Two days after my diagnosis I had to go in for genetic testing. I wasn't quite sure how this was done, I just was told that I couldn't eat for two hours before the text. This confused me slightly because I guess I just assumed genetic testing involved getting blood drawn. To my surprise (and my relief) this genetic testing was done using mouthwash. I had to swish two rounds of mouthwash for 30 seconds each. Isn't kind of amazing that from just that you can tell genetic mutations? Modern medicine blows my mind sometimes!
Last week the genetic test came back negative for BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutations. This means that I don't have the gene for breast cancer. Good news for me and my family! I know there is one more genetic test out there (can't remember what it's called) but I won't know the results of that for another couple of weeks.
My doctor had told me that if the results came back negative, I was headed for 6 weeks of radiation after my lumpectomy. If it came back positive, we would start talking mastectomy. So for now, it seems radiation is in my future.
Is it odd that I can't decide if I was team radiation or team mastectomy? Obviously I'm happy that the genetic tests came back negative, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have times that I think that having a mastectomy sounds less scary than radiation.
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