starting Rads on Feb27..... BRAC testing is pending.

josie123

HI I will go in for my mapping session on Feb 27.I had my genetic testing yesterday.The NP talked about my risks if it came back positive for BRAC.She said if it's positive my risk of a secondary breast cancer is like 63% and she asked me if I had ever considered a mastectomy because if I went through Rads first and then decided later on down the road to get a Mastectomy I might not be a candidate for reconstruction .Mastectomy is not an option for me right now.But will I regret this someday post Rads?

CarolynVM

I guess that no one has responded to you because no one knows what we ourselves will regret in the future let alone be able to predict what someone else will regret in the future.  My reaction is that a 63% chance of recurrence would be high enough for me to opt for mastectomy.  If I couldn't pay for a mastectomy or I had some other health condition that won't allow for a mastectomy I could live with having made the best choice available to me at the time.  If I had a 63% chance of recurrence and could get a mastectomy but was too horrified to get it, I would worry every day for the rest of my life -- regardless of what the future held.

Annette47

I'm in a similar position to you ... finishing up rads and getting my blood drawn for the BRAC test in a week or two.   Much as I know the risks, I just don't feel comfortable cutting off parts of my body "just in case".   In my case, I don't have particularly dense breasts and my cancer was found VERY early through a routine mammogram, so at least for now, I think I am ok mentally with enhanced surveillance should the test come back positive.    The part that is a tougher for me if it should come back positive is whether or not to have my ovaries out as ovarian cancer is much harder to detect .... but ovarian cancer doesn't appear to run in my family (I am 45, my mother did have breast cancer, I have no other first degree female relatives but there are several cases of prostate cancer on that side of the family, and we are Ashkenazic Jews, which is why they want to run the test).

My BS offered to run the test prior to my lumpectomy (in case I would decide on a mastectomy) but I said it wouldn't change my treatment decision so we put it off - but I do have two young daughters, and I want to know the risks for them, as well.

april485

I had my BRCA counseling session and blood test on the 18th of February and still went through with my lumpectomy on the 21st. I can always get a MX later if necessary is how I viewed this. I just wanted to get the cancer out of my body as quickly as possible!

The real reason I had the BRCA test and BART test is for my kids. They have a right to know if I am a carrier and then be tested themselves since there is a 50% chance they could be too. I don't think I will get a proph mx if I come back BRCA + but who knows. That 63% chance is pretty compelling.

As for the ovarian cancer risk, now that I might consider since that one is really sneaky and is often late stage when it is found. Ugh...this crap is for the birds no matter how you look at it! Best of luck to you Josie and Annette. Praying you are negative and praying I am too!

josie123

Carolyn thanks for the input.I had kind of given up on anyone answering that post.I posted that because I was kind of perplexed as to what to do .I've now come the conclusion no matter what the test comes back as I will go on with radiation and not look back.If the Cancer comes back its not necessarily going to come back in the same breast.I've already been told that my young age 43 makes it more likely that I could get some type of Cancer in the future.There's no guarantees in life none of us know what lies ahead in life for us except for God.By the way how are you feeling? Hopefully better.Maybe your just dehydrated.Are you drinking enough?