( n remission. However she was offered ge...)A Family's Fight against Breast cancer,Health

n remission. However she was offered genetic counseling and a gene test to find out whether she carried the mutated gene.

Dawn said, "Naively, my understanding was that if I was positive, I would just have to be extra vigilant about cancer screenings. I felt such a responsibility for [my family]. If I tested positive, then the implications were huge. Everybody would need to be tested. My sisters, their sons and daughters, the lot."

Discussing the options the family decided it was better to know. She said, "If we knew, we could at least do something about it."

It took her eighteen months to get the results because of the periodic long delays that NHS diagnostic services are often subject to She learnt that she carried the BRCA2 gene, which meant her risk of developing cancer again was 80 per cent.

Dawn said, "I was told my only real option was a double mastectomy. There was no question about whether I would do it or not. I had to. My partner had been very understanding about my breasts after my surgery, but the thought of having no breasts was very traumatic. What made the difference was that they offered me an immediate reconstruction. Without that option, it would have been a terrible decision."

Mehboob Ali, the consultant plastic surgeon at Russell's Hall Hospital, who operated on Dawn said, "Since 2002, we have been doing more mastectomies with immediate reconstruction. Once they have had a mastectomy it is not cancer that affects women, it's the loss of their breasts. Every time they see their flat chest they are reminded of the cancer. Patients who have reconstruction appear to make a better recovery."

Two weeks after Dawn's positive result Julie and Pam were told that a double mastectomy was their only real option. Having the operation would lower their risk to that of the general population - one in nine.

The three sisters were booked in for their operation within four weeks of one another
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