How I took steps in my 20s to avoid getting cancer

I never had cancer. But he has always shaped all my life.

I am a “previvor” from BRCA1. You may have never heard this term before; He was invented by an organization called FORCE Over 25 years ago. I wear a genetic mutation that increases my risk of breast and ovary cancer and other types, and that is why, even if I am at the end of the twenties, I have already undergone high -risk monitoring and a preventive mastectomy. I also had to spend a lot of time thinking about how to preserve my fertility. All this may seem a lot for someone my age, but I do not regret the way I took at all.

Fortunately, someone’s trip close to me helped me show me the way. My mother learned that she was BRCA positive at the age of 3. By taking preventive measures – including a prophylactic mastectomy – it was able to prevent cancer obtaining. His experience was a turning point for my whole family.

At the age of 20, I knew I had to be tested. I was nervous, but what you hear all the time – this knowledge is power – is true. I needed to know. And I was not surprised to learn that I had the mutation; In a way, I expected all my life.

Although I had witnessed everything that my mother lived, my experience was very different from hers. When she discovered that she was a positive BRCA, she was in adulthood. She was married and already had children. On the other hand, I was just starting my life. I was young, single and I did not plan to have children anytime soon. But our goal was the same – take measures to avoid having cancer.

My immediate reaction was that I wanted a mastectomy as soon as possible. But my breast surgeon advised me to process information before making a decision that I could regret. I am so grateful for his advice because, looking back, I was certainly not ready. And it’s okay! The choice is extremely personal. There is no good or bad answer.

I chose to focus on initial surveillance. My doctor recommended a mammography, and it was great; There was no problem, and I was told “to see in a year.” But the following year, just a few days before my 24th birthday, they found a bump. Although an MRI and a biopsy showed that it was Benin, given my family history, the doctors wanted me to have a preventive mastectomy. But I had just started higher education and I did not have eight weeks to recover from surgery. So I increased surveillance, alternating mammograms and MRI every six months. Not only was it trying nerves; He also led to multiple painful biopsies.

I jostled myself so that I could get my diploma early and get my mastectomy as soon as possible. I was ready to put it all behind me and start my life.

On November 30, 2022, I finally suffered my operation. I chose to have what are called expunchers – temporary implants used in breast reconstruction after mastectomy to stretch the skin and tissues. This was followed by an “exchange” a few months later, that the expunchers were deleted and I received my implants. Since then, I have had some revisions to repair things like the Chéloid scars and the position of my implants.

Now, I work with my health care team to monitor ovary cancer, which is, of course, another aspect of the BRCA mutation. I go every six months for vaginal ultrasound and blood tests. Like many women my age, I am not yet ready to have children. But the foresight must think of fertility differently. I don’t want to get a complete hysterectomy, but I plan to remove my fallopian tubes. I have already met the fertility team and I plan to freeze my eggs. I want to do everything I can to make sure I don’t transmit my BRCA mutation to my future children.

When it all started, I would never have imagined to document my experience on social networks. But I really felt lonely by going through this process. I was not interested in the cancer community. Because I had never been sick, those of the community did not consider me a situation similar to theirs. At the same time, I did not see anyone my age opting for the type of preventive measures I took. I felt my own type of trauma and loss, but I felt like nobody validated it. So I decided to serve as an example and, hopefully, to validate other people who could experience the same thing. After all, 1 in 400 individuals has a BRCA mutation. Many of them are young women like me.

Since I started publishing on Tiktok, I was shocked by the answer. People send me a message saying they feel seen. Young women tell me that they didn’t even know that genetic tests were an option. There are so many of us to walk with an invisible risk, and no one really talks about it. I shared my experience, immediately after surgery, scars and everything, so that others do not feel isolated. I want people to know that there is a community for us, we just have to meet.

This is why I am delighted to participate in things such as the national day of the Preservative on October 2, which takes place in the middle of the National Hereditary Cancer Week (from September 29 to October 5). It is a chance to raise awareness that we face, not only physical, but emotional and social. It’s about creating a space for stories like mine and ensuring that everyone understands their individual risk and the options available to them.

Being a prevain is not only something that I am. This is something that I live, every day, at each meeting, at each decision. I want other young people to know that if you are sailing the risk of hereditary cancer, you don’t have to do it alone.

For more information on hereditary cancer, visit www.facingourrisk.org.

Maggie Wickman is a 28 -year -old Tiktok designer and a behavioral health professional living in Chicago. She shares her story about becoming planned and raising awareness of the risks we have on her Tiktok channel, @Mjwicki.

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