Brave or Afraid?

As I watch Angelina Jolie make the news once again for her “heroic” decision to undergo another surgery to eliminate her ovarian cancer, I think…it’s a big deal, but it’s not a “big” deal. What I mean by this is that  people do what  Angelina did all of the time  but no one pays attention because, well they aren't a sex symbol, movie star, or poster woman for  a thousand and one humanitarian organizations. I know because the women in my family have been doing it for over 10 years, including myself.

            My mother died of breast cancer at only 23 years old. Her mother died of ovarian cancer at 57. My mother’s sister also died of ovarian cancer before age 60. Of my mother’s three remaining sisters, two have had their ovaries removed upon turning 40, and one also opted to have a preventative double mastectomy with reconstruction.

            According to one study, only 1/3 of African American women who meet the criteria for genetic testing are actually referred. I was only referred because I insisted  testing for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. If positive, I would have had up to a 60% of developing ovarian cancer in my lifetime and up to an 85% chance of developing breast cancer. After receiving my results in the fall of 2014, I elected to also have my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed last month at age 36. Within the next year, I too will have a double mastectomy with reconstruction.

            I didn't once look at it as brave, but almost as necessary. While my results were negative, there was variant, which means there was a mutation that could be linked to cancer, but that it hasn't been determined yet. However, recent research has indicated that there are more genetic mutations being discovered that could be linked to cancers. As African-American women specifically, we develop breast cancer at an earlier age and it tends to be more aggressive. So while I’m no world famous icon, I am a member of a medically under served population who has experienced the trauma of watching loved ones suffer from the disease. Therefore, I choose to act.  Being a career mom and dream chaser, surgery is scary; recovery has been and will be difficult. What’s more unbearable at this moment in my life, is hearing those dreaded words, “You have cancer.” That doesn't make me a hero, it makes me afraid. 

Read the full version here http://www.forharriet.com/2015/04/why-i-chose-to-fight-cancer-by-removing.html