Breast Cancer Awareness month - Day 27
Day 27. What does being BRCA positive mean?
Having an abnormal or mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene means that the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer dramatically increases, but not everyone with a BRCA mutation will get cancer. Mutations in these genes are rare in the general population, higher in certain ethnic subgroups, such as those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Overall, BRCA mutations account for 5% of all breast cancers.
I have not been tested for the mutation. It was initially denied by my insurance company, and approved on an appeal. However, the insurance company reset my deductible before I was able to have the testing done (long story). The labs that do the very expensive testing like there to be no patient responsibility (or very little) because they like to be paid (understandable), so resetting my Out of Packet maximum (OOP) back to over 6k wasn't helpful. (This is a very broad explanation of getting the testing paid for). And then my employer switched insurance companies, so even if it had all worked out, the approval was null.
My sister did have genetic testing done and showed no mutations, so my doctor has not pushed for me to be tested.
At this point, it will do nothing for me to be tested, except maybe tell of a higher risk of ovarian cancer, but it would possibly benefit my children, so my doctor and I may revisit this at some point.
Having an abnormal or mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene means that the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer dramatically increases, but not everyone with a BRCA mutation will get cancer. Mutations in these genes are rare in the general population, higher in certain ethnic subgroups, such as those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Overall, BRCA mutations account for 5% of all breast cancers.
I have not been tested for the mutation. It was initially denied by my insurance company, and approved on an appeal. However, the insurance company reset my deductible before I was able to have the testing done (long story). The labs that do the very expensive testing like there to be no patient responsibility (or very little) because they like to be paid (understandable), so resetting my Out of Packet maximum (OOP) back to over 6k wasn't helpful. (This is a very broad explanation of getting the testing paid for). And then my employer switched insurance companies, so even if it had all worked out, the approval was null.
My sister did have genetic testing done and showed no mutations, so my doctor has not pushed for me to be tested.
At this point, it will do nothing for me to be tested, except maybe tell of a higher risk of ovarian cancer, but it would possibly benefit my children, so my doctor and I may revisit this at some point.
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