Blood and Guts

My name is Sharon and I am 40 yrs old. I am a mother of a 3yr and 5 yr old and a wife to an amazing man. I am blessed.  About 10 months ago I found out that I was positive for having an alteration in my Brca1 gene. As a result I have an up to 87% chance of developing breast cancer and between a 50- 60% chance of developing ovarian cancer. (These are the stats I just recently received.) I decided to get tested after hearing of my mother being positive for Brca1.  She is a breast cancer survivor,  her mother had passed away from breast cancer and there were a few cousins and aunts who also had cancer. Understanding our family history, the Doctors agreed to the test.  Its a simple blood test and then a waiting game where they then send it off to a special lab to get it analyzed.  My Aunt, who was tested negative, said, "It takes Blood and Guts- Your blood for the test and the guts to have it done." After waiting about 2 weeks and trying not to think about it,  I went to my appointment to hear the results. I don't recommend going to this appointment alone. There was a lot of information to take in and it would have been nice to have the support and extra set of ears to absorb what was being said and what was ahead.
Bottom line- if you are thinking you might want to get tested then bring it up with your doctor. If they don't think it is necessary and you still feel in your Gut you want to have the test you can always play the "emotional" card, how it is causing you stress, loss of sleep not knowing etc... It is an expensive test-rather have the insurance company pay for it.
 If you get tested and you're negative then it is one less thing to worry about. If you are positive the doctors will watch you like a hawk. Don't worry about making any decisions-everyone has a different situation, "journey" I like to say. This is just mine.
More to come.