Most young moms don’t spend much of their time worrying about their health.
When you are young and have small children to take care of, future health concerns are usually the last thing on your mind, aside from maybe the occasional (and very important!) check for suspicious moles or breast lumps. But did you know that there are certain genetic mutations that you can screen for now and potentially treat years before they turn into a problem?
Karen Malkin-Lazarovitz was just 34 years old when she learned that her father carried the gene mutation known as BRCA. Immediately, she went in and got screened for it. She, too, carried the mutation.
It’s the same genetic anomaly that led actress Angelina Jolie to remove her fallopian tubes and have a double mastectomy just a few years ago, as a preventative measure against certain cancers. For Malkin-Lazarovitz, the mutation meant that she had an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer, and a 40 percent chance of ovarian cancer.
For Malkin-Lazarovitz, who has two children, the choice was clear. She decided to take fate into her own hands. Instead of taking the slim chance that she wouldn’t develop the illness in either her breasts or ovaries, she decided to beat cancer before it even appeared, and entirely on her own terms. To learn more about her incredible story, check out the Facebook page that she created to help other women going through the same thing, and watch her describe her journey in the video below!
And if you or any of your friends have a family history of breast cancer, please get screened, and SHARE this video to encourage others to do the same!
