I am a 56 year old female with a BRCA-1 gene mutation. I've survived cancer 4 times and have undergone a hysterectomy and double mastectomy. AMA!

No I'm not scared. I keep myself very busy. And yes, I do believe in an afterlife. Thank you for asking 😊

do you recommend women get tested for the brca gene if breast cancer runs in the family?

Yes definitely. Early if possible. I can't stress that enough.

What is it like, knowing that something in your own body has grown with the intention of taking you down? It must be absolutely dreadful having these thoughts...

Well yes it is. I just get checked every month to see if something has come back. Not much you can do when you're chronic.

Do you have any animals? I have 4 cats and a dog and I love them madly

I have two cats and they're my babies 🐈

What advice would you give to people who are scared of death or to people who wish to console their sick loved ones?

First off try not to fear death, it's the other part of life. As for consoling; all you can truly do is be by their side as much as you can ❤️

Do you regret working so much?

I do and I don't. I started working when I was 15 years old and there was a lot of stress.

Also, do you have any goals you want to accomplish? a bucket list perhaps?

Yes my dream is to be a forensic specialist. As for a bucket list, not right now.

Ethnic background? Ashkenazi Jew perhaps?

I'm a quarter Native American. Half English and half Dutch.

You say the doctor recommended the mastectomy and hysterectomy after the breast cancer diagnosis. Did you question why having a hysterectomy then made sense? And were they done at the same time?

They both made sense at the time. It was a preventative measure. The chances were high.

What are the signs you get when you have cancer? Is it 'just a feeling' or are there symptoms?

How do you know if these symptoms are early developments vs severe/too late developments?

This is coming from a guy that thinks he has cancer when he gets the flu.

If it's advanced you'll feel something. If it's early there may not be much feeling. You may get tired and out of breath if it's more advanced. For instance, when I had pancreatic: no symptoms from it, but what I did have, was gallbladder issues. When it was removed, I got violently sick. Couldn't keep any food down. Throwing up all over my house. 2 days of that then we went to the hospital. It took 68 days in the hospital to find a tumor wrapped around my pancreas. It was discovered by chance.

What is your views then on eugenics? To be clear I mean basically people get tested and those with high risk of passing on genes like this don't reproduce and instead find a donor for one side or the other.
Over time the gene will go extinct.
Would you also be supportive of other methods like gene editing? Basically people get tested and if they are high risk then they go to a lab where an egg is then fertilized outside the body and edited to take out that gene or to put a new one in that will cancel it. This method would rid the world of unwanted genes much faster as the offspring wouldn't be carriers.

Yes I had a child and the gene mutation was passed on to him. My father has it and it was passed to me from him. My brothers and all their children have it. It's been traced at least 150 years back and it's not giving up. Had more knowledge of the BRCA-1 gene been available back when my son was born, maybe things would have been different.

how did you get tested for this gene? Asking for my gfs and wife.

I had a persistent doctor who pushed on and got me the testing because the insurance company wasn't going to allow it. There wasn't anything that showed them at the time that I would test positive. You need to talk to your doctor if cancer runs in their family.

Have you practiced something like Buddhism or meditating to make you feel better ?

I started meditating a while back.

At what point were you tested for brca1? How expensive was the test at the time?

I was tested in 2010 when my first breast was removed. The cost was covered by my medical insurance so I'm not entirely sure.

My mother is 56 and has breast cancer, but she did not test positive for the BRCA gene. Should I still bother getting tested for it? I'm a 21 year old girl btw

You most likely don't carry it if your mom tested negative. Has your father been diagnosed with anything?

My family. All the dreams I have. And my garden 💚

Have you read anything on Cimavax and, if so, any thoughts?

I have not but I'll check it out.

No real question, just a thank you really for doing this AMA. Im 35 and got tested for the mutation last year came back positive. Just had a double masectomy and recostruction. Did you have any side effects after your masectomy? I'm currently have loads of shoulder pains.

