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A review by emgusk
Pandora's DNA: Tracing the Breast Cancer Genes Through History, Science, and One Family Tree by Lizzie Stark
4.0
I met the author of this book at a reading at my local bookstore, Politics & Prose, which might have some bearing on my review. As does my genetic status.
I am a BRCA1 gene mutation carrier, just like the author (Lizzie). And many women (and men) are survivors of breast cancer or were killed by breast cancer, just like the author's family.
The book is written as a combination of the history of cancer science and research, the history of her own family and the author's personal experiences with her mother's breast cancer and finding out that she was a BRCA1 carrier. I found the history fascinating (and now want to read The Emperor of All Maladies even more, despite already seeing the excellent PBS miniseries, which I recommend). I also related to the overriding history of seemingly everyone in your family being struck with breast cancer.
What I didn't relate to as much was Lizzie's experience with her BRCA1 diagnosis. Maybe I'm a cockeyed optimist, but I don't live in fear of a cancer diagnosis every moment. The author and I are very similar -- we are even around the same age, which I think is extremely valuable, since there are not a lot of childless people in their 30s writing about their BRCA experiences. But I just don't find the monitoring to be as onerous as the author. But to each her own, and I did really learn from her experiences.
As she writes, we have come a long way in cancer treatment and diagnosis and I am hopeful there will be even more to learn in the coming years. Maybe I am making the wrong decision by not getting a preventative mastectomy, but I am confident that the more I learn and read, the more informed decision I will make and the more educated I will be on the subject. I folded down quite a few pages of the book to revisit and research more and Lizzie's experiences give me a lot to think about and consider.
Thanks for writing this book, Lizzie! Glad to have someone like you in my corner.
I am a BRCA1 gene mutation carrier, just like the author (Lizzie). And many women (and men) are survivors of breast cancer or were killed by breast cancer, just like the author's family.
The book is written as a combination of the history of cancer science and research, the history of her own family and the author's personal experiences with her mother's breast cancer and finding out that she was a BRCA1 carrier. I found the history fascinating (and now want to read The Emperor of All Maladies even more, despite already seeing the excellent PBS miniseries, which I recommend). I also related to the overriding history of seemingly everyone in your family being struck with breast cancer.
What I didn't relate to as much was Lizzie's experience with her BRCA1 diagnosis. Maybe I'm a cockeyed optimist, but I don't live in fear of a cancer diagnosis every moment. The author and I are very similar -- we are even around the same age, which I think is extremely valuable, since there are not a lot of childless people in their 30s writing about their BRCA experiences. But I just don't find the monitoring to be as onerous as the author. But to each her own, and I did really learn from her experiences.
As she writes, we have come a long way in cancer treatment and diagnosis and I am hopeful there will be even more to learn in the coming years. Maybe I am making the wrong decision by not getting a preventative mastectomy, but I am confident that the more I learn and read, the more informed decision I will make and the more educated I will be on the subject. I folded down quite a few pages of the book to revisit and research more and Lizzie's experiences give me a lot to think about and consider.
Thanks for writing this book, Lizzie! Glad to have someone like you in my corner.