BRCA1,2 testing or not???

chas707
chas707 Member Posts: 30
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I am 27 with early onset BC, ER/PR neg, grade III tumor. All three put me at higher risk for having mutation, BUT no family history. My sister had a tumor removed 2 yrs ago when she was 23 and it was benign, but they said it was the type that could have become cancer if it was left to grow(?). I am wondering anyones input on this, I have a young daughter and would like to know for her sake. If I do have mutation she needs to be checked, and plus that puts me at high risk for ovarian cancer. But I am also wondering if I am positive (or negative whichever way one looks at it) then will insurance companies blackball me? Will the cover my daughter? I have been reading alot on this and feel like I am really at high risk. Please give me some input. I would love to hear from some of you if you have had the test too. Thanks for caring.
Chastity

Comments

  • pjsnana
    pjsnana Member Posts: 8
    #2
    Hi Chastity,
    I am not in your category, but I did a little research on it when I was first diagnosed. If I were you, I would get tested, for health reasons alone. You need to know so you know how to take care of yourself in the future. If you test positive, then consider testing for your daughter. She's probably too young to do anything with the information now, but if she's positive, as an adult she can make decisions about prophylactic treatment. AS far as insurance goes (this I have had experience with), you are already uninsurable since you have cancer, regardless of the BRCA test. I hope you already had life insurance before diagnosis - and never miss a payment. AS for your daughter and insurance - your question is at the heart of a privacy issue being discussed in the nedical/insurance communities today. Can genetic tests that indicate risk be used to blackball people from being insured? I suppose the answer to that is, "Don't ask, don't tell."

    Good luck! Judy

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