MELISSA
DIAGNOSIS: Never, to date
GENETICS: Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother had breast cancer
BRCA: Tested negative for mutation
PROCEDURE: Genetic testing revealed ATM gene mutation
TREATMENT: Preventive bilateral nipple-sparing mastectomies
CANCER-FREE: Lifetime, previvor
Melissa is considered a “Previvor” due to never being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Family history: mother, grandmother, and great grandmother were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Tested positive for ATM (Ataxia-Telangiesctasia Mutated) gene - ATM is a 'cancer protection' gene that helps to protect against breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer. Everyone has two ATM genes (one from their mother, and one from their father). If one of the genes is not working, this is known as having a faulty ATM gene, or having an ATM mutation.
People who inherit a mutated copy of ATM from one parent are at increased risk of female breast cancer (up to 52% lifetime risk).
Melissa elected to have preventive bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies. Preventive mastectomies offer a far better chance of avoiding cancer altogether.
She had expander reconstructions at the time of surgery rather than go direct to implant due to some concerns about the skin on her SPY angiography.
Thanks to remarkable advances in plastic surgery and reconstructive techniques, as well as new materials and designs and the ever-increasing option of reconstruction with your own tissue (called autologous reconstruction), the options for retaining the appearance of your breasts are excellent. Read more about breast reconstruction options in Chapter 9.
Melissa now has her permanent implants and is busy with her career and showing her horses.
Melissa is 41 and has remained cancer-free.
Read No Longer Radical for more stories about women who have had preventive mastectomies