Breast Cancer Stories: Jennifer, Breast Cancer survivor

This is just a short version of my story. It starts with my mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27 years old. Because she was so young, and had already lost 2 grandmothers to cancer, they put her in a research study for genetic breast cancer. She lived with the cancer on and off for 7 years and lost her battle at the age of 34. After her death, 2 of her sisters were diagnosed, and 2 aunts were diagnosed. All but one lost their battles as well. Because of this, our whole family joined in the research study. I and 6 other family members were tested for the BRCA2 gene mutation, and 4 of us tested positive. That was when I decided to take charge of my life and have the prophylactic (preventative) double mastectomy. (Two of my cousins chose the same option). It was a huge decision, but also an easy one for me. By doing the surgery it would reduce my risk of getting breast cancer from an 85% chance to a 4% chance. I had gone in to see several doctors to talk about my surgical options. I had scheduled a total hysterectomy for June 5, 2008, which was a hard decision since that would mean that I would go into menopause before I was thirty. But that would deplete the estrogen production in my body, which causes breast cancer. And then my mastectomies would be scheduled for September 2008. For some reason, probably my guardian angel watching over me, a week before my hysterectomy was scheduled, I got this overwhelming feeling that I did not want to do it anymore. So I called the doctor’s office and cancelled the surgery and moved my double mastectomy up to July 24th, 2008. I had the double mastectomy at the age of 29. A week later I went for my post-op visit and was blind-sided when the doctor told me that they found breast cancer! How ironic, I was doing the surgeries to prevent myself from getting breast cancer and it had already started! Then I thought back to how I had cancelled the hysterectomy back in June on a whim. (“It was a God thing”, as my Aunt Kay would say.) Fortunately the cancer was only about 1cm, so it was caught early. I went on to have a second surgery where they removed 17 auxiliary lymph nodes, which were all clear, so I did not have to go through chemo or radiation, which was a blessing. I also went through a total hysterectomy at the same time, and started my reconstruction surgery. It has now been 16 months and I’m recovered and doing great! Source: Youngsurvival.org