Share the Love Stories: Kristen Weston

Kristen, first and foremore thank you for sharing your breast cancer experience with us. Will you please share a bit more about you?

I’ve lived all over the country, but for the last 20-plus years Augusta, Georgia has been home.  I have three fantastic children: Adair (19), Annie (18), and Spencer (17).  Adair is a sophomore at UGA; Annie and Spencer are juniors in high school.  Adair is thoroughly enjoying college and hitting her stride.  Annie has special abilities but is thriving in a life-skills curriculum.  Spencer is a witty, typical teenage boy.  I’ve had three careers: teaching, sales, and now financial services.  I’m currently a client service representative with a financial services firm in Augusta.  

 Your doctor called you the "Miss Congenielity of Breast Cancer." Tell us about your diagnosis and journey. 

On December 4, 2023, I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer.  More specifically, the right breast had invasive lobular carcinoma ER/PR positive and HER-2/neu negative, and the left breast had invasive ductal carcinoma, ER/PR positive and HER-2/neu negative. In other words, I had “ugly cancer with a good personality,” i.e., it was treatable.  Dr. Cooper calls what I had the “Miss Congeniality” of cancer, which makes sense, since I was dubbed Miss Congeniality in the 1992 Miss Brenau Pageant.  I had no talent, no coordination, and no dress; I had to borrow one for the pageant.  Not to worry, though – Miss Congeniality was MINE.

The day I was diagnosed, a good friend, Mary Anne, went with me to a return testing appointment.  While it’s common to be called back, having a friend go with me meant the world.  It was just the beginning of an unending outpouring of support and love.

My double mastectomy was on December 26, 2023.  After surgery I learned that two of three right-side lymph nodes were carcinoma-positive, and one of three on the left.  This meant my treatment plan included monthly Lupron shots; an Aromatase inhibitor; 28 days of radiation; and two years of oral chemotherapy.  

I understand you are fighting this fight not only for yourself, but for your high school best friend Holli who passed away last September. What is Holli like?

I met Holli when I was 15 in my freshman year in high school in Germantown, Tennessee.  She was the most beautiful person, inside and out.  She looked like Michelle Pfeiffer: blonde, blue-eyes, petite.  She was also extremely smart.  Even though I moved to Atlanta my senior year in high school, my Germantown friends are my core best friends to this day.

Holli battled breast cancer from 2018 to 2023.  She was a force to be reckoned with, and every day was a courageous and dedicated fight to be present for her family.  She was a beacon of hope for every cancer patient that she encountered.  The 2024 Hope Gala in Birmingham, Alabama was dedicated to her.  It was the first time the Hope Gala was dedicated to someone who was deceased.  

During my journey with cancer, she has been my source of inspiration and strength.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and reach out to her. 

We are so honored that Jane Win played a small part in your cancer journey. How did you find us? What does your Full Heart Pendant mean to you?

Unexpectedly, I found joy in the little things of cancer.  Most notably, spending as much time with my mother – just the two of us – was something I never imagined experiencing at this point in my life.  Who knew how much I would enjoy binge-watching Netflix and looking forward to the Today show?  Working full-time, you don’t get to do these things.  Mom and I particularly enjoyed the third hour of the Today show when Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager talked about their life experiences.  Mom and I loved Jenna’s heart necklace, so we, of course, Googled it.  We discovered it was a Jane Win.  On my last day of treatment, Mom surprised me with a Jane Win heart necklace, which captured the love, support, and strength that my family, my friends, my faith, and – yes – Hoda and Jenna gave me. 

Do you have any advice for the newly diagnosed?

You are not alone.  There is an army of women in your shoes who are here for you.  Be an advocate for yourself.  Ask questions and demand answers.  Rely on those who love you.