BRCA1 time

A while ago I talked about the BRCA1 gene that my mother carries, it is the gene that has hit the news with Angelina Jolie and Michelle Heaton having both had a double mastectomy and soon to have hysterectomy I believe. It is known to drastically increase the carriers chances of suffering from a beast or ovarian cancer.

With my mother carrying the gene, there is a 50/50 chance that my sister or myself may too have the gene and we have finally decided to go an discuss the possibility of having the blood test to discover if we do.

We will be going to see the specialist in around 6 to 8 weeks to discuss the implications surrounding the results and then decide is we want to know.

A lot of people's knee jerk reactions are "how can you not have found out already?" but when you actually factor in the reality of knowing, then it makes you sit back and think.

If I do decide to go ahead with finding out, which presently I'm pretty sure I will, then I have to make sure that I have all my options clear in my head. The strain in our family is mostly ovarian, so the decision would be to have a double oophorectomy. Not only is this major surgery, it also means that I will go through a very sudden onset menopause and will definitely not be able to have children without intervention. Tom and I currently don't want children, there is simply no room or want for them right now and we aren't sure there ever will be. However, having the choice taken away from you is a hugely different thing and something that would personally be quite a heavy thought. There are options to freeze eggs etc, but that carries it own set of heartaches and risks.

From the thoughts I have had on the subject before, and now, my main concern is the affects of menopause on me and my personality and long term affects of going through it so early. There is a lot to consider and I have a lot to read up on before seeing the specialist, so that I can get as much as I can from the meeting.

I am choosing to focus on all the positives in this situation, even if I were to be a carrier of the gene and I am hoping that this continues. Easy to write, doubt it will be so easy in reality.