KRISTEN DAHLGREN
AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST. STORYTELLER. ADVENTURER. MOTHER.
MEET iRISE AMBASSADOR: KRISTEN DAHLGREN
As a network correspondent for NBC, Kristen Dahlgren is driven by a desire to forge connections with other people and to help them. Her stories about everything from national disasters to medical discoveries have impacted countless people across the country and saved lives. She had no idea one of them would be her own.
In September 2019, on her 47th birthday, Kristen noticed a dent in her right breast and a thickening beneath it. It immediately reminded her of a story she had done three years prior about a study that found that, for 1 in 6 women, breast cancer does not present as a lump. Kristen knew she needed to be examined, but her demanding job required her to travel to North Carolina the following day to cover a hurricane. Exams would have to wait. Her husband, Greg, wasn’t having it, insisting that she contact her doctor, who ordered scans. In between live shots, Kristen ran to a local hospital for a mammogram and ultrasound. Days later she was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer.
In April 2020, following eight cycles of chemotherapy, 25 sessions of radiation, and surgeries, Kristen celebrated being cancer-free. But devastating setbacks were to come: Reconstructive surgery using her own tissue to restore sensation in her breast was unsuccessful and left her with debilitating pain. Two painful surgeries to correct it would follow, as would treatment for lymphedema. Today, she is healing, still reporting, and using her experiences to inform other women about breast cancer and its life-altering challenges.
She is managing it all while raising her daughter and relishing a balanced life in Vermont with her family.
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO MAINTAINING A POSITIVE OUTLOOK?
For me it's always been about trusting and following my heart. I've taken some chances in life and my career that may have seemed crazy at the time, but I've always ended up in a better place and discovered some pretty incredible new territory. With cancer, nobody consents to the turns your life will take, but I do think we can find a beautiful new place in our lives moving forward. I try to remember the silver linings. For me it was finding balance, being forced to decide what was really important for me and prioritizing those things, and my life is so much better because of it. That reminds me of a quote by Vivian Greene: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. I am definitely dancing in the rain and I plan on keeping it up!
During cancer treatment, work was really helpful for me. NBC was flexible enough that, on days when I didn’t feel well, I didn’t have to go in, which was really helpful. Work was the thing that made me feel normal. It gave me something else to focus on. For me, what was really important to staying positive was not sitting around and thinking about cancer all of the time. So, I was able to have that distraction. That really helped me to feel like myself.
Cancer can take away so much. It can really make you feel different. Your life is forever changed. But there are a lot of things that you can hold onto. You can still do things that you love doing.
WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION YOU’VE HAD TO MAKE TO PURSUE YOUR DESTINY?
I’ve had to take some chances both professionally and personally. I’ve moved across the country for love. My partnership with Greg is a huge part of my destiny and being able to get through this and be productive. I was well-established in Los Angeles when we were dating and I decided that, even if it damaged my career, I wanted to put him and my relationship first. So, I moved back to New York.
WHAT IS THE BEST LIFE LESSON THAT TOOK YOU THE LONGEST TO LEARN?
That you can find balance. It’s still a struggle at times. I think that I didn’t for a long time. Cancer really prompted me to ask: What do you want your life to look like? We have a limited time on this earth. Why not live the life you dreamed?
BREAST CANCER RELATED
WHAT IS THE MOST POSITIVE THING TO COME OUT OF YOUR BREAST CANCER JOURNEY?
Balance. And I’m still working on it. Through the combination of my chemotherapy treatment and the pandemic, I started working from home more. I never thought that “network correspondent” was a job that I could do from home. Before cancer, I was trying to figure out how to raise a child and do this job that is so demanding, and requires so much time and so much travel. I was really struggling with how to do that. It was a blessing to have to step back and look at what my priorities are, which I think you do when you’re faced with a potentially fatal disease. What’s really important to me? There’s no question that is family. It is nature and outdoor activities. And for me, it was also Vermont, which is where my family was living and where I grew up spending summers. We were staying here during the pandemic and I thought: Well, why not make this work? I can work from home and my husband was able to move his business online. I went to NBC and asked. I said “I really want to prioritize my health and being close to my family is a big part of that. I think I can live a healthier existence and still do my job really well.”
I’m so lucky to have an employer that really cares about my health, my family. I still give them a lot and do a good job. I have this newfound perspective on life, and maybe bring a little something different to my storytelling because of these experiences.
