"When genetics can predict how we may die, how then do we decide how to live?"
Jessica Queller has written for numerous television shows including The Gilmore Girls, Felicity, and One Tree Hill. She currently writes for Gossip Girl and lives in New York and Los Angeles.
Two weeks after Queller's maternal grandmother died from kidney failure, her mother was diagnosed with metastasized ovarian cancer. Eleven months after she, too, died, Queller, single and in her thirties, got tested for the "breast cancer gene" mutation (BRCA). Her results came back positive. Queller, who planned eventually to marry and have children, figured the cancer would come in the latter half of her life. But after doing some research and talking with medical experts and breast cancer survivors-many with her same genetic mutation, BRCA-1-she realized the cancer could strike at any time and that she would need either "vigilant surveillance and hope for the best" or undergo radical surgery. The experience of her mother's suffering-along with her own bravery and strong will to survive-led her to decide on a prophylactic double mastectomy (she has decided to put off having her ovaries removed until after she has the children for whom she hopes). Queller has written a vivid, powerful, informative account of a difficult situation and an almost impossible decision (hers is one with which not all medical authorities would agree) with honesty and grace. Highly recommended for all public library and consumer health collections.-Marcia Welsh, Dartmouth Coll. Libs., Hanover, NH Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
TV writer Queller (The Gilmore Girls) was 31, single and healthy when her mother succumbed to ovarian cancer at the age of 58, having battled breast cancer six years earlier. Queller chronicles her mother's long and anguished struggle in vivid detail. After her mother's death, at the suggestion of an acquaintance, Queller opted to discover whether she carries the breast cancer gene; indeed, she tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene mutation, which gave her an 87 percent chance of breast cancer before age 50 and a 44 percent chance of ovarian cancer in her lifetime. With this knowledge in hand, Queller began the journey toward her pivotal choice: a prophylactic double mastectomy at age 35. Along the way she traveled between the West Coast and New York City, seeking medical opinions, information and unsuccessfully-but not for lack of trying-a man she can love who will father her children before she follows up with voluntary surgery to remove her ovaries. This Hollywood writer's story is seamless and gripping; readers will be rooting for Queller and her heroic decision to confront her genetic destiny. (Apr.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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