Sisters fighting cancer

Breast cancer can be a deadly family legacy, but the trauma of not knowing can be a major problem, until now.

Sisters Christine, Veronica and Elisha Neave grew up with such a background.

Their grandmothers and mothers were all diagnosed with the disease, but they still were not certain whether it would grab them.

"You always think breast cancer is hit and miss," they said.

But now a test is available to see if you have a specific gene called BRCA2.

The test to discover whether you have that gene is still in its infancy, and unless there's a family member who has breast cancer and the gene can be isolated, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But with one in eight women diagnosed with the disease, there's a good chance many Australian women will be able to test for the gene.

But would you want to?

Claudette was diagnosed with breast cancer at 49 and has undergone a mastectomy. Now 60 she's battling a recurrence.

Her three daughters, all young mums themselves, have opted to have the test and all three have been told they do have the gene.

Veronica, 39, said: "I sit at about 80 per cent chance of getting breast cancer and about 60 per cent chance of getting ovarian cancer."

Regardless of age, it is the same odds for her sisters, Christine, 42 and Eisha, 29.

Christine has decided to take away the anxiety and the risk and is about to undergo a preventative double mastectomy.

"It's a real hard decision to make, the decision to take two healthy breasts off," she said.

But after watching what her mother endured, she says choosing not to would have been harder.

"What women go through when they get breast cancer is really, really horrible. It's invasive, its long term, its terrible stuff," Christine said.

Her two sisters, also healthy, vibrant women, are at the crossroads.

The girls, together with their family, are making a documentary called "Pieces of Me", helping them to fit their own thoughts into such an implausible puzzle.

"What we found, it was so hard to find info about BRCA2, about choices and options. It is such a new area we just wanted to create some thought provoking information. Choosing whether to have the test, choosing whether to go further, not to have the test, choosing weather to have surgery, they've got choices to make," the girls said.

Christine has now had the surgery and is recovering well.

For more information about the documentary, "Pieces of Me", email info@bigskypublishing.com.au or visit the website at: www.bigskypublishing.com.au