FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH, Fla. – In the community affected by breast cancer, a previvor is a person who tested positive for a genetic mutation that increases the risk of diagnosis and takes aggressive action to prevent it. A survivor is someone who was diagnosed with the disease and is still alive.
A metastatic breast cancer ”thriver,” or “metavivor,” or “metathriver,” is someone who has a productive life while getting treatment for the incurable disease as a condition. Nine years ago, Tracy Milgram-Posner founded a nonprofit organization that serves previvors, survivors, and thrivers.
Milgram-Posner was 18 years old when she underwent her first lumpectomy, a surgical procedure to remove a breast tumor. Doctors found it was benign. After having her second lumpectomy at 19 years old, she tested positive for the BRCA 2 mutation at 21. The loneliness and lack of information prompted her to found the organization.
“Men can get breast cancer too,” Milgram-Posner said on Saturday night during The Diamond Ball, a gala in Fort Lauderdale to benefit BRCAStrong, the nonprofit organization she founded about nine years ago.
Beyonce’s father Mathew Knowles talked about his breast cancer diagnosis and encouraged men to get tested — especially Black men who tend to have the worse cancer outcomes.
“I am really, really encouraged that I get the opportunity to talk also to men, but we are educating and motivating people. That’s why I am here,” Knowles said during the gala at The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort.
Knowles first went public with his chest cancer diagnosis in 2019. He also tested positive for the BRCA2 mutation and said his daughters Beyoncé and Solange tested negative. He considers it his mission to raise awareness about how genetic testing empowers patients to prevent the disease.
BRCA Strong has a program that allows donors to sponsor a patient by sending care packages. The organization has other annual fundraisers. Aside from the gala, there was also a Pink Glam Garba on Friday. There are two events on breast cancer awareness month. On Oct. 2, there will be a Think Pink cocktail event at the InterContinental Miami. On Oct. 9, Papa Guru will teach a rooftop Pink Power Yoga class at the InterContinental Miami.
The nonprofit organization has an online store and a Hope Mastectomy Boutique. For more information about how to contribute to BRCAStrong and to their efforts to help the breast cancer community in South Florida, visit this page.