Why a mother who has had two mastectomy wants her son to be tested for a BRCA1 mutation

Gutley’s mother developed breast cancer after undergoing two mastectomy.

Sarah Safiye, 53, was devastated when she found a pea-sized lump on her reconstructed right chest seven years after her first preventive surgery.

She later discovered that she had aggressive triple-negative breast cancer.

She was told at the age of 36 that she had a BRCA1 mutation, and she had a 95% risk of developing breast cancer. Sarah is currently campaigning to raise awareness of the genetic risks of this condition-male and female-and swear her son will be tested when her youngest child is 18 years old.

Mobile beautician Sarah said: I was absolutely devastated.

“I developed the third breast cancer in the country after removing the breast. They now call breast cancer risk reduction rather than prevention.

“Now, after seeing what I have experienced, I want my sons to know if they are at high risk.”

The two mothers live in Gatley with their husband Sean (53), an electricity wholesaler, and his son Joe (18), an apprentice, and Frankie (16), a student.

Sarah, the ambassador for breast cancer prevention, is currently promoting a prevention campaign. We encourage people to raise money by walking dogs and other pets for 30 miles in 30 days. She joins with Buster, a 6-year-old Staffordshire Terrier.

She discovered her own predisposition to breast cancer in her twenties. After the mother saw the news about hereditary links and learned that several families had breast cancer, she asked her daughters to be tested.

Sarah was checked by a team of British geneticist Gareth Evans as part of her Genesis appeal, partially funded by prevention, and not only has a 95% risk of developing breast cancer, but also a 70 risk of developing ovarian cancer. Said%. ..

Fortunately, her sister tested negative for BRCA1, but her mother, Liz, 74, also had BRCA1 and chose a hysterectomy.

Liz also survived breast cancer at the age of 52 after surgery by Prevent’s founder and chairman, Lesterber. As a result, Sarah joined the charity.

Sarah, who was enthusiastic about having children after her son was born, underwent a hysterectomy at the age of 38 in 2004, resulting in premature menopause.

Still, she was initially reluctant, despite the doctor’s advice to undergo a prophylactic mastectomy.

She said: “I was worried that it might mean I’m not a woman, but Sean just said,” Kids and I want you to live-just get it done. ” ..

Therefore, in August 2007, Sarah underwent surgery at Wizenshaw Hospital in Manchester and was subsequently rebuilt.

She was treated just in time because precancerous cells were found in the breast tissue, but she was convinced she was “saved” from breast cancer.

She states:

“If I didn’t know I was at such a high risk, I wouldn’t have it, and I would probably have died.

“I always felt that charities, family history clinics, and surgery saved my life.

“I had £ 6 a month of life insurance, so if I had breast cancer I would have to pay a lump sum of £ 9,000, but I was confident I didn’t need it and canceled it.”

But to Sarah’s horror, in April 2014, she was taking a shower and still had the habit of checking herself, feeling a pea-sized lump in the middle of her right chest.

“When I found the lump, I couldn’t believe it-I was absolutely devastated,” she said.

“I knew when I went to the scan and saw the reporter’s face turn white.”

Her diagnosis of aggressive triple-negative breast cancer meant that treatment options were scarce and could be fatal if chemotherapeutic drugs failed.

“I was told that if that didn’t work, nothing would happen,” she said. “It’s an end and I won’t survive.

“I felt like I had put myself into a major operation and rebuild-all for free.”

Five days after receiving the catastrophic news, she was planning a vacation to Florida, USA with her family, and when she got home she planned to remove the lump and one lymph node.

Advances in medicine meant that the surgeon could remove more tissue than she had during her first mastectomy.

So, the day before her 47th birthday, she started five months of chemotherapy after being cured from yet another surgery.

She said. “It was horrifying. Chemotherapy almost killed me. I lost all my hair and had all the side effects of illness, diarrhea, malaise and more.”

To make matters worse, I saw my sons very afraid of losing their mother.

“The kids were greatly affected, but I was so ill that I couldn’t do anything about it,” Sarah said.

A big turning point for the family was on Christmas 2014 when Sarah returned home to celebrate with her husband and her boys after a reconstructive surgery just before the holidays.

And happily, five years after treatment, she was told that her type of cancer was unlikely to recur.

Currently, she is an avid fundraiser for the charity that helped her-from sponsored walks and climbs to nude calendar poses-she recognizes the genetic risk of breast cancer not only in men but also in women. I am enthusiastic about raising.

Sarah, who also took over the management of support group Buzz’em Buddies in 2019, was first founded 22 years ago by her mother Liz for women with breast cancer who need to talk to someone. The vision is to see a world free of breast cancer, and genetic testing is very important as part of that.

“I want my boy to take the test, and when they are both ages, they do it together.

“Men are unaware that they can get breast cancer and tend not to check their breasts.

“My boy is at high risk of getting breast cancer if he has the gene and wants him to be tested in case he has a daughter.

“After seeing what I have experienced, they want to know if they are at high risk. I always say that knowledge is power.”

Founder and Chairman Barr is keen to emphasize the importance of genetic testing in men as well as women.

He states: “Men also need to be tested for the BRCA1 gene, especially if they have a daughter, because they are much more likely to get breast cancer and have a higher than average risk of prostate cancer.”

Sarah emphasized that breast cancer developed despite undergoing prophylactic or risk-reducing mastectomy, which is extremely rare.

He states: “There are hundreds of women in the UK who have had a risk-reducing mastectomy, but the risk cannot be ruled out 100%.

“Currently, only a handful of women have breast cancer. This is very rare, but it can happen.”

Soap star Sally Dinevol was already a preventive patron when she developed breast cancer in real life because she was filming a scene where her soap character had breast cancer.

She states: “It was very strange to know that I had breast cancer myself while reading the script. It’s an art that mimics life.

“I thought I should start shooting the story and go to the health checkup myself. I didn’t really think it would happen to me, but it did.”

“It was really hard because I was in the middle of shooting. I had to continue the scene until I could write it out to get chemotherapy.

“My advice is to go and check at any time. It’s very important. Age doesn’t matter. If you can detect cancer early, your chances of survival are much higher.”