Stories of Genetic Testing, Prophylactic Surgery, and Reconstruction: Lorell

Lorell Hornbrook has a strong family history of breast cancer: Both her older sister and her father were diagnosed with breast cancer. Her father died at age 75 from treatment complications, a year after he was diagnosed. In 2014, at age 48, Lorell decided to have genetic testing to see if she had a gene mutation that dramatically increased her risk for breast cancer. When her test results came back positive for a BRCA2 mutation, Lorell had already decided what she would do: a double prophylactic mastectomy and reconstruction using tissue from her tummy area. Lorell is one of three women whose stories are featured in the Breastcancer.org video series on genetic testing, prophylactic surgery, and reconstruction. Listen to the podcast to hear Lorell talk about: why she never hesitated about participating in the videos the type of research she did after she got her genetic test results how she prepared herself for surgery the advice she would give to women in a similar situation