Angela S., Burlington, Vermont

Age: 31

I'm 31 and single with a seven-year-old son.

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

Favorite book / authors:
Handmaids' Tale by Margaret Atwood

Favorite TV / Movies:
Lost

Favorite Song:
Anything by Mike Doughty

Other favorites?
My favorite person is a toss up between my seven-year-old son and his Dad, my partner of 10 years.

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My journey

Found out about BRCA1+ status between 6 months to 1 year ago. Tested because of a freakish history in my family of breast cancer - I felt I owed it to my son to know for sure. I am managing my risk with increased surveillance and am planning for a PM with reconstruction.

The hardest part of my journey

You know how they say that knowledge is power, and knowing is better because you're in control? I don't feel that way. I think that has scared me more and left me feeling more vulnerable. I know that I have to make some serious choices, and I feel ill-prepared to make those choices. Sometimes it feels too big for me and I just want someone to tell me what I should do.

My participation with FORCE

I have found a lot of comfort reading the posts on the message boards and reading through the research that you have.

Other thoughts

I'm just a regular person, trying to make this decision. I don't want my son to have memories of me being sick and fearing that I will die, like I did with my own mother when she had breast cancer.

I teach pilates and am doing research on using Pilates to recover from surgery related to breast cancer.