FOR generations the Saad family has been stalked by cancer — stories of premature deaths and children growing up without mothers have been all too common.
Tanya, Paula and Vivian Saad’s grandmother died from ovarian cancer in her 30s.
Her daughter Yvette, the girls’ aunt, was also in her 30s when she died of ovarian cancer in 2002.
Other relatives had breast cancer, one as young as 21.
“Our family has been surrounded by sad stories of cancer,” said Sydney public servant Tanya Saad. The family suspected the same genes that blessed the girls with their luscious curly locks also held a dark secret.
And that secret was revealed in 2008 when the girls’ father had genetic testing that revealed he carried the BRCA 1 gene, which carries an 80 per cent risk for breast cancer and 60 per cent for ovarian cancer.
Offspring have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the gene and Tanya and Paula instinctively knew they carried the same gene fault that saw Angelina Jolie undergo a preventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
Vivian was spared.
“Paula and I were convinced we had the gene, call it a sixth sense or gypsy sense. We knew,” Tanya said. “It can feel like a ticking time bomb.”
Both Tanya and Paula opted to undergo a preventative bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction, with Tanya also having her fallopian tubes removed.
“I felt it was inevitable. The only way to eliminate the risk was to have the preventative surgeries,” Tanya said.
“At 36, I’m the oldest in the family tree with the gene that hasn’t had cancer.”
Paula, who was 25 when she tested positive to the gene, buried the concept for a while.
“I thought it wasn’t an issue until you hit 30, so I bought time, but then my daughter was born and facing that mortality, I took BRCA more seriously,” Paula said.
“I wanted to be around and I didn’t want to miss out, it was vital I do something.”
Paula watched Tanya go through her double mastectomy in 2012, paving the way for her surgery in 2013. “She made it look easy,” Paula said.
Vivian, now 35, is grateful she did not inherit the gene.
“But I also feel a lot of guilt, I felt lucky, but unlucky for my sisters, yet I feel privileged that one of us could be supportive outside of fighting this nasty gene,” Vivian said.
Tanya has told their story in a book, From The Feet Up.
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