In October my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Around Halloween - about two hours before my friends and I were having a Halloween party - she called to tell me that she was having a mastectomy less than a week later. Strangely enough, I dressed up at the party as a lactating mother. The next week my mother had one breast removed, and had the second biopsied for the third time - the first two times they were unable to get a conclusive result. It turned out that the other breast also had a cancerous lump. Three weeks later, she had that breast removed as well. She is 49 years old - not terribly young for breast cancer, but young enough to indicate an elevated risk for future cancer and for breast cancer in her daughter (me). Her age, along with the rarity of having cancer in both breasts at the same time, is enough to make the doctors quite concerned that she has a gene mutation. If she does have that mutation, it is highly recommended that she have a full hysterectomy to protect against ovarian cancer and cancer in the small amount of breast tissue she has left. After the hysterectomy, she will not be able to take any hormones, as this might increase the risk of cancer. She is now arranging to get the test.
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