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Article: Breast Cancer Awareness: The gene carrier's story - `I've never had any regrets. I still feel sexually attractive. I've actually gained confidence; Wendy Watson, 44, chose to have a double mastectomy without having any trace of the disease after nine members of her family developed cancer.(Features)
- Article from:
- Sunday Mirror (London, England)
- Article date:
- September 17, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 MGN LTD. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I was just 16 when my mum died from breast cancer. I was absolutely devastated. Bowel cancer had killed my great-grandmother, my grandmother died from ovarian cancer having fought breast cancer twice, and then Mum.
When I suspected that I might be next I asked my GP: "Could it be hereditary?" and was told, "Don't be stupid."
For the next 20 years it was always in the back of my mind, but it wasn't until my husband Chris and I moved to the Derbyshire Peak District where Mum's family came from and I met up with my cousin Jennifer that I discovered that she, ...