Breast cancer gene

It is amazing how once you become tuned into something you inevitably find that it is all around you. That happened to me when I had a miscarriage. After having it, I felt much loneliness and despair. However, once I began talking about it, many women I knew came to me sharing very similar stories. Now, it is happening again, but under much different circumstances.

A very good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and has just had a double mysectomy. Since then, I have been hearing about more and more young women with similar stories. Two nights ago, while I was randomnly surfing the stations for something other than the home improvement channel, I found an extremely moving documentary by Joanna Rudnick on the mutated gene that triggers breast and ovarian cancer. http://www.kartemquin.com/about/joanna-rudnick. She tracks her own story about finding out about having the breast cancer gene at a very young age, which prompts her to find out about other women with the breast cancer gene.

There is a wonderful scene in the documentary where a family of three daughters go together to find out the results of their genetic testing. Their mother carries the gene and has battled breast cancer already. The eldest is married and hoping to have children. The younger two are single and in their twenties. Ms. Rudnick captures the moment so well as the family turns to each other for support in grief and in joy.

As I talk about the documentary, more and more women I know have told me that they think ovarian cancer is in their family. I hope that this documentary, and those who view it will continue to discuss it and raise awareness of this issue.