CLAYTON -- Faith Rolfes spends her days at home enjoying her family and focusing on her recovery.
"I'm feeling good. I'll admit it hasn't been a walk in the park," said the mother of two who's fighting breast cancer. Chemotherapy is done and radiation is next.
"It was hard, but I guess knowing I had the gene I was more mentally prepared for it."
The gene she has is called BRCA1. Superstar Angelina Jolie put a face to it in a New York Times Op-Ed published on Tuesday. Women who have it have an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer. Even without a cancer diagnosis, the Hollywood beauty had both breasts removed.
"I thought about being that aggressive, and I was one biopsy short of doing it," said Faith, who instead decided to watch closely by getting an MRI or mammogram every six months. But last fall cancer was detected in both breasts, so she had a double mastectomy.
Faith says she wishes she had been more aggressive.
"I didn't really regret it until I had the cancer diagnosis," she said.
Dr. Melissa Roelle is a surgeon and works with breast cancer patients at Miami Valley Hospital.
"It does seem like there's a trend in women being more aggressive in preventing breast cancer," said Roelle, who adds that $3,000 price tag to get tested for the BRCA genes shouldn't deter women, because hospitals will go to bat for them.
"Listen, she has a high chance of developing breast cancer, and she has a high chance of carrying a mutated gene that may be at play here, and often times insurance will help pay for that test."
It is a test that Faith says saved her life. As ABC 22/FOX 45 spoke to her, she was sporting a pink shirt from "The Pink Ribbon Girls." It is a group of women who are mostly survivors who check in with her.
"Awesome, awesome," Faith said when referring to the group. "That's what makes me cry every time I talk about them. Yeah, because even family, they don't get it. They get it," said Faith, meaning the women in the group.
Faith reaches out to other women in the fight while focusing on her own recovery.
"I'm feeling good. I'll admit it hasn't been a walk in the park," said the mother of two who's fighting breast cancer. Chemotherapy is done and radiation is next.
"It was hard, but I guess knowing I had the gene I was more mentally prepared for it."
The gene she has is called BRCA1. Superstar Angelina Jolie put a face to it in a New York Times Op-Ed published on Tuesday. Women who have it have an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer. Even without a cancer diagnosis, the Hollywood beauty had both breasts removed.
"I thought about being that aggressive, and I was one biopsy short of doing it," said Faith, who instead decided to watch closely by getting an MRI or mammogram every six months. But last fall cancer was detected in both breasts, so she had a double mastectomy.
Faith says she wishes she had been more aggressive.
"I didn't really regret it until I had the cancer diagnosis," she said.
Dr. Melissa Roelle is a surgeon and works with breast cancer patients at Miami Valley Hospital.
"It does seem like there's a trend in women being more aggressive in preventing breast cancer," said Roelle, who adds that $3,000 price tag to get tested for the BRCA genes shouldn't deter women, because hospitals will go to bat for them.
"Listen, she has a high chance of developing breast cancer, and she has a high chance of carrying a mutated gene that may be at play here, and often times insurance will help pay for that test."
It is a test that Faith says saved her life. As ABC 22/FOX 45 spoke to her, she was sporting a pink shirt from "The Pink Ribbon Girls." It is a group of women who are mostly survivors who check in with her.
"Awesome, awesome," Faith said when referring to the group. "That's what makes me cry every time I talk about them. Yeah, because even family, they don't get it. They get it," said Faith, meaning the women in the group.
Faith reaches out to other women in the fight while focusing on her own recovery.