The POSSIBILITY of Cancer, by having BRCA1 Mutation

First and foremost, I want to express to you how sorry I am that you are
faced with such a scary diagnosis.

I am here to tell you; you are not alone and we
will get through this together. The key to fighting a powerful fight is having
those you love to support you and staying as positive as possible.

My first experience with cancer
was the POSSIBLITY
of getting cancer. I didn’t have cancer yet, however my cousin called me (on my
dad’s side) and informed me she got tested for the BRCA1 gene mutation. She proceeded to tell
me that she had the mutation and she was going to consider preventative measures
to try to prevent cancer.

Preventative Measures

This would include a double Mastectomy and hysterectomy’.

How I reacted

Let me tell you, I went into complete denial!! There is no way I could get
cancer!

I decided to talk to a genetic specialist. She told me exactly what I didn’t
want to hear. I was 30 years old, I had recently gotten married, and our kids
were very young. On a side note, I had also just gone through getting breast implants,
and for the first time in my life I felt comfortable in my own skin. She told
me I would have to go through with the mastectomy and hysterectomy as my cousin
had previously told me. I was really hoping the news I would get would be
different. I was hoping I could take a pill to prevent cancer. Anything but a mastectomy
at least!!

I decided to ignore the information that was given to me, sweep it under the
rug, act like it never happened.

1 month goes by…

I was massaging my breasts (to soften them up after the implant procedure)
and I felt a tiny lump, I immediately thought it had something to do with the
implants. I called the Provider’s office and they said it wouldn’t be due to
the implants. I then made an appointment with my Provider. I had my Provider
look at the lump. She scheduled an ultrasound.

THE ULTRASOUND

The lump looked very suspicious. I decided to wait a week to get the lump biopsied
because I was leaving in a few days for a cruise we had planned for a year. The
biopsy would prevent me from getting in the water and possibly rupturing the
implant.

The Genetic Test

I decided to follow through with the genetic testing,

Keep in mind if you have a history of breast cancer in your family, please
take this seriously.

FAST Forward

I got back from the cruise and had a voicemail to contact the office who did
the genetic testing, they had my results. I called; the results took the breath
out of me. I carried the BRCA 1 gene mutation.

I went in the next day to do the biopsy.

Two days later, I received the phone call that turned my whole world upside
down. I have cancer!

To learn more about the BRCA 1 and 2 Gene mutation please click the link
below.

Link:

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/young_women/bringyourbrave/hereditary_breast_cancer/brca_gene_mutations.htm?utm_campaign=CDC_BYB_22&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=SEM&utm_content=gen