{"id":6877,"date":"2015-08-28T06:48:35","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T06:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamfranklin.com\/?p=6877"},"modified":"2015-08-28T19:06:57","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T19:06:57","slug":"elizabeth-w-ross-has-something-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/elizabeth-w-ross-has-something-to-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth Ross Has Something To Say."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Elizabeth2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"FAOysterBar\"<\/a>I have a good friend. Her name is Elizabeth Woodring Ross. She is really pretty. That is not<\/em> all.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, our team was invited to a cookout-style Grand Opening of a friendly competitor’s new real estate company. I walked up to the table for a plate, spork,\u00a0and whatever else. On the other side of that table\u00a0was Elizabeth Woodring (about to be married to Stephen Ross).<\/p>\n

After some months this talented Realtor joined our team, and was wildly successful.\u00a0Remember this? – Congratulations, Elizabeth!<\/a>\u00a0 She ended up posting 37 closings for the calendar year. She raised\u00a0the bar, and I let everyone know it. That blog post caused quite a stir and it’s mentioned in conversation to this day.<\/p>\n

While all that real estate(ness)\u00a0is great, it’s about to take a back seat. Nervously, Elizabeth started a blog this week<\/a>. Here’s where I yield to her own words.<\/p>\n

“The Definition of a Woman”<\/h2>\n

Wednesday, August 26, 2015<\/h2>\n

I’m going to look like a man<\/h2>\n

Wow, it officially hit me Saturday when I was carrying two steel closet\u00a0rods out to the street and dropped one on my big toe, right on the nail \u2013 Ouch! I made, what I think was, a normal reaction and dropped to the ground, grabbed my toe and yelled for Stephen to come help. When I got in the house I sat on our kitchen floor and while my husband lovingly wiped the blood and put ice on my toe I blurted out \u201cI\u2019m going to look more like a man soon, no boobs and no toe nail\u201d and then the tears came streaming out my eyes.<\/em><\/p>\n

I guess let me start at the beginning because isn\u2019t that what you\u2019re supposed to do in a blog? Well, my beginning started many years before I was even thought of, when my great-grandmother passed away from breast cancer when my maternal grandfather was only a little kid. Fast forward to almost 26 years ago now when my biological mom passed away from breast cancer as well. Angelina effect, not so much here. Many years before Angelina came forward, my amazing stepmom (who I refer to as my mom) tried to convince me during my sophomore year of college to go through with genetic testing. As a then 20 year old I thought, if for some reason it came back positive, I would be writing my death sentence so I chose not to go through with it.\u00a0Well, that was until last summer. I informed Stephen that I had been thinking about finally being genetically tested and of course he supported my decision. So, in November 2014 we walked in South Carolina Oncology hand-in-hand to meet with my genetic counselor, Karen, and we learned more about genetics than we ever imagined. I remember sitting there giving blood and the lady told me I was too tense and I needed to twirl\u2026 so that\u2019s what I did, I twirled right on out of SC Oncology. I thought that after everything medically Stephen and I have gone through since the beginning of our marriage that maybe my results would come back negative or at least that was my \u201cplan\u201d – we want to start a family soon, my career has taken off, etc – but shows me that God doesn\u2019t care about my \u201cplans\u201d and what I have going on in my life. As I was driving up Gervais Street to my office this past December I got the call from Karen. I remember she asked if I was at the grocery or anywhere like that. I told her no that I was just driving and BAM there it was, I carry the ATM mutation. Numbness\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Everyone knows about the BRCA1 & 2 genetic mutations but there are others that are linked to breast cancer and the mutation\u00a0I have is in\u00a0ATM gene and that\u00a0is what I have (thank goodness I didn\u2019t do the testing my sophomore year as I would not have been tested for this particular mutation as it is so new \u2013 God\u2019s plan). After 8 long months of research, meeting with my genetic counselor, my oncologist, my female doctor, my general surgeon and my plastic surgeon I made the most difficult yet easiest decision I have ever made in my life and on August 12th<\/sup> I made the phone call to schedule my prophylactic double mastectomy. There it is for the world to read\u2026 I am undergoing a prophylactic double mastectomy on September 16, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

