Cancer By the Number

So, what's the reaction one should have when they find out they have a genetic mutation? For me, at age 24, I wanted to know what EXACTLY it meant. Like, how does this change the way I will live my life hereafter? Oh, and I cried. And as I learned more, I cried more and the scarier it became. BIG numbers were thrown at me... like 87%. It didn't take long for me to think of that as 9 out of 10. Here are the breast cancer odds for someone with the BRCA gene mutation:

I think 60% is the number for the BRCA2 mutation. I know 87% is the BRCA1 likelyhood.


And here's another chart that includes ovarian cancer and second occurrence breast cancer:

When a genetic scientist is telling you that your body is basically planning to screw you, it makes you feel betrayed. And, in that same appointment, the geneticist says that some women choose to remove the parts that are so likely to get cancer. Like, getting their ovaries/fallopian tubes cut out. And having full on mastectomies. Removing every bit of breast tissue, completely, without having cancer in the first place. Honestly, at first, this sounds crazy. Especially when there are other questions that were filling my head, such as:

I need ovaries to have kids... how will I know if i'm done having kids?
If you don't have ovaries, you don't have hormones, right?
Doesn't that mean that you're in menopause?

What the heck is menopause like?
Can't doctors just keep "checking" me, to make sure we catch the cancer early?
My breasts...are so many things...and I'm using them to nurse my babies...what about that?
How do I feel about my breasts?
What would my husbands reaction be if I have my breasts cut off?
What kind of options are there if I want to reconstruct the leftover skin into fake breasts?
Will people think I'm absolutely nuts if they hear I cut off my breasts, when I didn't even have cancer?
Do I care if people think I'm nuts?
I've never had a mammogram...what's that like?
What about insurance? Is this going to be expensive?
What is chemotherapy like? Is it really as horrible as it seems?
Are these drastic measures really better than actually having cancer?

Did I give this mutation to my kids?!

And a million other questions...but you get the idea.