that out of nowhere I get super anxious. But when I take a moment to really collect my thoughts, I find myself thinking about my friends, my family, my career, my future partner, and of course my dog Stanley. Even though I would love Stanley to out live me because he’s the best, the goal is that I out live him. I choose to save my life and I ultimately am trying to save my nipples as well. I’d love nothing more than to look as normal as I possibly can (minus the battle wounds aka scars) if it doesn’t happen for me, I am also realistic that there is always a possibility but just in case.



This weekend my girlfriends and I decided to celebrate me losing my boobies. I thought that alone was the best gift there was. I got awesome t shirts. We went to the rave room and broke shit, then we went to Tavolino‘s for an amazing dinner. We laughed, we cried, we hugged, and we just enjoyed each other. The restaurant was amazing as they gave us some freebies, as the manager had undergone the same surgery. It’s amazing how being raw and vulnerable you can touch so many lives. 


Well thank you for reading the beginning of my journey to reducing my risk of breast cancer. I plan to write as much as I can and post pictures to share what I have to go through.


Stage one is a breast reduction and lift and at the same time I will get the mass they found at 6 o’ clock removed. 


Cheers! 

Soulful Sunflower 🌻 


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