WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Dara Kurtz of Winston-Salem said she thought she had it all. She had a great job as a financial advisor and a loving family. Then in March 2014, a visit to the doctor turned her world upside down.
“I was 42 when I heard the words you have cancer and for me, it came out of nowhere,” Kurtz said. “One day I was fine and living my life. The next day I was literally hearing words like chemotherapy, surgery, radiation.”
Doctors found a lump that catapulted Kurtz into a battle with stage two breast cancer.
“I lost my mom to cancer when my daughter, my oldest daughter was just a couple weeks old, so I was kind of reliving some of that,” Kurtz said. “I was afraid that my daughters wouldn’t have me, that I wouldn’t be here to raise them.”
After a fight that included a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, Kurtz was considered cancer free. This is when she said her real life began.
“After I went through everything, I quit my job as a financial advisor and started my blog Crazy Perfect Life,” Kurtz said. “I started doing a lot of speaking and my first book Crush Cancer came out. Then my second book I am My Mother’s Daughter: Wisdom on Life, Loss, and Love came out.”
The financial advisor turned author even started a business that helps cancer patients like her survive and thrive after a cancer diagnosis. She said she attributes much of her success to the treatment and support provided by Dr. Heather Shearer with Novant Health.
“We have means of prevention,” Dr. Shearer said. “If you are diagnosed our treatments are much, much better than they had been ten years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago.”
Kurtz said she hopes her story will inspire others going through a troubling time to never give up hope.
“Hearing the words, you have cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence,” Kurtz said. “You can go through a challenging cancer experience and get through the other side.”
Dr. Shearer emphasizes the importance of yearly mammograms and self-examines.