Breast Cancer Awareness -- Part 1

It has been a very, very long time since I have blogged. To be honest, I went through a major medical procedure this past summer, and as much as I wanted to share my experience, a little voice said, "No, not yet." To blog or not to blog. I have waited and waited, and now that it is Breast Cancer Awareness month, the time finally seems right to tell my story. Many of my friends already know about this; many people who know me have no idea. My aim is to make people AWARE; if I can help another woman, then I have accomplished my goal.

A long time ago, when I was an innocent little girl,(yes, that was a LONG time ago), my mother had breast cancer in both breasts. Having radical mastectomies was the only alternative back then, and so I grew up seeing a big scar going from one side of my mom's chest to the other. Her first breast was removed before I was born, and the second was removed when I was about eight years old. I remember her telling me that she had a lump, and allowing me to feel the weird bump underneath her skin. Fortunately, mom lived to the ripe age of 80 years old. Cancer did not get her! Lucky for me to have had her in my life that long!

Flash forward to April, 2010. My new ob/gyn (recommended by friends, and located close to home) asks me about my family history. After I tell him about my late mom's bout with breast cancer, he then asks me if I'm Jewish. Affirmative. Without giving me much of a choice, he says he wants to test me for the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 breast cancer genes. Yay for modern medicine! Women with a family history of BC and of Ashkenazi Jewish descent are candidates for this test. Doc said insurance would cover most of the cost (it's expensive!). I went for it, without any thought whatsoever about the consequences. To tell the truth, I thought it would be a good idea to know whether or not I was a carrier, and that was it. I had no plans to act on that information.

Little did I know that this test would change my life.

Of course, I got the phone call from Doc with the test results while I was at the market. Somewhere around the ketchup aisle my phone buzzed and Doc wasted no time, "You're positive for BRCA 1." Doc is soft spoken, and I could hardly hear him.

"Positive?" I repeated, in disbelief.

My mind started spinning. Doc mentioned something about removing my ovaries (BRCA 1 women are high risk for both breast and ovarian cancer). There I was in the market discussing surgery. SURGERY! I pulled my cart over to what I thought was the aisle less traveled. Ironically, it was the kosher food section.

My conversation with Doc left me reeling. I finished my shopping in a daze. Time to go home and talk with my husband. I knew I would need to go on the internet and do some research. LOTS of research.

Stay tuned for Part 2.