I didn't get my breasts reconstructed. I had other illnesses arise which prevented the procedure. Yes I had pain in my chest and a phantom nipple.

What is your daily regimen? Does having a good diet directly improve your condition or is medicine still directly responsible for prolonging your life?

I nap a lot. Both a healthy diet and the medicine equally help. Through the day I eat fruits, nuts, yogurts. I eat small and I'm at a satisfying weight.

What are the side effects of Xeloda? And what can you do to make some of them not as bad?

There's nothing that can be done about the side effects. It makes me exhausted and I just have to sleep.

How long are chemo treatments, how many minutes? What do you while being treated? Read? Watch TV or movies? Draw?

They're 3 hours. I read magazines. I play with my iPad. My mother accompanies me to them so she keeps me company.

Do you ever ask questions on other people's AMA's ?

Sure do!

How the hell have you afforded all of that healthcare and treatments; are you millions of dollars in debt?

Not really, more like a couple thousand. I went on SSI when I was 43, which automatically gave me medicare/medi-cal and they took over everything. There's been thousands of scans and tests. I have to follow my cancer on scans because it always wants to return.

What is a a mastectomy?

It's when you have your breasts removed to prevent cancer from reoccurring in them. In my experience it was going to return.

I have heard about it, I'll definitely look into it. Thank you!

What foods and drinks are you supposed to not consume? Or can you have most things in moderation?

I can have most things in moderation. Health foods are optimal tho.

This must be so difficult for your child also. How is he/she coping with it? What do you do to help and do you feel like it has brought you closer?

First diagnosis he was five. Now he's twenty-three. It has been difficult but we manage.

Which of your jobs was your favorite and why? Which of your jobs was your least favorite and why?

My favorite was Hallmark. I worked at Alpha Beta bakery in the 80s: my boss used to throw bagels at me. That was my least favorite job.

What are your hobbies?

Gardening most of all. Arts and crafts. Decorating. Baking.

How do you grow a good garden in SoCal with so little if any rain in the spring summer and Autumn, do you just use lots of water?

I don't use a whole bunch of water. I use very soft soil and it grows very well.

How many pets do you have and which types and breeds and colors and what are their names?

I have two cats named Banana and Billie. Banana is a grey long haired domestic. Billie is a tortoise shell calico.

What are your favorite movies?

The Lovely Bones is my favorite movie 💖

What are some things you do to feel feminine, what was it like having those surgeries on a mental level?

I felt worthless and I didn't feel like a woman anymore. Especially the first 2 years. I cried everyday. Once I was fitted for prosthetic breasts and bras, things psychologically changed for me. I didn't get reconstructive surgery, and to this day, I'm still sad about it. Another illness surfaced before I could get them put on.

Thank you for asking💕

Did you change your dietary habits after being diagnosed?

Yes I gave up a lot of junk food and I lost 90 pounds.

If you could fix one major world problem with the snap of your finger, what would it be and why?

Global warming.

And why do you choose that?

Because I'm passionate about quality of life on earth.

What is your greatest regret in life? Did it change any of your long held beliefs?

My greatest regret in life was not having more friends and leaving my ex husband. I loved people and I loved being around them. But I just became a lone wolf. It changed my belief in love and romance.

What was the last movie you saw and what was your opinion of it?

I saw Get Out. And I thought it was fucking phenomenal.

Are you happy ?

Yes I am. I'm happy to be alive.

Thank you for sharing, this is very inspiring! I love animals too. I worry about living longer than my cat sometimes. So my question: What do you like to do to celebrate life (besides gardening, planted 300 seeds of only 6 sprouted cuz over watering) that I might be able to do?

I have a goal to return to college and study forensic science. I also am interested in horticultural science. Perhaps you could find something that you want to study. Are you a cancer patient?

Do you think Kim Jong Un pees and poops?

Nope .