My family has cancer. My grandma had just about every type, but it began as ovarian and breast cancer. She made it to 71. She had four kids- My mom, who had a debilitating stroke at 55, my uncle, who died of brain cancer at 56, my aunt, who had the same issues my grandmother did and died at 54, and my second aunt, who is slightly younger than the one who just passed.
My aunt who passed got tested and discovered she was a carrier of a gene mutation that almost always results in breast and ovarian cancer, meaning my grandmother had it too. My mother refused to get tested, but my aunt insisted that I get tested and I don't have it. However, my other (living) aunt told me today that she does. She called herself "a ticking time bomb." I can only imagine what she's thinking right now.
During the time while I was waiting for my own test results, I had already made up my mind that I'd gladly hunt down a doctor who was willing to remove any "parts" that were likely to develop cancer, but my aunt has not done so, even though she is almost certain to get it.
What would you do? Live with it? Hope for the best? Proactively have parts removed?