Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/179241
Wo rs ce II n f ca I o n's rt me Pa g n st ea B r e s s ks f r o ren ea no Awa A sp ho V In ncer BRA rave men a th , e b wo d C n o t h re area r an M h a jo nt w i di s o e m h i n g h Ma ut t renc men bo n w s wo e a e n th t o f c i s i o r in g u t in g de e d s e fac C A t . R ess B s oc pr er cidirs e D cto a F ff s o ften e o en s. r g and wer ce s t— an an en ly ise A c erm nd Kn C a lf ra w wo nd ns Sa r BR po na By an tio fo sh em by es g ed u ic in ph et ra st tq g n Te ul oto ge Ph ic n ff me di wo Dawna McMillan, who is only 26, had a feeling she would test positive for a BRCA mutation. Her mother developed breast cancer at age 32, while pregnant with McMillan, and she recently lost a cousin to the disease. When another cousin tested positive for a BRCA mutation and strongly urged McMillan to do the same, she decided it was time to find out the truth. "In the back of my mind I knew it would probably be positive," she says. "But seeing those test results, you still cry," she says. "It's not something you want to see and know that you're going to get cancer." It was little consolation that a positive test result doesn't always signal a dreaded diagnosis for a patient—many go on to never develop cancer. But usually the best-case scenario involves years of 52 brava magazine | OCTOBER 2013 frequent monitoring—including a continual whirlwind of breast exams. Even more difficult to grapple with is the restless paranoia of searching for a potential health culprit you don't really wish to find. Shortly after receiving her results in July, McMillan decided to schedule a preventive double mastectomy in November. Using a diagnostic tool from Stanford University, she and her doctors at UW Health determined that the procedure would reduce McMillan's risk by almost 75 percent—a comforting statistic, at a not-so-comforting price. But in a world where testing techniques have become more sophisticated at hunting for the genes that could seal the fate of our health, more women are electing to say goodbye to their breasts and hopefully, too, a battle with cancer.