IndexFacing the Horror of BRCAFamily History of Breast CancerMiracle Recovery from BRCAFacing the Horror of BRCABRCA. Four simple letters. Four simple letters that can mean nothing in the world. For a person, four simple letters can become the world. Four simple letters that, if you let them get into your head, could destroy you. Four simple letters that can change the way people look at you. But these four simple letters also allow you to improve your situation, instead of remaining silent and letting your fate prevail over you. Accepting these letters, in fact, performed a miracle in my life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The BRCA gene, short for the BReast CAncer gene, is normally a tumor suppressor gene that all women are born with. It prevents our cells from growing or dividing too quickly by repairing and restoring damaged DNA. However, women who carry a mutation in the BRCA gene have about a 70% chance of having breast cancer in their lifetime. Less than 10% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have a BRCA gene mutation. My mother, aunts, grandmother and previous generations of relatives were born with this mutation. Unfortunately, my grandmother and aunt found out too late. Family History of Breast Cancer Cancer came to tell my grandmother she wasn't good enough. That she wasn't good enough to carry on with her life. That she wasn't good enough to watch her grandchildren grow up. That he would have to undergo intense sessions of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and undergo an operation to remove the tumor. My grandmother fought determinedly for him to leave, but he didn't want to; he wanted to see her suffer. After months and months of struggle, nausea and hair loss, she finally won: my grandmother survived breast cancer. Less than a year later, it came back to haunt my family. This time it wasn't my grandmother who was targeted, but her daughter. That's when everyone wondered: How is it possible for two people from the same family to be diagnosed with breast cancer in such a short time? Appointment after appointment, blood test after blood test, waiting anxiously in the doctor's office, my grandmother and my aunt discovered confirmation of their dangerous disease: they have the BRCA gene mutation. I went with my mom to the doctor's appointment – ​​genetic counseling – where the doctor explained to her what the mutation is and what it will mean for her future as a woman when she undergoes a double mastectomy and hysterectomy to prevent the risk of cancer. My mother was afraid because she didn't want to undergo an invasive surgery that, according to her, would take away her very essence of femininity. I tried to calm her down by helping her see the bright side of the mutation, even though I was petrified myself. After the appointment, my mother was convinced that she would not undergo the mutation test: that if she got cancer it would be part of her destiny and that there was nothing she could do about it. This scared me because the woman I admired and who had taught me to never give up had decided to give up. She decided to let fate rule over her and destroy her chances of living a healthy future. I felt upset because I couldn't understand the harm of having the blood test, however, I was just a sixteen year old girl who didn't understand the risks of finding out such significant information. After much deliberation, my father and I convinced my mother that it was her destiny.