Posted on 07/01/2004 6:28:06 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
A young woman whose mother had her healthy breasts removed after it was found that she carried hereditary cancer genes is to undergo the same operation.
Becky Measures, 22, said she will have a double mastectomy after tests showed that she had a 90 per cent chance of contracting the disease in later life.
Her mother, Wendy Watson, became one of the first women in Britain to have a double mastectomy on healthy breasts.
The decision by Miss Measures, who works as a DJ on Peak 107 FM in Chesterfield, Derbys, is thought to be the first case of a daughter undergoing the same operation as her mother.
She said: "My mother had a double mastectomy 11 years ago although she hadn't got breast cancer and genetic tests at that time were in their infancy.
"It has been a major part of family life since I was very young. My grandmother and great grandmother died from breast cancer. At 22 it was a hard decision to make but I have grown up with it and I have just got to get on with it. My chances of catching breast cancer are minimal at the moment but as time goes on it would get more worrying.
"Before it gets to that stage it is better to get it out of the way. My boyfriend, family and friends are very supportive and it helps that my mum went through with the operation at 38."
She added: "Other family members have contracted breast cancer in their 30s and 40s so I have this large support network and the doctors have been fantastic. The surgeons carry out wonderful breast reconstruction jobs at the same time as the operation and their work is unbelievable.
"I have a lot to live for. This is my way of giving myself a future. A lot of women do not have the opportunity. I see it as a privilege."
Mrs Watson, 49, from Bakewell, Derbys, said: "When I had my double mastectomy it wasn't even recognised that breast cancer could be hereditary.
"When I discovered that nine family members had suffered breast cancer I went to my GP and asked what could be done.
"I had this awful feeling I was waiting to get breast cancer and hoping I had caught it in time."
After her operation, Mrs Watson set up the Genesis Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline for women.
She has recently sat on a panel for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence developing guidelines for women at high risk of breast cancer.
Preventive is hard, primarily because there are many different cancerous conformations for a given organ.
All hope is not lost though, as there is a ton of very interesting anti-cancer drug therapies in late stage clinical trials. My girlfriend's father was actually cured of "terminal" late-stage liver cancer (caused by HepC -- wartime blood transfusion) a few years ago with an experimental drug cocktail. Even more interestingly, he was cured of HepC using another experimental biotech drug regimen simultaneously, which is still classified as an incurable disease.
It blows my mind that he was actually cured of two "impossible to cure" diseases simultaneously with advanced experimental biotech. That says to me that we are making some very serious headway. He volunteered to test both therapies because he had nothing to lose. He's been clean of both diseases for a few years now. Some day, the FDA may get around to approving them for general use.
This poor girl is suffering from anxiety beyond your comprehension. If she choses to have her breasts removed, and ease her troubled mind and spirit, I say good for her.
It's perfectly acceptable for women to have breast reduction, augmentation or enlargement...so why do we judge someone so harshly who lives in constant mortal fear of Breast Cancer and chooses a mastectomy with reconstruction?
I just don't get it..
sw
Why not just kill herself now and just get it over with? Even given her bent for the preventive amputations, I think its crazy to do this before having had the opportunity to nurse children. The timing is bizarre.
The misguided young lady should keep her breasts and take Taxol as prophyllaxis.
Well mayber we finally making some progress then. I stand corrected.
There is so many ways to eat right and take other items to prevent cancer. This was a stupid move. She could have started with pray that have been proven to work and will as living a better healthy life style. Some people just don't get that they have more control in their life. The methods are proven.
She is a loony-tune. I might get migraines. Off with my head.
Personal Flotation Devices. Brilliant. :)
I can tell you that this surgery is done, here in the US.
You already did--and now you have done so twice. The article states this was one of the first in the U.K. I have seen the facilities and equipment in the U.K. It would give any American healthcare worker pause in its archaic state. I would wager your bedside manner with patients is as bad as your demeaning disposition in this forum.
From now on, her nickname will be "Extreme."
Nobody dies of breast cancer, they die when the cancer spreads to a critical organ(s).
You're going to have a hard time breathing, eating and dating.
WESTLEY: "There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."
How nice do you have to be to an unconcious person?
I wonder how many of you, who think this woman is a fool, support circumcision of infants?
apple and oranges dear ---- you are good at red herrings.
Really? How so? The most common argument for circumcision is to prevent later problems. That argument is either valid, or it is not. Is it reasonable to remove healthy body parts in the hopes of preventing future health issues?
Some people say circ is reasonable because, although the risk of future problem is low, the procedure is just so darn easy, let's go ahead!
Yet, people complain about this major surgery.
Personally, I think surgery ought to be decided due to medical factors, not ease or difficulty of the procedure.
"Colon cancer is highly treatable, especially if one is checked for it regularly. Breast cancer in young women (20s-30s) is very aggressive and not as easily treated. They aren't comparable forms of cancer."
And of course removing your intestines would be just a tad more radical than breast removal.
"How many women die of incurable breast cancer at very young ages? Is this article even for real?"
A frined of mine lost his wife at age 30 to breast cancer. Very sad. This article is for real, although I don't know that this woman has the right answer.
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