A Celebration of Healing
Sitting across from her surgeon at 35, Genevieve (Gen) Kroeker was facing a scary and personal choice – did she want breast reconstruction after her bilateral mastectomy? In the middle of breast cancer treatment, with little time to think about her choice, Gen’s surgeon, Dr. Sarah Knowles, posed a question – “In three years, what will you want?” Now, three years out from that conversation, Gen doesn’t regret her reconstruction decision at all – her results are exactly what she wanted.
Gen’s story of being faced with a breast cancer diagnosis and breast reconstruction so young is one that is all too familiar these days. In recent years, there has been a rise in young women diagnosed with breast cancer. For Gen, this was top of mind when deciding about reconstruction. “One of the biggest factors for me was age,” said Gen, something Dr. Knowles was incredibly understanding about. “It really tapped into the more emotional part of the physical changes that come with breast cancer.”
Gen underwent reconstruction with implants after receiving expanders – a surgery that capped off her treatment journey through chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. Through all that, surgery was what scared Gen the most. “Having to trust somebody to cut open your body and get what you hope will be the results you want is a very big thing,” said Gen. “From the beginning with Dr. Knowles, I didn’t feel like just another patient walking through the door. I found she had a lot of empathy towards my situation – not sympathy, which is a good thing.”
The feeling of being a number or part of a statistic is something Gen felt familiar with in hospital settings, and something often expressed by breast cancer patients. With Dr. Knowles, though, that wasn’t the case. “There was such a human factor to all our interactions,” she said. “It made me feel very safe and calm, and like I was making the right decision. I got lucky with the right doctor and surgeon.”
Dr. Knowles is the Medical Director of St. Joseph’s Breast Care Program and a well-respected physician and voice on breast cancer and reconstruction. Her research specifically focuses on the treatment of breast disease and the use of oncoplastic breast surgery techniques and improved patient satisfaction.
“Every patient comes to us with a unique case, so I try and individualize care with that in mind,” says Knowles.
“Understanding the wishes and values of your patients makes them feel seen, and that goes a long way in helping them make a decision around something as personal as breast reconstruction.”
-Dr. Sarah Knowles
This feeling of security carried through to all Gen’s interactions with the Breast Care Program at St. Joseph’s Hospital. “When I first got diagnosed with cancer, I thought that every part of the process would be extremely sad and extremely scary,” said Gen. “I didn’t feel sad and scared when I was at the Breast Care Program. They make you feel like everything is going to be okay, even if they can’t promise that. I expected it to be awful every day, but the Breast Care Program gave me a lot of good days.”
Now, Gen is giving back to the Breast Care Program in a way that not only helps patients, but is an act of celebration and self-love for herself. For the second year, Gen will be a model at Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) Day on October 23, showing patients considering reconstruction what her results look like. BRA Day is an opportunity for patients to ask questions of survivors, not just surgeons.
BRA Day not only acts as a learning opportunity for patients, but for Gen, she also sees it as an empowering experience. “I could stand there and be a model with the way my body had turned out, with choices that I made about my surgeries, and be proud of that,” said Gen. “Other people can look at me and see what their future could look like and say, you know what, that looks really good.”
At BRA Day, patients get to choose which reconstruction options are of interest to them and explore them in a way that is more personal, and less medical. The event has information booths and sessions with different surgeons, but the intimate aspect of seeing real reconstruction results and hearing from survivors is a big draw. For the models, it’s also an opportunity to be around people who have had similar experiences and celebrate themselves and each other.
“I remember being in chemo, having no hair and barely being able to walk up a flight of stairs. My face was round from steroids, and I remember thinking, I hope I look like myself again, sometime in the future,” said Gen. “BRA Day is a celebration of how far I have come, how good I look and how healed I am, both inside and out.”
At her first BRA Day as a model in 2024, Gen, a chocolatier and owner of Seed Confections in St. Thomas, brought reconstruction-themed cookies for all the models. They were different skin colours and represented different results from lumpectomies and mastectomies – with different scars and shapes. This year, she’s providing enough cookies for the attendees too – a way for Gen to give back to the event that has meant so much to her.
“BRA Day was an important part of not only healing my mental scars of breast cancer, but a confidence boost from the physical scars. When I talk to other breast cancer survivors and patients, we talk about how we’ve earned our scars. They aren’t, so much, reminders of what we’ve been through, but more so reminders of what we are able to handle and survive. Bringing us all together at BRA Day is a gift.”
Come see if breast reconstruction after mastectomy is right for you…
Join us at St. Joseph’s Hospital for BRA Day on October 23 from 6 pm to 9 pm to see if breast reconstruction after mastectomy is right for you. Hear from surgeons, attend information booths and see first-hand the results of different reconstruction options from models like Gen.