Mutated Gene

Just when you think you're done...the beast of a disease called cancer has other plans.

 

I am thankful to continue to be cancer-free some two years from first detecting the tumour in my breast.  I was offered to go into the Hereditary Program and it turns out I do carry a mutated BRCA2 gene.  I thought this sounded really technical but the BR stands for "breast" and the CA stands for "cancer".  Angelina Jolie has a mutated BRCA1 gene and we all know she was proactive and had a double mastectomy.  It is suspected my darling Gram, who lived to be 90, actually had ovarian cancer at the end of her life, although it wasn't emphatically mentioned in her medical records.  As a result of the mutation, I have had a bilateral oophorectomy, which means I've had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.  They were biopsied and found to be cancer-free.  My uterus was removed in 2007 so that was already gone.  As a bonus, my surgeon indicated I could look forward to a Fu Manchu, a lovely moustache and beard combo.  Bring on the laser, I say!

 

The toughest part of finding out about the mutated gene is that each of my two beautiful daughters (27 and 19) have a 50/50 chance of carrying either a healthy gene or the mutated one.  This doesn't diminish with the following generations so I pray neither carry the gene and it ends with me.  Like any mother, I would give my life to keep them both safe from this disease.  My mother has recently tested positive so she has to face the same "lower bits" surgery soon.  Due to her age, she has opted to monitor her breasts bi-annually.  Thankfully, my female cousins on my mother's side tested negative - such a relief.

 

Going forward, I will have my right breast removed.  Although I don't relish the thought of another mastectomy, I'm hopeful this will go much smoother, as there's not a tumour to worry about, no chemotherapy and no radiation.  My thought is that I will have both the removing surgeon and the implanting surgeon in the operating room at the same time so they can remove both (my "bag" needs adjusting anyway) and just implant both sides at the same time.  I'm thinking smaller than Dolly Parton but larger than Kate Hudson.  I will no longer have any sensation and won't be able to use the line, "I have one stiff nipple," when it's chilly outside but they will at least match.  I will think up something as tattoos later.  I was going to go with the maple leaf on one and a beaver on the other (oh, the jokes) but may rethink both.  Suggestions?