The greatest gift in disguise.
My name is Jess, I am 24 years old living in Essex with my fiancé, Sean. I am a nurse by profession and I am what you may describe as your ‘average’ 24 year old - there is nothing I love more than my yearly trips to Marbella and a good girls night out! I have an approximate 87% lifetime chance of getting breast cancer and also a significantly increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. I carry the BRCA2 genetic mutation. So I will start from the beginning. My mother had breast cancer when I was a teenager and I remember vividly how she battled the dreadful disease with immense positivity and courage. Thankfully, we were lucky and after intense chemotherapy , radiotherapy and a mastectomy, mum was given the all clear. Because of this I was always very aware of breast cancer from a young age and I was exposed to meeting many women battling this awful disease, some surviving and sadly some not. However, one thing that always reassured me was that my mothers cancer was not gen