My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold him in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was. We often speak of "Mommy's mommy," and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is that I carry a "faulty" gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian  cancer. My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex. On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work. But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people's hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find the way out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action. My own process began on February 2. The operation took eight hours. Then I woke up with tubes in my breasts. It did feel like a scene out of a science-fiction film. But days after surgery I can be back to a normal life. There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful. I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a surgery operation was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me. It is a comfort that they see nothing that makes them scared. They can see my small scars and that's it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and I will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman.  For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices. I acknowledge that there are many wonderful holistic doctors working on alternatives to surgery. My own regimen  will be posted in due course on the Web site of the Pink Lotus Breast Center. I hope that this will be helpful to other women. I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they can take measures. Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of. The writer shares her private story in order to   _  .
tell women how important it is to be a healthy mother help those who might suffer from cancer like her suggest a way of dealing with difficulties stress life is full of ups and downs