In full disclosure, I have never written a blog and a handful of my girlfriends may laugh when I put this out there because my knowledge of the blog world is incredibly slim (I follow one blog and that is Franklin Jones\u2019) but I was at lunch last week with a girlfriend talking about my situation and how I hope to be able to help other women and she mentioned I should write a blog (thanks Kim). I don\u2019t expect anyone to follow this, it\u2019s more of a journal of my life during this process and what I am going through physically and emotionally. I was not an English major so sorry if punctuation isn\u2019t always correct. Also, I am not a doctor, I am a Realtor, and I don\u2019t have any type of medical training. I am not giving medical advice, this is just my journey. I know I am in a good situation \u2013 I am overall a healthy 32 year old and that many women have to undergo this surgery daily while also dealing with chemo, radiation, etc so for that I am blessed that I got to take my time and make my decision.\u00a0\u00a0 I am at peace with my situation, I may not be able to breast feed my children but I\u00a0will be able to watch them grow up and for that I am even more thankful.<\/em><\/p>\n

Last but not least for this post, thank you to my wonderful husband, Stephen. You will never know how your consistent love and support affects me daily and I wouldn\u2019t have had the courage to be so proud of my decision if it wasn\u2019t for you. Our roller coaster ride starts soon but I am grateful every day that I get to go on it with you by my side.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the last couple of years Elizabeth and I have become very close. After all, we’ve faced each other\u00a0(five feet apart) since we started working together. Most of my friends see Amanda and I together at fun events and lunch pretty much every day, etc, but for about a year or so, it was Elizabeth, Amy, and I that shared a square office together. Shoot, Elizabeth is\u00a0the one that experienced\u00a0my reaction from the\u00a0email from Mary Clyde Culbreath about Kinsey (Umm, that was a day.) As you can imagine, we’ve laughed tons\u00a0and we’ve shed some tears together.<\/p>\n

What I’m getting at is, Elizabeth and I have talked hours upon hours about what’s best for her. She knows all too well about my experience with breast cancer.\u00a0While it’s not\u00a0“first hand” experience of course,\u00a0it’s from a husband’s perspective, which is a hard slap in the face of life\u00a0from the palm and all five fingers of that first\u00a0hand.<\/p>\n

I called Elizabeth last week for whatever reason\u00a0and she interrupted me to tell her news. It was like a rope had been cut from restricting my torso. In the long run I knew she would choose this route; I’m just glad she’s not waiting any longer.<\/p>\n

To Elizabeth –\u00a0We are right here. We’re here to be with you, and to cover for you. We’ve ‘got’ you\u00a0for as long as you need. You’ve become one of my best\u00a0friends and a treasured part of this real estate team, and we are proud of your decision to take this preventative measure.<\/p>\n

To Elizabeth –\u00a0Your choice of words for the title of your post, and the reason for my first sentence: I get it, and your\u00a0words are obviously from the heart. That said (and I type this with a stunning wife sleeping in the next room) you are damn sure not going to look like a man. You are gorgeous, and you’re going to still\u00a0be gorgeous. Remember the last time you saw my Finley a few weeks ago, when I\u00a0was showing off\u00a0your new business cards? Well, a few days ago I referenced you and Finley\u00a0said, “Daddy, do\u00a0you mean that pretty girl?” She’s done this twice now.<\/p>\n

Some readers of this blog may know Elizabeth and understand where I’m coming from. Those who don’t should know she’s not just pretty, but she may have the most pleasant demeanor of anyone\u00a0I know. We affectionately call her ‘a little girl’ which she totally owns.\u00a0Sometimes I call her “Ice Cream Cone” or “Lollipop” because of her bright eyed, always happy disposition. Cute and fun nicknames aside, she’s also a\u00a0stellar Realtor.<\/p>\n

I’ve typed way too much for a blog post, but not nearly enough about a good person and\u00a0her big decision. We’ve had a great time selling real estate together, but given the news she got some months ago about the gene, some of me can’t help but think Elizabeth and I were ‘put together’ for a reason.<\/p>\n

We love you, Elizabeth. You are doing the right thing.<\/p>\n

Your friend, and teammate…<\/p>\n

Franklin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a good friend. Her name is Elizabeth Woodring Ross. She is really pretty. That is not all. A few years ago, our team was invited to a cookout-style Grand Opening of a friendly competitor’s new real estate company. I walked up to the table for a plate, spork,\u00a0and whatever else. On the other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6877"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6889,"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877\/revisions\/6889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamfranklin.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}