31. Fresh as a daisy

..almost. Its amazing what a bath can do for you.

Its also amazing what support can do for you. Thank you to all of you who have passed comment and offered kind words in the last 24 hours - its lovely to know you are out there. You are the people who will help me reach my surgery mentally in one piece. As predicted though, 24 hours has passed and I don't feel like I'm possessed by the hormone devil anymore!

Phew..lets get back to jolly.

Not to go too far off subject, thought I'd mention that I have been posting to Facebook groups about the BRCA+ parents with children approaching 18 subject. For those with a Facebook account, follow these links - those without one, sign up its free and there is a wealth of support and information hiding in the social networking site.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1300676972&ref=name#/topic.php?uid=2373995702&topic=7168

Will post again on Friday afternoon after my eeeeeek 8.40am appointment at the docs.

Take care y'all

MWAH

Oh happy Tuesdaaaaay...oh happy Tuesdaaay..

27. Spin..spin..spin my brain, gently down the stream..

Yep, brain spinning. Why? The lovely doctor (gynae) has just called me, as promised, to talk about the option of freezing eggs or embryos. He was lovely about everything and above all else, above all his 'targets' set by the government, he was concerned that I make the right choice and in my own time, not in the 13 week deadline set by Labour! He asked me to think about it carefully, to talk through things with Chris and go and see my GP about the options.

So the upshot is that I CAN have my eggs frozen but it is less successful than embryo freezing and I CAN have embryos frozen, taking sperm from Chris (explained about the snip) and starting them off, bung them in the freezer for if/when we fancy putting a bun in the oven. I know its not that simple but just knowing that it is possible and I will still have a womb, that I CAN still have children beyond my surgery.

I know that some people will be enraged at the thought of messing with nature, about screening embryos and rejecting those with the BRCA1 gene mutation that I carry in my DNA. Those people who think it is wrong I would like to ask them if they have ever had an operation or got sick and been healed? That's also messing with nature, helping nature and not leaving it to make its own natural selection. This is not designer baby stuff, not choosing a girl or boy and tweaking blue or brown eyes, this is just choosing the best of the bunch for a healthy life. It is in fact less traumatic and morally wrong than screening for down syndrome and aborting a child showing positive results for the condition.

Quite frankly, laying it all out on the table, I am doing the NHS a favour by either not having children or screening those I might have - my gene mutation is costing them thousands of pounds as it is - imagine if there were many more of me..more gene screening, more operations, more embryo freezing.

I am feeling content that I have options. I am still a little nervous about delaying my ovary removal but I'm sure it will be fine.

For those that think I should just not have kids at all..ask yourself why you are on the planet and what you feel your purpose is.

I think we are all here to survive, to continue..everything on the planet strives to continue..to exist.

I've been fighting that and I just want to put it in a box for another day rather than make a decision now. I have been hurried into having a family by most of the health professionals I have met along my BRCA1 gene journey and I can honestly say that I am glad I didn't listen to them. I channelled my own path through the sea of "hurry hurry Leigh-ann, it will help protect you against cancer". No..no it won't, my mum had me and she still got cancer. The pressure and ticking of time and life hiccups have been immense.

I am free to think now.

Thank you Dr Charrier..thank you.

23. Freezing eggs

As I have said before, I feel like my life timing has conspired against me every step of the way in my desire to have children without hideous complication. It is now something I just don't feel I can be bothered with in life now.. I gave in to the fight on this one, but maybe only postponed for another day. What my mother made me realise on the phone last night is that there is still a chance that I might be able to have children, that the recent news about screening embryos (whether you agree with it or not) is an option for me.

Maybe I can freeze my eggs before I have them chopped out?

Has this been offered to me? No. Guess what I am doing now - finding out. If this is an option and it hasn't been mentioned or offered to me during my counselling in preparation for surgery, is this from lack of knowledge by the people leading me through all this or is it just not available? If I had cancer now, before I went through chemo, this would be offered to me.

I think I panicked yesterday because this is final..what I am doing is final - no ovaries - no children. I will keep you posted on this and I will find out. Imagine if I could find a happy, non-cancer worry place in my future where I had the energy to try. Chris says he would try if I wanted to. This makes the whole deal a little less 'final'.

If someone is strong and says they don't want something, shouldn't you throw all the options available to them to see if they bite? If they don't then they are sure. Because I entered the system with fear for my future children and had convinced myself that I NEVER want children because I can't deal with the consequences, they just accepted it, they never challenged me about it once. Am I that convincing? Maybe I am angry at myself but if I hadn't been so strong I would have faltered on the way, been desperate..this has been my coping strategy. Look what science has done..it has introduced a mutated gene free chink of hope. I am not ashamed to turn about face on this - I don't want to make a mistake. I want to be free of worry and then I want to see if I really don't want children for the right reasons.


Honestly, some days I wonder if it would just be easier to get cancer and just deal with it. Those who have cancer wish they had had the knowledge I do. I'm not sure that this is any fence to hang over admiring the view and wishing it was yours and not your neighbours. I think we both worry we could die, both struggle to get through days, both face operations, drugs, children, life.

I admit that the knowledge I have gives me a small upper hand over cancer but it is not a definite that I will get it - even with my gene mutation. There is still a 15% chance that I won't yet I make decisions based on the odds which brings a lot of emotional dilemmas, which is why I am sharing my story with you. What my personal journey has revealed is that although there is knowledge, the journey has only been walked by the few with the knowledge and the system to support those who do and who will again, is protracted and convoluted.

Maybe this blog of mine will help others in their own BRCA+ journey and even if it is just one person, all this typing and thinking and sharing will have been worth it.

22. Take a deep breath

..and relax. I am trying.

I bare resemblance to a frog this morning. My eyes are puffy and sore, tired but not green or slimy. After a difficult day yesterday I spent an hour in the bath and felt very, very alone. I realised that everyone I have met that is BRCA+ is not like me. Not one person.

I called my mum who is not one for having deep conversations and would rather not 'get morbid' but I think I made her see how much I needed to talk to her. I asked about her cancer, which just happened - lump found, cut it out, radiation - sorted. This is bizarre but thats the way she deals with things. She tells me I have too much knowledge and that too much knowledge is dangerous. I agree to an extent, but then too much knowledge will cure cancer one day - science will break it down to each little cell, atom - pull it apart and test is to destruction..with masses of knowledge. Knowledge is power. What I am doing is knowing my enemy so I can fight it. Too much knowledge has also made me slightly OCD (yes, I am slightly damaged mentally..) because I am a hand washer. I admit to the world (well, any readers out there) that I have phobias that are control based but it is mild and I keep it in check. Living all these years with the unknown have made me try and control my world a little and I know it is all connected to the BRCA journey, grieving, moving away from everyone I love..and lots of other things..all mixed up in a cauldron of worry. And today's recipe will make a lovely condition called OCD...taddaaaaa!! Magic.

So yesterday was tough. I cried for about 2 hours in total and I am paying for it today. What came out of my day of torment was the thought about the next generation of BRCA+s being born or who have already been born out there. They are blessed with childhood right now, ignorant in their wishes for Christmas, their birthdays, their tree climbing (do children still do this??) - innocent children. They don't know yet but at 18 years old they can find out, if they want to. In reality they will probably not realise the impact this knowledge could have on their lives. Teenage life, partying, having fun, growing up, life will get in the way and it will be blotted out as a future worry for most.

One day they will meet someone special..that's when it will become a reality.

Will their parents let them just carry on without a care? Will they pressure them to investigate? There is so much connected with the knowledge..the cursed knowledge.

This whole embryo screening thing has stirred things up and I need a new blog poll.