BRCA Can't Crack Ya

Nobody warned me that figuring out insurance would feel like a part time job on top of everything else I was already dealing with. So let’s talk about it, because this is the practical stuff that gets glossed over and then blindsides you at the worst possible time. The short version is that my experience…

Nobody hands you a roadmap when you get a BRCA1 diagnosis. You get your result, you get off the phone, and then you’re just supposed to figure out what comes next. Finding the right team of doctors was one of the most overwhelming parts of this whole process and nobody really talks about how to…

The morning of surgery I was numb. Not emotionally devastated, not tearful, not having some profound moment of reckoning. Just numb. Going through the motions. Showered, got dressed, got in the car. My surgery wasn’t until 3pm which meant I had a whole morning to sit with it, hungry and waiting, which is its own…

Once I had my surgery date I did what I always do when something big is coming. I stayed busy and I made a list. I am not someone who processes things by talking about them or sitting with my feelings. I process by doing. So in the weeks leading up to my mastectomy I…

My surgery was at 3pm. That detail matters more than it sounds. A 3pm surgery means you are awake all morning with nothing to do but sit there and think about the fact that you are having surgery. It also means you can eat until midnight the night before, which is exactly what I did.…

Officially 1/8th Doctor! I finally finished my first semester of medical school. There were a lot of adjustments. Moving to a new place, meeting all new people, figuring out how to manage my time were all things that got easier with time. Something really stuck with me through it all though. I had my double…

I’m not good at this part. I’m someone who handles things privately, processes internally, and generally does not volunteer personal information unless absolutely necessary. I’m fiercely independent to a fault. I don’t love asking for help. I definitely don’t love talking about myself. So the fact that I’m writing a blog about one of the…

When I got off the phone in that hallway I already knew what I was going to do. The mastectomy was never really a question for me. I’d watched what happened to my aunt. I knew the numbers. My mind was made up before the genetic counselor finished her sentence. So when I got home…

I got the call in the hallway in the middle of the work day. I already knew what she was going to say. I think I’d known for a while, honestly. My aunt had died the year before from breast cancer. It was aggressive and it was fast and she was young, and her death…