Hi
i’ve just joined this group - after reading through the comments and replies I’d wish I’d done it sooner. I was diagnosed with the BRCA2 gene in autumn last year and was given various consultations on the options available which was a lot to take in. I haven’t done anything about it (apart from routine mammogram and MRI) but this has been due to my sister - who also had the faulty gene - getting secondary BC in January and dying from it in August this year, just before she turned 40. There was just too much happening at once to think about my own situation.
My sister’s death has been a wake up call for me. I realise after all the consultations I’ve had that the best option would be double mastectomy (tamoxifen worries me due to side effects and ultimately it didn’t help my sister when she took it). I am just extremely anxious about having the surgery especially as I have two young kids and have to pick them up/carry them a lot, and I enjoy an active lifestyle so don’t want to be affected by any longer term pain from surgery.
It might help me to know what approximate recovery times people had for the surgery, and how people felt about the risks of surgery itself, whether they found ways to cope with feeling anxious building up to the surgery etc. It is a massive thing to do - to take away part of your body and feels like it could have physical and psychological effects.
Thank you.
Hi Ali86 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I'm not a member of this forum but noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list again.
Wishing you all the best with whatever you decide to do.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
