I was 24 and breast feeding my second child when I found out I have the BRCA1 gene mutation. My doctors recommended that I have mammograms and breast MRI's with IV contrast, annually. However, you can't have MRI's or mammograms when nursing or pregnant. I finished nursing baby two, got pregnant again, had my third child, and nursed her for one year. At age 27 I went in for my first mammogram and breast MRI. This was stressful! Since then (so for the past 5 years) I've been in to the hospital every 6 months to alternate between these two screening methods. Generally, I get a call back after my mammograms saying "there is something in the films that we want to look closer at". But of course, they can't get me an appointment for a few days. So, I stress and cry and panic that this is the time they will find something. Days later I go back in for more concentrated mammogram images. And, to date, they haven't found anything beyond calcification spots. But I've about made myself crazy with worry. And MRI's are the worst. Mostly because of the IV. I HATE getting IV's!!! After the IV is placed, they have me lay, topless, on my stomach. They position my breasts to hang down into two holes. The room is always freezing! My head rests straight down on a cushion thing. My legs have to be bent up, resting on some sort of support block. Then they leave the room and slide me into the tube. It's really loud and makes funny beeping noises. I finally learned to ask that they turn off the MRI fan, so I don't freeze. And I have to lay perfectly still. It used to take nearly an hour, but they got a new machine last year that has dropped the time to 25ish minutes. When they put the IV contrast through your veins, you can taste it. A very strange feeling. And all of this is super expensive. We've met our deductible (and then some) every year since this process started. SO, I'm tired of it all! The time, the cost, the stress, the worry, the pain, etc. I can't imagine going through these 6 month rituals for the next 50 years of my life. Knowing that one of these times they will find cancer.
The odds are stacked against me. In my lifetime, I have an 87% chance of getting breast cancer. Why should I think I would be the one person out of 10 (who have this BRCA1 gene mutation) who would escape it? If I don't have a PBM, and get breast cancer, I would then have to have a mastectomy anyway. PLUS, chemotherapy, radiation, and the chance that the cancer has metastasized. Metastasized means it has spread to other parts of your body. Metastatic breast cancer is not something to mess around with. It kills.
What Is Metastatic Breast Cancer?
Metastatic breast cancer is also classified as Stage 4 breast cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body. This usually includes the lungs, liver, bones or brain.
How does cancer spread, or metastasize?
The spread of cancer usually happens through one or more of the following steps:
- Cancer cells invade nearby healthy cells. When the healthy cell is taken over, it too can replicate more abnormal cells.
- Cancer cells penetrate into the circulatory or lymph system. Cancer cells travel through the walls of nearby lymph vessels or blood vessels.
- Migration through circulation. Cancer cells are carried by the lymph system and the bloodstream to other parts of the body.
- Cancer cells lodge in capillaries. Cancer cells stop moving as they are lodged in capillaries at a distant location and divide and migrate into the surrounding tissue.
- New small tumors grow. Cancer cells form small tumors at the new location (called micrometastases.)
- http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/metastatic-breast-cancer
Because I am choosing to have a PREVENTATIVE mastectomy, I am doing all I can to avoid chemotherapy, radiation, and possible metastatic cancer. It feels right to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment