When is it enough?

kristingivot

I'm coming from a VERY strong family history of breast cancer. I have MRI's and Mammograms regularly, I know doctors are being aggressive but I am always needing to have biopsy's whenever something suspicious shows up. I'm not complaining about the doctors watching me so closely but when is too much? Every time I wonder is this it? It is a matter of when and not if in my mind. I am about to schedule myself for another biopsy and this time I have asked to see a genetic counselor. I have been tested for the BRCA 1 and 2 and the BART and they were negative as well as my sister, my mother and my aunt who have all had breast cancer and it came back negative.

I'm tired, I'm frustrated and I don't know what else to do.

farmerlucy

Hi Kristin - The high risk screening is so onerous not to mention expensive. A visit to a genetic counselor is a great idea. I did expanded testing through Color Genomics but everything came back negative. In my near twenty years of screening I knew if anything came up I'd have a BMX. Unfortunately my pathology did not come back positively, but that is not that common. When you talk to the GC seriously consider Tamoxifen. Several ladies on these boards have done it and not only does it give them additional protection it may improve breast density making screening easier. Best wishes. I know it is stressful. I like to reframe the issue by saying I was lucky because I knew I was at risk and could adjust screening for that