Need advice.....

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maureen73
maureen73 Member Posts: 11

I feel like my breath has been taken from me so trying to get more information to know how to move forward. My birth mother died in childbirth with me and was adopted so we don't have any information on her side. On my father's side, I have an aunt who had breast cancer in her 40's, another aunt who died of Ovarian cancer that spread to the colon and stomach last year. Exactly three weeks later my Dad died of throat cancer that had spread to the lungs, brain and spine. Now....my 52 year old older sister has had an abnormal mammogram screening and went today fora compression scan. We are all so very scared and I am not sure whether this is "coincidence" or should I have testing. I am 40 years old with three very young children and would like to be proactive without letting this all overwhelm me at the same time. 

When speaking with family last night we learned that my paternal grandmother had died of "stomach & woman" cancer at a very young age (in her 30's). This was in the late 1940's.....

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  • RangerMom
    RangerMom Member Posts: 604
    edited July 2013

    Has your sister had the bracha test done? it sounds to me like an early mamogram would be very helpful. I'm sorry to hear so much cancer in your family. If your sister has that test done, it will give you some peace of mind.  Its a simple blood test and with her family history I think she would meet the criteria for the testing. I had the test done and found that I'm not a gene carrier so it gave my sister and daughter peace of mind.

  • maureen73
    maureen73 Member Posts: 11
    edited July 2013

    Thank you so much for sharing RangerMom....I am most appreciative for your thoughts. It means alot to me! 

    We were going to wait for her results and then she was going to request the test. I am so worried for her. This came out of "nowhere" but looking back she did feel unusually very fatigued starting in January with extreme nipple itching (this is there the 12 mm soft tissue mass was seen), back pain and an ache all over. Today during her compression scan, the ultrasound tech asked, "Do you have a mole on the skin near your nipple?" and she said "no" and nothing else was said.....

  • Ginger48
    Ginger48 Member Posts: 1,978
    edited July 2013

    Sorry you have had so many losses in your family.



    I would say either you or your sister could meet with a genetic counselor to go over your family history to see if you should have the BRCA testing. Then take it from there.

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