Family

My mum died of breast cancer when she was 42. A part of me always wondered if the same would happen to me.

So I wasn't really shocked to find a lump, to hear it was cancer. In a way, I expected it. I am 36.

My GP referred me for a mammogram straight away when I told her about mum. It doesn't exactly constitute a strong family history, because no other women that I know of in our family had breast cancer - both my grandmothers lived to be old ladies and died of other causes. But then, there are not a lot of older women in our immediate family - my mum and dad both had only brothers, and my mum's parents had just one brother between them. I know my mum's dad's mother died young, but I don't know what of. Perhaps she had breast cancer? Perhaps my uncle would know? So I think there is a possibility I could have inherited a defective gene from my mum's side. I'll be tested for BRCA now. It'd be bad news for my sisters too if I have it.

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