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My BCRA Gene Test Debate
Her name was Blanka.
She left Czechoslovakia in 1911 when she was 16 with her husband Joseph who was 12 years older than her. They settled in the northern United States.
Over the next several years, Blanka bore six children, two girls and four boys. Her husband was away much of the day, working in a factory for 12–14 hours at a time. Blanka was alone much of the time, raising her family and keeping house.
When she was 34, Blanka became ill. Then she died, leaving her six children alone with a distant father. The year was 1929.
On her death certificate, the cause of death was simply “Women’s Cancer.”
A Medical Mystery
Blanka was my great-grandmother. Little is actually known about her in my family. My grandfather was her son. He grew to be a stoic man of few words who never spoke of losing his mother when he was just 11.
Although my great-grandmother died of cancer, the gene is still alive in my family.
When my mother was 35, she discovered a lump in her breast. The doctors performed a surgical biopsy and determined it was pre-cancerous. They removed the lump and quite a bit of surrounding tissue. My mother has never been diagnosed with cancer, but that procedure made her vigilant about getting checked and taking…