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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am BRCA2+ and have had a prophylactic double mastectomy and oopherectomy (ovaries removed) and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. My mother passed away from breast cancer when she was 44 and I was 18. I am 42 right now and my children are only 9.  I still feel like I have missed a ton losing my mom at 18. I couldn't imagine what my children would go through if they lost me at 10.  When the BRCA test first came out, I didn't have kids yet. My ob-gyn told me to wait to take the test until I was (i) close to the age of my mother's diagnosis, (ii) through having children and (iii) ready to actually take action if the test came back positive.  When I was 39 I took the test with a geneticist in another state (where I lived at the time). The genetic counselor told me my odds of testing positive were low (based on the family history I gave her). But I had a feeling I was going to test positive.  When the results came back positive for BRCA2, I have to admit that I was actually relieved. I hated going for my yearly mammograms (I had been going since 30) and didn't want to have to keep going until I got the bad results that I always felt were going to come one day.  I was happy that I could do something proactive about this -- I guess maybe have some control over it in the way I never did when my mom was sick. As other posters have said, people with BRCA1 and BRCA2 are also at risk for ovarian cancer, and, after getting the positive results, the geneticist and genetic counselor more or less told me to leave their office and go get my ovaries removed.  They didn't want me to wait a long time for that surgery. At the end, my timing was: April - BRCA2+ result, May - Breast MRI - normal (bought me a little time on the mastectomies), August - prophylactic oopherectomy, November -- prophylactic double mastectomies with start of reconstruction, Jan - final reconstructive surgery.  No one should judge what anyone else does. This is a very personal decision and OP, you have to do what is right for you. All I can tell you is that before my surgery I used to worry every day about breast cancer. Now I feel that I could still get hit by a bus and die at 44. But I am not going to die of breast cancer.  Best of luck to you.[/quote]

Thanks for sharing your story, PP. Congrats to you. One of my dearest friends will have a prophylactic double mastectomy and immediate reconstruction next week at Georgetown. She has a similar story to yours - mother and aunt had breast cancer, one sister had breast cancer, another sister tested BRCA2+ and had a mastectomy/reconstruction, and my friend tested positive as well. I've gone with her to some of her appointments at Georgetown and was told that her risk of developing breast cancer will drop from 80% to 5% (because she is keeping the outer part of her breasts). Her friends, sisters and I are all gearing up to take care of her during her recovery (she is single). One doctor told her there was no need to rush to have her ovaries out because she doesn't have a family history of ovarian cancer. But another doctor said she needs to get that done as soon as possible. It's impossible for her to think about that until the mastectomy/reconstruction is over.

My friend had a good experience with http://www.bebrightpink.org/  It's a support group for young women who are high risk for breast cancer. My friend was able to talk with another woman close to her age who has already had a prophylactic double mastectomy/reconstruction. That was a very good conversation. It helped my friend take the final steps emotionally to commit to doing this.

Best wishes to everyone dealing with this. [/quote]

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