Amy Armstrong is a breast cancer survivor — she also had to deal with the very real possibility that she would develop stomach cancer due to an inherited genetic mutation. SurvivorNet has interviewed Amy, as well as her mother and her brother, about the rare gene that they all carry — and just how important genetic testing, and being vigilant about health was for the entire family.
Amy was really proactive about being screened for breast cancer — she began undergoing screening tests at age 30. When her cancer was initially detected, Amy opted for a double mastectomy — a surgery to remove both of her breasts.
Read More RELATED: WHEN SHOULD I BEGIN SCREENING FOR BREAST CANCER? “There was cancer … once I found this out I said, ‘You have to take everything.’ I didn’t go down this road to be worried if the cancer will come back,” Amy said. “So I went through with the mastectomy. It was a very hard thing emotionally for me. When you go through a mastectomy, it’s part of who you are as a woman. It was not something I wanted to give up … I found it very hard to let go of something that, at the time, I thought defined me as a female.” Amy discovered that she also carried a genetic mutation called a CDH1 mutation after her mother went in a got tested for the disease. The mutation, which significantly increases a person’s risk of developing stomach cancer, can be passed down from parent to child — and it’s a dominant gene. Amy and her siblings got tested for the disease after their mom tested positive, and three of four carried it. Amy chose to have the prophylactic gastrectomy (have her stomach removed) to reduce her chance of getting cancer.
Her story is quite remarkable — and it’s worth sharing to educate others about just how important it is to be vigilant and proactive about your health.
“Don’t just leave it to the doctors to tell you what’s going to happen … yes you have to listen to them, but take your health into your own hands,” Amy said.
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