Helen VanLith

Artist Statement

In 2017, my daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 47. With her being diagnosed young, she had a lot of genetic testing done to see if there was a genetic cause. I am an ovarian cancer survivor. Back when I was first diagnosed with it in 2007, I had been tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene, which came back negative. From my daughter’s genetic testing, we found out that there was a genetic link to her cancer through the ATM gene mutation. Our whole family was tested; me, my kids, and my grandchildren. Along with me, 4 of my children including my daughter who had breast cancer tested positive, and so far, only one of my grandchildren are positive. The one granddaughter who tested positive is now a researcher in cancer therapeutics. There is a sense of guilt that one feels, knowing that all the struggles my daughter was going through with her breast cancer were given to her through my genes, and then even passed down to my granddaughter. I stood by in support for my daughter while she had a double mastectomy, reconstruction surgeries, testing for metastasis in her lymph nodes, and taking medications to prevent cancer relapse. It was a long road to her recovery, but she eventually became cancer free. In 2026, I was also diagnosed with breast cancer. At the age of 90, I did not want to put myself through chemotherapy again after already having to go through it for my ovarian cancer, so I had a mastectomy. I painted these two pink flowers for me and my daughter; I hope that there won’t ever be another flower added for my family. Learning that this cancer mutation runs in our family has been heavy, but I hope they will take this knowledge and use it to guard their futures. I hold onto the hope that, by their time, treatments will be kinder and more effective—so they never have to suffer the way my daughter and I did.