Miss America contestant pursuing double mastectomy

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19249900&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Win or lose Saturday, Miss America contestant Allyn Rose will have conveyed a message about breast cancer prevention using her primary tool as a beauty queen: her body.

The 24-year-old Miss DC plans to undergo a double mastectomy after she struts in a bikini and flaunts her roller skating talent. She is removing both breasts as a preventative measure to reduce her chances of developing the disease that killed her mother, grandmother and great aunt...............

Rose said it was her father who first broached the subject, during her freshman year of college, two years after the death of her mother

"I said, `Dad I'm not going to do that. I like the body I have.' He got serious and said, `Well then you're going to end up dead like your mom.' "...............

The number of women opting for preventive mastectomies increased 10-fold between 1998 and 2007, as genetic testing and reconstructive surgery options improved, according to a 2010 study published last year in Annals of Surgical Oncology.

Art McMaster, CEO of the Miss America Organization, called Rose an "incredible example" of strength and courage................


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She doesn't have the breast cancer genes, though.
Of course it's her decision but I am not so sure this procedure is medically necessary. Couldn't the doctors just monitor her very carefully?
Having major surgery has its own risks.

Miss America contestant gets hate mail over mastectomy plans

http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/...ant-gets-hate-mail-over-mastectomy-plans?lite

..............In addition, Rose’s grandmother and great aunt both died from the same disease. She has been found to carry a rare genetic disease – not the well-known BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes but another condition, a rare genetic mutation that puts her at risk. “For me, breast cancer is not a matter of if. It’s almost a matter of when,” she says.

Rose is planning to undergo a prophylactic double mastectomy after her year of service as Miss D.C. or Miss America. Her doctors are monitoring her health in the meantime through sonograms and vigilant check-ups.

Her pageant platform, “Breast Cancer: Planning a Marathon, Running a Sprint,” is a tribute to her mom, a marathon runner...........

And Rose’s outspokenness about her plans to have the surgery have even attracted hate mail from some – and there are even those who are convinced she’s making it all up in order to attract media attention, she told the AP. ..............

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