What a difference a year makes!

The other day I had a follow up appointment with one of the first doctors that I met after getting my BRCA1 diagnosis.  A year ago I was in his office an emotional mess.  I had just had my first MRI, then the call that they wanted another, and an ultrasound.  I have always said that I was most fearful of my ovaries.  Not sure if it is because my grandmother died of ovarian cancer, or if it's because it is not very easy to diagnose....but I have always thought getting them removed was a priority.

I knew the importance of routine screening for my "upper half" as I like to call it :) So I just thought the MRI was routine.  But the call I received after was anything but routine as well as the follow up MRI biopsy.  I am so thankful that the biopsy never had to be done because they no longer saw any concerns, but I will never forget the emotional roller coaster it put me on.  It helped me to decide that scheduling my surgeries sooner rather than later was a must for me.

I had my bilateral oopherectomy/hysterectomy on February 23 of this year and my double mastectomy on May 4.  It hasn't been the easiest of recoveries.  I've had plenty of bumps in the road.  Somehow I always found myself in the 5% of the population who had to deal with this complication or that one.  But I love where I am at now.  I love the sense of peace I have today.  I've come a long way in a year.

The best part of the visit was talking about follow up.  Before I felt overwhelmed with the amount of surveillance testing I needed to stay on top of.  But at this appointment he suggested that I see my gynecologist once a year, see my breast oncologist 1x next year....all very doable and a lot less urgency behind it.