Helen

Being a BRAC1 gene carrier, I opted to have a double mastectomy and reconstruction.

My experience of having this operation was, to start with, very traumatic. Emotionally I was a mess for the first year as I did not feel I was a woman anymore. A big part of my emotional turmoil was the fact that I had just lost my mum when I had the operation.

I remember being in the operating theatre and thinking I need to stop this as I cannot go through with it anymore but then the drugs kicked in and it was all over.

Although I was in immense pain, the relief I felt after having the operation and knowing that I had just saved my life was enormous and this feeling far outweighs anything else.

It took over a year for me to start feeling like a woman again, and now, nearly two years on from when I had my first operation I am feeling almost myself again.

Obviously there are times when I look back and wish I did not have to have the operation done but then I think about my mum and I know that she didn’t die in vain and that I now have a chance for life and so does my daughter and any grandchildren that I may have.

My sister is suffering with cancer at the moment and when I see the pain and trauma that she has to go through I know it was all worth it.

I would definitely recommend it to other women in the same situation.