Breast Cancer Awareness Month

At SodaStream, we commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month each and every year, ensuring that we promote the importance of this issue among our employees throughout the year as well.

Just before this month comes to a close, we chose to share the personal and heartfelt story, written in her own words, by Yarden Frieman (Halfin) ??? Frieman, an attorney in SodaStream’s legal department, about her inspirational journey. We are so proud of you, ?Yarden?– and so proud that you part of the SodaStream family.??

"Four years ago, in August 2018, at the age of 34, with an almost 3-year-old daughter and a loving partner, I went for a routine follow-up examination with a breast surgeon. As part of the test, a small, black and suspicious-looking spot was detected. An indication, accompanied by a gut feeling, led the doctor to send me for additional tests, “Just so we can be as ease,” he said. Two days later, during a private ultrasound, because we didn't want to wait months for an appointment at our HMO, the ‘picture’ began to unfold. I was sent for a biopsy, and a few weeks later, as time came to a halt, my family and I were told that the life journey we had planned together, had changed. Canceling our planned vacation abroad, renovations on the new house that we just finished putting together – everything will have to wait. I have aggressive cancer, in two areas. The doctors are not optimistic that the existing treatment will be successful, since the tumor, which developed in just a few months, is widespread, and I need to begin treatment immediately.

It's impossible to understand the magnitude of news like this in real time. In retrospect, back then, I suddenly went from a person who was busy with the daily worries of a young mother, a family just starting out, a career, a home, the usual things – to someone who forges into her first battle, with complete uncertainty, when the end is not in sight. I find myself immersed in coordinating tests, expert consultations, learning a new language and terminology – I was lost. I’ve always believed that the only way to handle these situations head on, is to act and move forward, and somehow, I was able to latch on to this belief. My family and I became a unified team, I started walking around with a folder of documents under my arm, asking my doctors the most difficult questions, and making fateful decisions together with my family, within hours or days.

And this is how it was, just a few days after receiving the 'good news,' I began a long series of chemotherapy, surgeries, radiation, and biological treatments.

These extreme circumstances make you realize that there’s no choice, and there are really are no alternatives here. This is my life's mission, ‘our’ life's mission, and I'm going to fight with all my might, no matter what. These will be difficult years, but I will get through them. I will do what’s necessary, whatever the doctors recommend and tell me, without compromise, because the option to give up, simply doesn’t exist. I kept on telling myself that this period would end, and I would be healthy and strong again. It was not a conscious choice. It is the only way I knew, and for me, there was just no other way.

The treatment period is spread out, with misleading situations that, although you hear about them, or see them in movies, you can’t really perceive them. Dozens of hospitalizations, a weak and tired body, lack of appetite, drastic weight loss. I was on automatic pilot, counting the days until the next treatment, for the next planned tests from a long list of despair. As we’re slowly progressing, and there’s no possibility of giving up, we continue. After several months, the tests show that the cancer has stopped, and has started to recede. And step by step, after about a year, I have almost completed the full treatment protocol. Today, I can say that during that period, I learned about myself – that I am optimistic and strong, with the ability to act in line with my worldviews, values, and beliefs, even in the most difficult moments imaginable.

One year and three months after the diagnosis and the start of the treatments, I returned to the law firm where I worked, and which supported me throughout the entire period of dealing with the disease. It was then that I began a recovery process, mentally and physically, while adapting to preventive drug treatment, and in particular, to its consequences on the quality of my life, combined with frequent follow-ups and assessments.

Even though I was considered 'healthy,' I didn't really feel that way, and during this time, I struggled to find the balance in life “after.” At the same time, the pandemic was spreading, and it shocked my reality once again. In my day-to-day life, something was still missing and not quite right for me. I was looking for a way to restore my body and actively exercise, but I didn’t find what was right for me, and I wasn’t able to continue.

About a year ago, shortly after I started working in SodaStream's legal department, the “I Also Run” group was established in the neighborhood where I live. “I Also Run” is a national initiative of community-led running groups at no cost, for women who face or are recovering from breast cancer or other women’s cancer. The idea behind this initiative, detailed in an article published in the “International Cancer Journal,” shows that, statistically, those who started running after the discovery of the disease, reduced their risk of dying from the disease by 87-95%. As an optimistic person on the one hand, and a practical person on the other, the idea fascinated me even in its early years. Month by month, our group, where I’m the youngest trainee, and also its captain, grew and became stronger, evolving into a group that combines sports and support, encouragement, and empowerment. The pace and progress are adjusted for each and every member of the group, where the emphasis is to go out, try, make an effort – and simply, do. The goals of the run aren’t important, but the doing, is, even if it’s done in baby steps.

Today, exercise is a significant part of my life. I try to run at least twice a week, and do yoga several times a week. We run as a group in various competitions, and work to raise awareness among women to perform routine tests to enable early detection of the disease.

October is breast cancer awareness month, and encouraging women to perform routine tests to detect the disease as early as possible. Today, I know that early detection of the disease is what saved my life. This month, I participated in several competitions and events to promote this goal. Among other things, I ran a 3 km race alongside Olympic athlete, Hanna?Knyazyeva-Minenko, an amazing athlete, who for me, is a true inspiration for commitment, excellence and devotion to the mission. In the coming days, I will take part in a commemorate event at the residence of the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, in the presence of the President's wife, Michal Herzog, honoring the leaders of the “I Also Run” groups – an exciting moment that only a few are awarded.

There is nothing more important than routine tests, and it is without question that this is what saved my life. Each and every one of us must be examined, according to the doctor’s recommendations especially for her, and according to her medical and family history. And to the male employees reading this article, encourage the daughters in your families to go and get tested as soon as possible. I was lucky enough to work for a company that maintains the health of its employees, and as an integral part its dedicated Health Week, invites every employee to be examined by a breast surgeon or as part of the screening tests."

This year, SodaStream decided to paint its corporate logo “pink” at company headquarters in Kfar Saba, and at our facility in Idan Ha-Negev. We wish everyone continued good health, and a reminder that early detection can save lives.??