Undifferentiated

Yesterday, a big manila envelope arrived in my mail.

I didn't check the mail, so I didn't even know of its existence until Ezra got home and brought the mail in. Somehow, I managed to get my kids to bed, finish up a project for work, and completely neglect to make dinner before ripping open the envelope open and poring over my mother's medical file.*

Armed with my mother's pathology report, a little Macallen 18, and a quickie MD from Google U, I came to the (shaky) conclusion that she probably had a BRCA1 mutation. Which is great, I guess, if I turn up negative, since then we can likely call it a true negative (though of course I'll still be nervous). Potentially not-great for my sister, who really shouldn't get tested this young anyway. And, duh, really sucky if I turn up positive.

The upshot of BRCA1-related ovarian cancer, you should know, is that apparently you live longer with the cancer. (Note: article is 13 years old.)

If I wait until I write out all the reasons I think my mom's cancer was BRCA-related, this'll never get posted, so instead I'll just leave you with a few more article links.
Clinical and Pathological Features of Ovarian Cancer in Women with Germ-Line Mutations of BRCA1, NEJM, 7 Nov 1996
Pathology of Ovarian Cancers in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Carriers, Clinical Cancer Research April 2004
BRCA1 and BRCA2 as ovarian cancer susceptibility genes, Carcinogenesis, May 2005

* Okay, her file as kept by her ob/gyn, covering only 1991 - 1994.