Daddy's Little Girl.

24 years ago I cut my daughter's umbilical cord and welcomed her to this earthly run. Today, after reading her blog and the responses coming from all over the world, I feel compelled to address her issue of breast cancer; but from her dad's perspective.

For the sake of brevity, she watched her mother receive a diagnosis of stage 3 breast cancer and undergo a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy. Carly's mother was found to have the BRCA1 gene mutation, which is hereditary. Her grandmother and various other relatives had endured this insidious interruption of their lives. 

My daughter was raised with all of the knowledge that two parents could impart on a child. But using this was all on her. When asked if Carly wanted to be tested for a BRCA1 gene mutation, she researched the known literature and asked a lot of questions of the Kaiser staff and the previvor groups who had a well seated foundation on the subject. 

She came to her mother and I after arriving at her well-informed decision and announced that she was going to undergo a preventative mastectomy. Since she was young and healthy it would require no chemo, radiation, or any other treatment and reconstruction could begin immediately. I won't bore you with the known statistics but this surgery would essentially give her a normal lifespan. Still, the emotions that a dad feels wanted to say: "No, baby, it sounds dangerous and you are not even sick." Then I realized that it was not about me and how I felt, it was about a grown young woman taking her strong place in the world. I remember her pointing to her chest and saying, "Dad, these are not going to kill me." All of this while in the middle of law school. I cannot express, in total, my gratefulness to have been blessed with such a wonderful daughter and the world with such a wonderful and brave person. Never once has she complained nor tried to gain sympathy. She saw a potential problem and she fixed it.

People are so quick to write this world off but I see it in no danger with my little girl and other informed and brave people who have made this a public forum so others may benefit. She has completed almost all of her surgeries and is doing great in law school. I am so proud of you Carly and I am so glad that I am your Dad. I love you, honey. -Dad