Twin sisters battle breast cancer

A struggle against breast cancer has brought
identical twin sisters even closer. Kristen Maurer and Kelly McCarthy were both
diagnosed with the disease a few months apart.
Last week they became the 4th twins ever to
undergo shared reconstructive breast surgery, with
Maurer donating her belly tissue to help rebuild
her sister's breast. The 34-year-old young moms from Crown Point,
Ind., who share blond bobs, easy smiles and speak
almost in unison, are now sharing their recovery.
They call it “twin-healing.” McCarthy, a nurse, was diagnosed with a difficult- to-treat form of the disease in 2011 and had started chemotherapy treatment, just weeks after
the birth of her son. But she worried about her
sister and knew she had to persuade her twin to
get tested, an act of sisterly love that saved her
life. How did she convince her twin to go? “I was going to use the twin card and I said if she
didn’t go get tested, I was going to call and make
the appointment under her name for her,”
McCarthy told TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie
Tuesday. It worked. Maurer was diagnosed with aggressive
early-stage cancer and needed a double
mastectomy. Her sister also needed a second
mastectomy and breast reconstruction. As part of
the procedure doctors took skin and fat from
Maurer’s lower abdomen and transplanted it to her sister, Kelly. Transplanted tissue from an identical twin is “the
ideal situation,” because they are genetic
matches, Dr. David Song, chief of plastic &
reconstructive surgery, UCMC, told TODAY. “You don’t have to use antirejection medication
because you have a part of you living with your
identical twin," Song said. And now the sisters are truly a part of each other. “The tissue that they transplant sits right over my
heart,” McCarthy told TODAY, smiling at her
sister. Maurer’s final message to women was to be
“proactive about their health.” “If you’re feeling that something is not right with
your body to take initiative, to have it looked at,”
she said. The Associated Press contributed to this report