Hysterectomy with Salpingo-oophorectomy

Pace's next operation is a hysterectomy with salpingo-oophorectomy, or rather removal of the uterus, cervix, ovaries and fallopian tubes. It will significantly reduce her chances of having other BCRA1 related cancers.

Some opinions are that you should only have the operation if you have been diagnosed with an urgent medical situation. BRCA1 is an immediately important medical challenge for us. The decision to proceed with the procedure was not a light one. The three top conditions the operation causes are:

• menopause
• early osteoporosis
• elevated risk of heart disease

Another thing is that we won't be able to have any more children unless we adopt, which our friends Jacques and Heather have successfully done, which is a possibility.

The other option is we enter the ambiguous realm of surrogate motherhood egg extraction and cryogenic oocyte (egg) preservation. Umm... no!