WE ARE BRIGHT PINK

Angela
Breast cancer has been in my family for as many generations as anyone can remember. Every female on my mother's side of the family has been struck with it, and all with the exception of my mother have died from it. I was a freshman in high school when my mom was first diagnosed. She underwent chemo and radiation, and I can vividly picture the days when she was so sick she couldn't remember who we, her 3 children, were. She beat it, and she has lived a full life since then. But that was 20 years ago. She has recently discovered a new cancer in her other breast. This time she decided to have a full mastectomy.

After finding a lump in my right breast last spring, I underwent genetic testing. I discovered that I have the BRCA1 gene this past summer,. I have spent my life certain that I would get breast cancer at some point, based on my family history, so I can't say that I was really surprised.

I don't know what I am going to do. I don't want to spend my life waiting for the cancer to be here, whether it is in 2 years or 20. But the thought of having a mastectomy is overwhelming. At the end of the day, I don't want to be so sick that I can't remember who my family members are, or for my son to have those memories of me.