Rosanna, San Jose, CA

Age: 29

29 year old with BRCA 1 positive results. On my path to getting my prophylactic bilateral mastectomy.

I'm more than my risk… some fun facts about myself:

Favorite book / authors:
Gone Girl

Favorite TV / Movies:
Bridget Jones's Diary

Favorite Song:
God Gave Me You

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My journey

I'm 29 years old and newlywed to the most amazing supportive man. I also have a very large and close knit family of my parents, 2 sisters, 2 brothers, and a gaggle of nieces and nephews. My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer 8 years ago at the age of 30. She was tested recenty and her BRCA 1 positive resuts allowed me to get tested. I was also BRCA 1 positive. Our other siblings will be tested soon. Our father, who we think we received the gene mutation from will also be testing soon.

Both my sister and I have decided to go with prophylactic mastectomies. My sister is also set up for an oophorectomy. I will be waiting as my husband and I don't have any kids yet and that's definitely the plan for us. My sister is the bravest person I know. Soon, she'll be both a previvor and a survivor. I really hope I can muster even an 1/8 of her courage and strength.

The hardest part of my journey

There were many hard parts. I thought I prepared myself for the positive results but they just floored me. I was devastated. Then came the fact of knowing that my future as I knew it was going to be completely different. Finally, the hardest part is having to make choices a 29 year old should not have to make. 29 year olds should be choosing between whether to advance their careers or to start a family, not whether to cut off her breasts and ovaries.

If I could do it over again

I'll tell you after my surgery :)