BRCA1 positi

I just found out I am BRCA1 positive. I am wondering who else out there is in the same boat. Why did you have the testing done and what age were you, what is your treatment plan, what scares you, and what makes you feel good about it?

My family has a lot of cancer. My mom's mom had breast cancer 3 times (the first time at 44) and her dad had colon cancer. My dad's mom had breast cancer and currently has kidney cancer and his dad had stomach cancer. My dad also had a precancerous tumor removed from his breast. I've had 2 clear colonoscopies and have been begging for years for my Drs to do a mammogram. I was always brushed off on the mammogram until I finally found a Dr who agreed to refer me to a genetic counselor and I'm now 29 and just had my first baby. We did a full panel test, and thankfully the only positive is BRCA1. I wasn't really shocked with the results... My mom is still waiting on her results, but we assume it comes from her.

My treatment plan for now is to have a clinical breast exam, blood work, and pelvic ultrasound every 6 months. I will also rotate between a mammogram and breast MRI every 6 months. I will have my first tests done next week. When I finish having babies, I plan to have everything removed, doubled mastectomy and hysterectomy. I am still waiting on a federal for a GI doctor visit to figure out a preventative plan for the pancreatic cancer risk.

I'm scared that something will show up on one of my tests that will make me need to have a surgery sooner and that I won't be able to have as many children as I hope for. I'm also scared of passing the gene on to my children.

I am positive because I now will have testing done so if something does show up, it will hopefully be earlier enough to beat it. I am also positive that by the time my children are old enough to do the testing, we will know so much more and that they may not even be at risk.

Tell me your story!