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...