My BRCA Journey

Reseach has shown many changes since my initial consult. One change was that it would be beneficial for me to remove my fallopian tubes and not my ovaries right off the bat. It was a great relief signing forms to sterlize myself (a right I think all women deserve to have). We planned out when would be ideal for me to schedule the surgery – I wanted to have it after a big fundraiser my work has, since this wasn’t super urgent.

I had my bilateral salpingectomy February 15, 2024. I had never had a surgery other than impacted wisdom teeth extractions in high school, so I was very scared.

I ended up being called in early and still waiting 5 hours until my 4pm surgery time. They actually couldn’t fully wheel me back because the outpatient surgery center had such a backlog that the hallways were full – that was pretty stressful. I walked over while squinting and could barely make out my doctor, the nurses, etc. I was ready.. and then I wouldn’t knock out! Turns out the IV got pinched. They kept pushing meds and telling me to take deep breaths. Nothing. Haha, just my luck. Once they figured that out, I took half a breath and I was out.

Less than an hour later, I heard, “Rita we are moving you to recovery.” Instantly, I was awake and realizing I didn’t have my arms strapped down. I ripped the tube from my throat while everyone yelled at me not to. Whoops. Grand entrance as always!

I was out of work for two weeks and was relieved to have my procedure done. This meant it was time to reach out to my assigned surgeon and ask about scheduling my mastectomy.