With a strong history of breast and ovarian cancer in your family but no option for preventative care unless you take out a mortage to pay for it (masectomy and hysterectomy) would you want to know if you had the gene? Would you go through genetic testing? And if you have done it or not gone through with it why or why not?
4 Replies
My Mum had Ovarian Cancer, her sister breast cancer and brother bowel cancer so Mum decided to get tested. She had the gene, so I got tested because I preferred to know if I had a higher risk so I could take precautions if need be. My test also came back positive ( I got the results when I was pregnant with my first child). I had a great obstetrician who discussed all options with me and discussed if I wanted to take preventative action (surgery) and if I had finished my family. I went on to have one more child then booked to have my ovaries removed once my youngest finished breast feeding (1 year old). I have also been having MRIs and mammograms every six months to check for changes until I have a mastectomy (start planning at the end of the year). I am almost 36 and had my ovaries removed nearly a year ago.
Cost wise, we didn't have too much outlay for the ovary surgery between Medicare and hospital cover.
My reasoning for going down the surgery path rather than the vigilance path was I would prefer to reduce the risk of actually getting cancer rather than treat for it once detected.
Best wishes for your future.
Thank you for your response. My situation is my fathers mother (grandmother) died of breast cancer. Her sister ovarian and their mother (great grandmother) had ovarian as well as 3 of her sisters. My surviving great aunty has had a full hysterectomy to reduce her risk. I have been offered testing publicly but i have no hospital cover to go any further if i do have it. Ive also been told it may affect life insurance and possibly health insurance if i know i have it. Im only 28 im booked in for my first mammogram ultrasound its all a bit overwhelming so i really appreciate hearing someone else's story.
I was 29 when I tested positive.
When I was discussing my options with my Dr, there was the discussion of going private or public. I opted for private simply because I wanted the option of having the same Dr through the whole process from planning the surgery to having the sugery. I would suggest having a chat to your Dr about your options for the surgery if you were to test positive for BRCA.
In regards to insurance costs, my life/income protection insurance is twice as much as my husband's, but that was calculated even before I found out about BRCA. Any insurance which requires family history which includes cancer cases is always likely to be higher. Once I have had my mastectomy I will be looking at renewing my policy as my risk of cancer will be much lower than it is now. Health insurance I think they can only take into consideration your personal health history, but I may be wrong.
I started getting quite worried during my first Mammogram as I had no idea what the process was and expected to be out after 30 minutes. I ended in being in there for close to 1.5 hours for various tests due to my breast tissue being dense (this is usual and why they only start mammograms later in life in usual cases). I started with the normal test, then needed the tighter view (smaller paddle and tighter squeeze), on one breast. Even squirted some breast milk even though I hadn't been feeding for 11 months:) then needed additional ultrasound on that breast. All worked out fine this time for me. Best wishes for your journey.
I would want to know, I would worry constantly if I didn't and that's no way to live. If I couldn't afford the surgery I would start a go fund me page, there are a lot of generous people out there. Good luck