Two days before Thanksgiving, Megan Sheppard received her last round of chemotherapy at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in Richmond as part of her treatment plan for her second battle with breast cancer.
Sheppard was first diagnosed with breast cancer just shy of her 37th birthday nearly three-and-a-half years ago. Her diagnosis came shortly after she completed genetic testing that showed that she had a mutation in the BRCA gene, which makes her more susceptible for developing breast cancer.
Genetic testing was recommended for Sheppard and her sister because of their family history of breast cancer. Their mother was diagnosed at 40 and lost the battle just five years later.
“She died at 45,” said Sheppard about her mother. “I knew it was something to look out for.”
Sheppard was initially anxious about starting genetic testing. “What if they find something and my fate’s the same,” she worried at the time.
Since Sheppard tested positive for the mutatio...