WE ARE BRIGHT PINK

Melanie
My mother, Adrienne, my best friend and the most genuinely happy and loved person I will probably ever know, was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer at 58.

She went through extensive chemotherapy for several years and died at 61.
Her mother (my maternal grandmother) had breast cancer post-menopause which spread and ultimately contributed to her death at 69.

My mother's doctor here at the University of Miami suggested that I get tested for the BRCA gene due to my strong family history (both of my mother's sisters has breast cancer post-menopause and both survived). When the suggestion of genetic testing was posed to me this was ten years ago ---and I was pregnant with my first child. I was reluctant to get the test as I was 35 and wanted to have a family before having to face any hard decisions. The doctor warned me that in families with the BRCA gene, his anecdotal observation was that breast cancer seemed to be appearing younger in each successive generation.

When a friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer at 34, I decided to have the test. It came back positive for BRCA 1. I had just given birth to my second child and had just turned 39. It was time to be proactive.

I first opted to have an oophorectomy. My sister, 3 1/2 years younger than I, was opposed to any type of testing or prophylactic surgery. Both of my aunts who had breast cancer and single mastectomies urged me to "wait until I had the disease and then have a mastectomy" as they had done. My cousins (I come from a family of many women) were all hostile to my seemingy renegade thought process. It seemed everyone thought that I was insane to even consider removing my "healthy breasts." Only my husband, who understood my fear of dying from the disease with two small children who needed me, understood.

In October 2004, my mother's sister accompanied me to the surgeon's office for the routine check up prior to the prophylactic mastectomy. I had done extensive research (I am a trial lawyer) and I came armed with my many articles on nipple sparing and skin sparing techniques. I would be cutting off healty breasts, and wanted to replace then with something as pretty as possible.

While I was in the surgeon's office, he put my mammogram films up on the lit screen. It was then that he noticed a small lump which he assured me was liquid-filled and appeared by all accounts to be benign. Still, he wanted me to do a routine needle biopsy to be sure. Two days later, I learned that I had not dodged the bullet---Indeed I had a very agressive type of breast cancer. The good news, however, was that we discovered it very early and it was very treatable. Without boring you with all of the details or oncologist visits and consultations I endured, I opted for a double mastectomy followed by a toxic regimen of dose-dense chemotherapy. My son was 3 and my daughter was in first grade when my chemptherapy treatments began. It was an experience that I cannot aptly describe in words. However, something wonderful happened as a result of my diagnosis. My younger sister, who had initially refused to get tested for the gene, was tested. All of my aunts were tested so that their daughters would know if they needed to be tested as well. As it turned out, my sister was found to carry the gene as well. In December of the year I finished my treatments, she underwent a prophylactic double mastectomy, and has reduced her cancer risk by 90%. I believed that had I not actually developed the cancer and been subjected to chemotherapy ...she would have gotten the disease herself and would have had to undergo chemo--or worse.

I guess the message that I would like to impart to both your organization and to that woman who has chosen to undergo preventative surgery, is that she made a courageous and correct decision. We must get the message out that its not ok to ignore the genetic cards you are dealt. We are so lucky to have the power to know ahead of time that we are likely to get these deadly cancers. I only wish that my own mother had the luxury of knowing this as well.

When I see my daughter's green eyes--which are my mother's-I know that she is here in spirit and proud of the decisions my sister and I made to do everything humanly possible to survive for our families.