BRCA 1/BRCA 2

AS many of my sister's and my friends and family know, our mother passed away of ovarian cancer in 2005.  She was 63 years old when she died after fighting hard almost 4 years.  In October of 2001 they removed a large tumor on her ovaries and she then began chemo which did bring her into remission for several months until, unfortunately the cancer returned.

Ovarian cancer is considered the most deadly of female cancers mainly because there is so few warning signs for pre-detection.  Unlike breast and other forms of cancer, there is at the time no good diagnostic testing that can detect ovarian cancer early enough to get that jump start; like, for instance, the mammogram.  In other words, for most women, by the time ovarian cancer is symptomatic, its already in stage 3 or 4.  Such was the case for our mother.  She had no symptoms until a gradual loss of apetite and bloating of her abdomen area.  Science is currently working vigorously on finding some form of early detection to give women more of a fighting chance against this debilitating cancer.

One of the "back-door" avenues that has become available now, though quite expensive and contraversial, is the gene mutation testing called BRCA1/BRCA2.  In very simple terms, this is a blood test offered to women such as myself and my sister who have a family history of ovarian or breast cancer, which are both estrogen-related cancers and connected to some degree.  They do an extensive gene mapping of your blood searching for the presence of that certain BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation.  This has only been possible in recent years since the incredible progress of DNA and gene mapping.  If you are found to carry that mutated gene passed down from a family member, then you are at a much higher percentage of getting either ovarian or breast cancer.  If negative for the gene, then you are simply with the general population in terms of your chance of getting one of the cancers.

Since my mom's death, my sister and I have been as diligent as possible to take advantage of the early-detection diagnostics available to us; i.e. mammograms, pelvic ultrasounds every other year, etc.  From what the oncologist has told me, now having a breast cancer diagnosis myself, I would now have an 85% chance of developing ovarian cancer also at some point if I was indeed BRCA1/BRCA2 positive.  If this were my case, I would most certainly be facing hysterectomy on top of everything else as a preventative measure.

I am thankful to tell you after receiving my test results, that I am NEGATIVE for that gene mutation.  This was as you can imagine, very good news for my husband and myself and my sister.  I am ALSO thankful for receiving my Aetna confirmation letter that they indeed covered that extremely costly test.

I want to say here that I truly believe that all things are in God's hands, that he is sovereign over all - over cancer, over genes, over failures on our part to do everything just right, over life, and over death.  I do not wish to imply that science and medicine is the "final say".  As we all know, and good physicians would tell you themselves, that nothing is certain in science and medicine.  They are "practicing" to the best of their skill and knowledge and research.  Percentages are thrown at you in times like we're facing, based on past patients in our similar situation and how they were affected.  But it doesn't mean we will be affected the same.  There are too many factors that come into play - the MOST important factor is the hand of God.  So while I value the incredible knowledge and progress that's being made and will prayerfully avail myself of every possible breakthrough or treatment option that I discern beneficial, I will constantly know that God is my ultimate healer, and decider of what I will walk through.

He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.  I Samuel 3:18