Pandora’s Box

So since this is ovarian cancer awareness month, and since I’ve been telling you people to watch out for the signs (have I mentioned that time I skyped with Kelly Ripa?), I thought I’d go a step further in my quest to set a good example and tell you about the time I had my genes tested.

You see, there are these things called BRCA genes, and sometimes they’re screwed up. Mutated, I believe, is the technical term. So having these mutated genes is not cool. According to cancer.gov (now that sounds like a fun website if I’ve ever heard of one), having these mutated genes makes a woman five times more likely than the average woman to develop breast cancer, and 15 to 40 times more likely to develop ovarian cancer. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the gene mutations are also linked to cervical, uterine, pancreatic and colon cancer.

Awesome.

Years ago my OB/GYN told me that since my mom had ovarian cancer at such a young age, I should have a special ultrasound on my ovaries every year starting when I was 30. (As an aside, I want to mention that this ultrasound is only done on people with family history of ovarian cancer. It is not a routine test – there is no standard, accurate test for ovarian cancer, which is why it’s absolutely critical for women to be familiar with the signs and symptoms.) So, when I hit the big 3-0 this spring, off I went to have my ovaries checked.

While I was there, my doctor suggested doing a test for the BRCA gene mutation as well. You know, since I was already there and everything. I had heard about the BRCA test, read brochures about it in the doctor’s office before, and had done a little internet research (shocking, I know). I even figured it would be prudent to be tested for it at some point. However, I wasn’t planning to do it that day… just someday, after I had gotten around to all the other things on my to-do list like climb Mt. Everest or sky-dive. (Who am I kidding? We all know there’s no way on earth I’d do either of those things.) But I was already there and I was at the advanced age of 30, so I figured I might as well do it. I signed a few forms, filled a few vials of blood, set an appointment to get the results in six weeks, and I was off.

I was not, however, prepared for the complex emotions having that test brought out in me. As I left the parking lot, I called Jenny to tell her about my appointment, and I remember saying to her, “I feel like I just opened Pandora’s box.”

I didn’t really think I had the gene mutation. We don’t have any other instances of breast or ovarian cancer in our family, so while we can’t say for certain that my mom didn’t have it, my highly-qualified (I got my MD on Google, thank you) guess is that she didn’t… that her disease was a fluke, and she was in the lucky 1.4 percent of women without the gene who wind up with ovarian cancer. But like I said, we don’t know.

The thing about the BRCA gene mutation is that once it’s identified, women who have it suddenly have to make a lot of very difficult decisions. Because the likelihood of cancer is so high, some women choose to take preventive measures like having a mastectomy or an oophorectomy (which is a fun way of saying having their ovaries removed). The idea of making decisions like that freaked me out.

My initial reaction to the “what if” was to say “yank those puppies out,” but really, not having ovaries anymore is a pretty serious situation for someone 30 years old, and I’ve read enough blogs written by women fighting breast cancer to know that a mastectomy is not a walk in the park. And if I did have it, what did that mean for my sister? For my daughter? It was a lot to digest.

Fortunately, six weeks later, I went back to the doc and she announced that I was perfect. I don’t have the gene mutation. And while this doesn’t mean that I’m not at increased risk (I still have to have that ultrasound every year), it does mean that my ovaries can remain right where they are for the time being.

And I am so glad.

So there you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about my reproductive system. But I wanted to bring up the subject again (I hope you’re not tired of hearing about ovaries, because seriously I am going to keep preachin’!) before the end of ovarian cancer awareness month. Once again, I encourage all of you to visit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund website and familiarize yourself with the signs and symptoms. It’s so important that you know your body and listen to it.

Thanks for indulging me and my soapbox once again. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.