Today is World IVF Day and we are marking it by sharing the story of a member of the BRCA+ Chat community, who has been on her own journey with PGT after having a preventative mastectomy and is now pregnant.
The Amazing Things Your Body Can Do
I wanted to share a bit about my positive story to help others see that good things can happen very quickly post-surgery and the amazing things your body can do as Lisa said to me.
I had a preventative mastectomy with implant reconstruction about 1 year after I learnt about my BRCA-2 gene mutation. This came on the back of my sister getting breast cancer in her mid-30s, thankfully she’s all fine. I didn’t want to wait around as I was approaching the age at which she developed cancer, especially as I didn’t like the anxious experience of MRI and waiting for results. Not to mention I was given a 93% chance of having breast cancer in my lifetime. Why wait to be poorly which would lead to a mastectomy anyways while my healthy body could recover faster? That was my reasoning.
The added challenge with our journey is that my partner & I had been trying for a baby for a while and were already on an IVF process as we discovered my partner was infertile. We were lucky to be able to afford IVF privately and went for PGT-M to avoid passing on the BRCA-2 gene. We started with the NHS, but timings were too long for us although our local clinic would have been able to offer PGT-M (I think the wait was more than one year) and I believe they did mention donor conception as part of this too.
I decided I wanted to do my mastectomy first for peace of mind as stories like Aimee’s gave me confidence. This would be followed by the embryo transfer when I felt ready. As you can imagine, I have been through countless medical appointments in the past years but I am finally coming out of it thanks to a successful mastectomy last October; although I had a slight scare with hematoma on my right breast which was picked up straight away by the surgery team and I thankfully quickly recovered from… We also had a successful IVF transfer in March with PGT-M and with sperm donor, just 4.5 months post-surgery. For those aware of the detailed process, I had done the stimulation and egg retrieval last August which saw great results.
In hindsight, it’s been quite the journey, but I’ve been incredibly lucky to be supported by my friends and family as well as the BRCA+ Chat community and an amazing medical team. My “foobs” are not perfect – there is a bit of rippling on the right and my nipples are looking a bit wonky – but I’m super happy with them. They used to be pear shaped and now are rounder, but I don’t mind. What’s important for me is that I don’t see the scars everyday (they are hidden under my breast!) which is why nipple sparing was the option I chose. One thing I discovered taking pictures before and after the surgery is that the way your boobs look on pictures and in the mirror is different (at least for me) and I’m very happy how they look in the mirror reflection so don’t overthink pictures!
Another tip that helped me a couple of months after surgery was getting a nice-looking post mastectomy lace bra from LoveRose Lingerie while I discovered my best everyday bras for me are from Boody. I was fortunate enough to meet the LoveRose founder, Caroline, for a personal fitting and that gave me extra confidence on my journey to recovery. I highly recommend a personal fitting with a specialist for a boost of confidence and to be able to try different models as not everything fit the same with your new “foobs”.
Hopefully my story helps others see it’s possible to recover quickly (even with a bit of complications) and focus on your next adventure in life, even with a tough fertility journey.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. The title is perfect- our bodies really are amazing things. They can go through so much yet still bounce back. Xx