JoanneS

Several of the women in my BC Support group have one of the 2 BRCA genes. Yes, there are 2 possible 'bad' genes that can cause breast and related cancers. One of them had melanoma (one of the related cancers) when she was 17. All of these women have elected to have double mastectomies, hysterectomies, and oopherectomies (removal of the ovaries). They are still at risk for brain and bone cancer, but much less so now. The one who had melanoma has never had breast cancer, but her sister did and had the test, which was positive, because several female relative had had BC, and that is why she was tested. All of them are brave, pragmatic women, and I feel very priviledged to know them and have them as my sisters in breast cancer support. We get together twice a month, laugh a lot and get serious when the need arises, especially for newbies or recurrences, and we're VERY supportive of each other, a lot like lionesses in a family pack.

We share information about doctors - oncoolgists, surgeons and plastic surgeons. There isn't one right doctor for everyone, because we all have different needs. And we share info about our different pre- and post-surgical treatment - chemo, radiation and anti-hormone. I'm nearly 5 years in remission, and it's amazing how much more has been learned about breast cancer treatment in these 5 years. It has become a chronic disease instead of a terminal diagnosis, IF it's caught early, as it almost always is in this day of mammos, MRIs, ultra sounds, and self-exams. Don't forget those self-exams! 5% of BC tumors DON'T show up on mammos - mine didn't. You don't know about them until they are big enough to feel in a self-exam! Fortunately, those are the ones that are SLOW-growing, so you still are likely to catch them early like I did at stage IIa.