BRCA 2 positive and considering surgery.

Hi

I am sorry that you are having to go through this difficult decision making at such a young age!  I was confirmed BRCA1 after surviving Breast Cancer aged 34 and for a second time at 35.  I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy with immediate DIEP reconstruction and oophorectomy. 

Now how do you decide? This is a difficult one to answer as it  is down to each individual on how they make their choice.  For me after having BC, then been told I had the BRCA gene I knew I had to do all that I could to prevent it coming back!  Believe me it was one of the most difficult decisions I think I have ever had to make but I know I have done the right thing! 

So we will start with the pros.....

Biggest pro, You are reducing the risk of getting breast cancer.

You elevate the worry from the yearly screening results

It is amazing what they can do nowadays with surgery techniques.  Hopefully you would be able to go with the less invasive surgery of Implants.

You are having a boob job courtesy of the NHS! It costs celebrities thousands! :-)  

Cons ......

It is major surgery, that can’t be taken lightly.  

You are removing currently healthy breasts with no guarantee you will be happy with the outcome.  It’s like insurance, you pay just in case, you may never get Breast Cancer! 

You have to learn to love your boobs again! 

A question I used to ask myself, was if I decided against surgery and my cancer came back, would I of wondered what if? And the answer was yes!

You are already questioning whether next time, will you be so lucky and although you are lucky to now have access to regular screening, can you cope every year waiting for the results? 

Every day, even every hour you will change your mind.  I was still asking myself, am I doing the right thing when I was on my way down to surgery but that’s normal, it is such a huge decision. The day I told my surgeon I wanted to go ahead, although I was still scared and doubted my decision, I had a sense of relief as deep down I knew I had to do it! 

You certainly need to speak to a surgeon to discuss your options, if you haven’t done already.  Write your questions down before you go, even the silly ones. Mine was extremely good and even showed me many pictures of boobs which had been reconstructed.  Also don’t be afraid to ask for further appointments, you can’t always make the decision after the first one, I went 3 times! 

I do have a family member who at 27 was diagnosed with BC and BRCA1 and underwent implant reconstruction, she is also very pleased with her new boobs! 

Surgery isn’t for everyone and unfortunately you are the only one who can make the decision. I can only speak of my own experience and if I could go back in time and do something to prevent me going through Breast Cancer, I wouldn’t hesitate. 

I hope I have helped in some way or at least given you food for thought! 

If you have any further questions, please just ask. 

Good Luck!

x

Hi I found out I had the BRCA 1 gene fault 5 years after I had developed breast cancer aged 48 and had to go through 6 lots of chemo then radiotherapy.  What made my decision to have my operation(, I had bilateral double mastectomy and reconstruction from my stomach at the end of Feb this year, ) was talking to someone at work who had a friend who exactly the same as myself had breast cancer 7 years ago and went through all the treatment etc only to have it return 7 years later and not be picked up on her mammagram.  This frightened me and i got the ball rolling for my operation.  The operation I had was 10 hours  long as it involves microsurgery to connect blood vessels for the stomach fat into your breasts, however if you could just have implants straight in it is much more straight forward and the recovery time is much shorter, my recovery was 12 weeks.  It is an extremely hard decision for you to make being so young and I would do as much research as you can into it all, family history etc. does there appear to be a common age in your family to develop breast cancer ?  Also I have to add 3 weeks after my operation I was called in for pathology results of the tissue they removed and it turned out I had a 2mm cancer in my right breast surrounded by 9mm of pre-cancer so im having chemo after all !  This would not have been detected on any MRI scans or mammagrams until it was bigger by which time it could have spread.  Sorry for the essay but hope ive helped a little in your decision making and wishing you all the best !

Hi,

I'm in a similar position to you. I know you posted this back in September but I've only just signed up to this and seen your message. 

I'm 28 at the moment and have the BRCA2 gene mutation. I've decided to have a bilateral mastectomy, I know it's a lot to get your head around and it is easy to think it happens to older people but the fact is it does happen to people who are younger too, one of my aunties was my age when she was diagnosed and they lost her a few years later.

For me personally I didn't want to risk it, hence why I've made the decision to have the mastectomy. I'd rather get rid of the worry and will be having my surgery in the next few months. 

There are obvious pros and cons but for me the pros of doing it massively outweigh the cons...I could keep my breasts and keep the odds of an 88% chance of getting breast cancer at some point OR I could get rid of them and my chances are less than 5%. 

I hope this helps...I've tried to cover as much as possible but if you need anything just let me know

I'm sorry to hear about your auntie. You're right, I think that's where the truth lies: that it could happen at any age including now and we have the chance to prevent it. 

I've contacted my doctor and I'm having my initial appointment in December so fingers crossed that goes okay. 

I hope your surgery goes as well as possible! Thank you for your advice, and the same to you, if you ever need someone to talk to or anything let me know :)