BIG PICTURE
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE?
I find that making connections is my highest purpose. Not just connections with those closest to me, but connections with other humans. A big part of me telling my story was wanting to help other people and share my experience at the cost of my privacy. From the moment I was diagnosed, I felt compelled to try and save other people and let other people know that I’m going through it, too, and they’re not alone. And that somebody cares. That’s what I love about the work that I do. I care about other people and our viewers, about other women. And making things a little bit easier for someone else.
Sometimes those connections are really instant, and there’s just something about people that you connect with on many levels. I instantly felt a connection to Gillian. I am really inspired by her. I wanted to learn more about her and be more involved in the iRise Above community. And you know, sometimes it’s with people I will never meet, but who watch my stories and see what I’ve done. That’s always been my driving factor in being a storyteller -- wanting to touch people.
WHAT IS A QUOTE THAT INSPIRES YOU?
“The best view comes after the hardest climb” -- unknown author. As someone who loves hiking and the mountains, I’m drawn to this, but obviously it’s about so much more. Before cancer, I was working really long hours, I would leave before my daughter woke up and often get home after bed time. I was exhausted and struggling to be everything to everyone. Frankly, I felt like I was failing on all fronts. I wasn’t really present in any of my roles, always feeling like I should be focused on something else at that moment. Cancer was a huge kick in the gut. It devastated me and stopped me in my tracks, but being knocked completely off kilter allowed me to find a new balance. I instantly knew what the most important things were in my life. When Covid suddenly allowed me to work from home, I knew what I wanted to do. I never thought I would be able to work from home as a network news correspondent, but through the wonders of technology, occasional travel and some super understanding, amazing bosses, I’ll be able to do just that, beyond Covid. We moved away from the city. I get my daughter off the bus most days and am there when she wakes up. Through an iRise webinar on movement, I was reminded that motion is good for me, body and soul. In the past week I have played freeze tag, skipped down the sidewalk not stepping on any cracks, and kept tapping a balloon in the air for at least 10 minutes. It has been great for me, and for my little girl. Cancer (and iRise) have reminded me to play and prioritize Oh, and when I step out my front door, I have the most amazing view. The ‘climb’ has been well worth it!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF WHEN YOU WERE FIRST DIAGNOSED?
The advice I would give myself is to be gentle with yourself. I'm used to being a high achiever and accomplishing goals. To that end, I felt really good when I worked through cancer, tolerated chemotherapy, and seemed to ease past radiation during a pandemic. I had crushed it. Society called me a warrior. And then came all of the complications. I was one of the rare cases where my DIEP flap surgery didn't work. I was in constant discomfort. My stomach and my legs were numb, in addition to my chest. My arm was swelling and aching due to lymphedema. My range of motion was restricted.
What I realized is that cancer is not linear. There are peaks and valleys. There are unexpected obstacles. I've been discouraged and frustrated. I've felt like I should be doing this 'better,' and then I found the grace to be kind to myself and accept help from an amazing community. While my path through breast cancer may be different, my journey is not alone. There is an amazing sisterhood of breast cancer survivors willing to help. When I got my ultrasound results and headed home from that hurricane to get a biopsy, my colleague Andrea Mitchell offered to drive hours to the airport hotel where I was staying so I wouldn't be alone.
Anyone who watches Andrea on NBC and MSNBC knows she's a pretty busy woman, but she knew firsthand how scary it was to wait for confirmation it was cancer. Then, a friend of mine who is an ICU nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering arranged her schedule so she could take off every other Tuesday. Instead of relaxing on her days off, she came to the hospital where she worked, to sit with me. She had been through it a few years before and knew how to make me smile even while toxic chemicals were being pumped into my body. And then there was the stranger who spent hours on the phone answering my questions about how to tell young children about cancer and then sent me delicious care packages through treatment.
More recently I have tapped into the iRise community and found comfort and inspiration in the women who are living with and after cancer.It's been vital to my body and my mind.I'm working out again and finding more peace, even as I continue to confront challenges. Thanks to this amazing group of women who have tackled this before me, I'm being gentle with myself as I navigate this diagnosis that has shaped me but doesn't define me.I am a work in progress.Thank you to all of the survivors/thrivers who have taught me that's ok.
