that really pissed me off!

I watched a new documentary on PBS recently "In the Family" made by Chicago filmmaker, Joanna Rudnick, who, at 27, has tested positive for the BRCA gene. The appx. hour and a half is about her personal struggle with the knowledge that she has the mutation for breast/ovarian cancer and trying to come to terms with what that means for her future. She also reaches out to other woman who are survivors as well as others getting their own test results.

This documentary pissed me off! Rudnick has the mutation - OKAY - you're alive and DO NOT HAVE CANCER - but she goes through this entire documentary as if she is going to die at any moment. Doesn't this girl realize that simply testing positive doesn't guarantee that she's going to develop the cancer? PLUS - by having the knowledge that she DOES have the mutation - she's fortunate enough to be able to take PREVENTATIVE steps to decrease her chances of getting cancer? Maybe Rudnick needs to take a look at Kris Carr's "Crazy Sexy Cancer" and see what a young woman who ACTUALLY HAS CANCER does to improve her life and her situation. Now there was a documentary that made an impression - a good one, to boot - I was in amazement over what someone could do with their lives despite being given a diagnoses of an incurable cancer. Kris Carr is an inspiration - she rose to the challenge of her life and didn't let go!

One of my sisters tested positive for the BRCA gene - I don't want her to see Rudnick's doc. I think it portrays a grim existence and is very negative. I'm sure glad I didn't see it a week or so earlier while I was awaiting my very own BRCA results. I could've been suicidal with Rudnick's negativity. Don't let the fact that you have the BRCA mutation end your life! Take control of your health and your future and take the necessary steps to live a long and fruitful life!

Don't forget that OCTOBER is BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH! Be sure to visit The Breast Cancer Site and click to give FREE MAMOGRAMS!