Julie

Julie has been married to her husband Bud for 14 years, and together they have two boys – River (9) and Beckett (7). She is an intervention specialist, also known as a special education teacher, and enjoys running, hiking, camping, and traveling. 

In May 2020, Julie had a friend pass away from breast cancer in her 30s, and soon after, another friend was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in her 30s. Although she had no family history, she went for a baseline mammogram (mostly to take a day off of work!) and was diagnosed with Stage 0 breast cancer in April of 2022. Everyone was shocked, as she had no symptoms and was 38 years old, which is considered young for a mammogram. 

She underwent a mastectomy on her right side and Dr. Mirhaidari performed her reconstruction at the same time. Later she underwent a second reconstruction to fill out the space a bit more on her chest. She now feels good, and is glad she did it! 

She advises women to get those early screenings, because while her diagnosis was not happy, she felt so blessed to catch it at Stage 0, and didn’t require chemo or radiation. Reconstruction was ideal because now she doesn’t have to worry about looking lopsided or needing a prosthetic bra. 

“I loved working with Dr. Mirhaidari and Deidre – they were so nice, and kind, and FUN! Cancer and surgeries are an emotional, messy business, but I looked forward to my appointments because they were real, helpful, and I enjoyed being with them.”  

Julie is happy to walk the Pink Runway! Before her diagnosis, she didn’t think about breast cancer very much, but now she tries to advocate for women to go get checked and is touched by all the women who have told her they got a mammogram because of her.