RUNNING Against the OdDs: Genetics: BRCA1

"We all carry inside us, people who came before us."

Liam Callanan

Have you ever been in a really bad car accident?
Its like you can see it coming but there is nothing you can do. You are completely helpless.
In a blink of an eye you are suddenly sitting in the middle of chaos.
At those moments you wonder "How am I going to get through all this".
A couple days pass and you look back and it is almost surreal.
You think, "How did I come out of that?"

This is how I have felt the last couple days looking back on the first 4 days post Chemo. I feel like myself again, however, reflecting back it was almost bizarre how I had no idea I was in such a mess.
I just took it, the headaches, the nausea, the lethargy as it came.
Ignorant.
Oblivious to the fact that THIS was the aftermath of a horrible collision with chemo.
I would still coach, I would even make it to our XC meet. I would work, I would enjoy a wonderful Mothers Day, and I would even muster enough energy to run.

I am one week out from Chemo also 1 week until I will have to do this again.

But today is yet another AMAZING day.
I GOT TO RUN again!

RUNDOWN
DISTANCE: 7.5 miles
LOCATION: Holly Rec

* I felt amazing. My energy was overflowing, which was rather impressive considering I had been up since 5:30am. My body was strong. And my spirits were high.
The trails were friendly. It warmed up so much I had to shed a layer.
We didn't run hard. We ran the 6 mile loop pretty steady but then we went over to the Lakeloop, doing more of a hike/run/explore.

Yesterday, I had my blood work done at my oncologists office.
My nurse said multiple times how "good" I looked. She even said I was "..their fittest patient they have EVER had."
"Deborah" asked how I was feeling. I told her about my running on Sunday and Monday.
She was so pleased with my lab results that she just told me to keep doing what I am doing!
My white count was great and all my labs were equally as good. I hadn't lost any weight and my hemoglobin is now UP to a 12.9!!
God is so good.

GENETIC TESTING
A little family history.
My Moms Side.
Sadly, my mom and all her brothers died from alcoholism or illness as a result from. BUT NOT CANCER.
I have one cousin that I know of that battled stomach cancer and lost that battle.
My Dads Side.
Lila my cousin informed me weeks ago as she herself is ALSO battling stage 2, triple negative breast cancer that I had a family history deep with cancer. Lila had undergone GENETIC testing and discovered she has BRCA1 genetic mutation. Lila at that time did not know that I was undergoing a biopsy.
She would soon only discover we would be battling the same cancer together.

Today I gave 3 more vials of blood. My results will come in 2 weeks.

Finding the results out of this mutation is very important. The results will change my treatment.
I have what is considered Hereditary cancer, this makes up for 5-10% of breast cancer breakdown.
Let me show you the numbers:

1 in 3 people will get some form of cancer in their lifetime.
A woman with NO family history of breast cancer is most likely at average risk. The average risk of developing breast cancer is about 12% over a woman's lifetime.
52%-87% of women with the BRCA1 mutation will get breast cancer.
This means a woman with BRCA1 mutation has up to 7 times greater RISK of getting breast cancer, then the general population
With BRCA1 there is a 30% chance you will have a reoccurrence of your primary cancer WITHIN 5 years.

REMEMBER, I have HEREDITARY Breast Cancer.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO MY BOYS?

My boys MAY HAVE that gene from ME. Therefore, they can develop breast cancer as well as prostrate cancer. If they HAVE the gene (IF they get tested) My boys would have to start screening as early as 35 years old.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME?

It means I don't like my odds. I will get a bilateral double mastectomy as well as a hysterectomy.

It also means that my treatment will change. My oncologist will add a drug known as Carboplatin to the NEXT series of chemo treatments AFTER this one. It will be added in with the Taxol when I am going every week. This mutation has shown to be very responsive to this drug.

This testing was HIGHLY recommended by my oncologist.

I share with you all this information because it is powerful.