My name is amber bills and I'm 24 years old, I am currently in a hospital bed recovering from part one of the mastectomy plus reconstruction operations. 2 years ago my sister and I found out we both had the BRCA1 gene fault. We came across this because my mother died when she was 36 years old from breast cancer.

Roughly about 10 years the hereditary cancer clinic took a sample of my grandfather’s blood to see if there was any kind of gene faults in the family; my grandfather has since passed on. So when they contacted my Aunty again 2 years ago we never expected to hear the news that pop was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene fault. So once we knew he was a carrier, we all made the decision to get tested for the fault.

My aunty, sister and I are all very close, because my aunty and uncle raised my sister and I, as our father also passed away in a helicopter accident while my mother was sick in hospital with the cancer. So not only was my Aunty going through her Brother in law dying suddenly, her sister dying of breast cancer, getting 2 little girls (4 and 8 years old), but she was also pregnant with her own baby boy. I think her and my uncle are amazing people and I can't even imagine what this time of their lives would have been like. Being 29 years old and getting an instant family along with everything else, but my sister and I couldn’t have asked for a better, more supporting family to be in.

My Aunty does not have the gene so it stops there. My Aunties son Scott is free from the gene fault, however my sister and I both do have it. My sister, Natalie got married last year and she is now 5 months pregnant with her first baby!! I have been with my partner Damien for over 6 years but being 24  I was not quite ready to be a mum so decided to have this done before I take the next step in my life.

This operation is a big experience for me. However my family, Damien and friends are so supportive which is fantastic and makes it so much easier for me!

Now 5 days on from surgery, I'm waiting for the drains to come out so I can go home and move on with the filling up process before I can get my permanent implants.