In February 2024, at the age of 34, I was diagnosed with breast cancer following a self-check. I’d been paying close attention for a long time and I regularly did my self-cleanse, which enabled me to detect a small nodule measuring just 8mm. The chances of it being cancer were minimal, but it was! Especially as there is no case of breast cancer in my family, neither on my mother’s nor my father’s side.
So it came as a complete surprise when, 3 months later, I learned that I carried the BRCA2 genetic mutation, passed on by my father of Palestinian origin. Some studies show that this mutation is over-represented in certain Arab ethnic groups. Yet there was no cancer on that side, despite a very large family with many cousins! Luckily, I was the ‘first link’ identified with a small, localised cancer that was easily treatable. I was able to tell my cousins, who were still young, that the mutation ran in the family. I wanted to offer them the choice of being screened, before facing a diagnosis like mine.
Following this news, I decided to have a preventive mastectomy on the breast not affected by the cancer, as my right breast had already been removed in February when I was diagnosed. The preventive mastectomy was easier to cope with because I’d already had a mastectomy on one side and it had gone very well. I had immediate reconstruction with prostheses. At the same time, I also had my fallopian tubes removed to protect my ovaries until the recommended age for adnexectomy (45 for BRCA2), as I already had two children and didn’t want to have any more. This operation has no hormonal consequences, and has a very significant protective effect of almost 80%. The pathology tests detected no abnormal cells in my fallopian tubes or my left breast, which was also very good news.
Today, I feel very serene in the face of this mutation. In the end, I’m less at risk without my tubes and without my breasts than a woman without a genetic mutation. Obviously, the prospect of having to remove my ovaries at the age of 45 is not a happy one, but I’m confident that medical progress will continue and that in 10 years’ time we’ll be able to offer me a good quality of life.
In the meantime, I’m preparing the ground as I always have by continuing to do a lot of sport, particularly weight training, to protect my bones and my heart in the long term. My prostheses cause me no discomfort or pain, even though I can no longer do certain exercises because they are placed under my pectoral muscle. Despite this, I play tennis, I run and I do my bodybuilding without any worries, and the aesthetic result is very satisfying. The hardest part is getting used to the loss of sensation in my breasts, which will take a little longer.
Discovering that you have a genetic mutation can be a shock, and in my case I only had a one in 2000 chance of having it. We all carry lots of genetic mutations without knowing it, which expose us to all sorts of risks. If there’s one thing my cancer taught me, it’s that life will always find a way to defy the statistics! Knowing your genetic status is an opportunity, because it allows you to take preventive steps or to be better monitored. It doesn’t have to be that way!
BRCA+ Network asbl
