I just read a news story about a woman who, at only the age of 35 years old, still in her prime and writing for big, successful TV shows, who had wanted to still bear children and get married some day, had made the radical decision to get both of her breasts and her ovaries removed.  Why would such a young woman make that type of difficult and seemingly radical decision?  Well, it’s because she decided to get tested for specific gene mutations after her mother died of breast cancer and also had ovarian cancer as well within her lifetime.

Because her mother had both, she decided, not thinking that she was really in any danger, but as a precaution, that she would go and get the newer tests that can test a woman for specific  gene mutations that increase the odds of certain kinds of female cancers, including breast cancer, and can help a woman decide what she wants to do with the information if she indeed finds that she is in a pool of women who have dramatically higher chances of getting the cancers.

Well, she thought she’d come out fine, and was devastated when she was told she tested positive for a gene mutation that made her over 80% more likely than other women to contract ovrian and/or breast cancer by the time she was in her older age.  She had some choices to make, and she ended up making the most radical choice available out there.  She ended up landing on the notion of having her breasts removed and also having her ovaries removed.

She so far has had only her breasts removed and is still coping with that, but she has decided until she is the age of 40 before she gets her ovaries removed, since she wants to somehow conceive a child before she has to undergo that radical surgery.  She says that she would like to find a life partner, but under such dire circumstances she may have to employ the services of a sperm bank. 

Some women may question the radical procedures, especially when the choice can be made to simply undergo rigorous preventive maintenance such as getting tested a lot more often for the beginning signs of the cancers, or making huge changes in lifestyle, all of which still do not guarantee that you will not get these cancers.  The fact is though, that doctors say this woman has actually dramatically increased her chances of survival by removing the parts that were most likely to become cancerous on her body. 

I’m mixed on this one.  I applaud this women for making such brave changes, especially in this day and age where a woman’s breasts are so often inflated with surgery and it seems every woman prizes breast implants and breast implant alternatives as part of their ubiquitous vanity routine (hey, I’m not immune), but I also think hey, life is short, and you never know how you’re going to ultimately die, so I just wonder how effective this testing is. 

I mean, does it ruin your life, or does it really give you a new lease on life?  I guess it’s different for everyone, that’s why we have the power to make individual medical decisions like this, no matter what anyone else may think. 

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Posted in Breasts in the News by Breast News Girl No Comments Yet