Angela's Decision: Outsmarting My Cancer Genes and Determining My Fate

by Angela Schmidt Fishbaugh

Overview

One woman’s brave journey to take control of her life, health, and future.

After a routine pap smear in 2009, Angela Schmidt Fishbaugh discovered that she had tested positive for BRCA1, a genetic trait that predisposed her to breast and ovarian cancer. After her initial shock—and subsequent to consulting with medical professionals, friends, and family—the proactive mother and teacher embarked on a mission to nip the issue at the bud.

Angela’s story is one of personal fortitude. During her journey, she contended with a lack of understanding from those around her, as well as the impending loss of her most feminine qualities. However, as is made abundantly clear in Angela’s Decision, she persevered and came out a stronger woman, immensely proud of the decisions she made. The roots of her immense personal strength become evident as Angela offers flashbacks to her past. She shows us the great difficulties she faced while caring for her ailing father and, later, her ailing mother.

Written with unbridled candor and lively prose, Angela’s Decision follows Angela’s yearlong journey through a myriad of clinics, hospitals, and numerous operations. It is a story of struggle and trial, highlighting the challenges both she and her family faced in her crusade against her genetic condition, and the great courage she showed in ensuring the mistakes of her parents did not become her own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632204738
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	04/28/2015
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Angela Schmidt Fishbaugh is a mother, teacher, and the author of Seeking Balance in an Unbalanced World: A Teacher’s Journey and Celebrate Nature! She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in education, and she lives in Dundee, New York, with her three children and husband.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Preface: The Pensive Hours before Surgery xiii

1 Mind, Body, Spirit, and Preschool Mealtime 1

2 Roots of Compassion 9

3 "Thank God This is Only an Office Procedure" 21

4 The Twists and Turns of Waiting 31

5 Testing for My Legacy 37

6 In My Own Shoes 53

7 "Inspired" 79

8 Surgery and Pain (Meds) 91

9 V for Victory, V for Visitors 111

10 Bereavement and Resolutions 131

11 Changing, Inside and Out 139

12 Caring for the Girls 151

13 The Lows of the High 157

14 The New Woman 163

Epilogue 179

Resources 181

Acknowledgments 183

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2015
With numerous relatives having died from cancer, 41-year-old pre-K teacher Fishbaugh (Seeking Balance in an Unbalanced World) was proactive in her own health care. Then an abnormality on a routine pap smear in 2009 led to further tests, and her world got knocked on its head. Though the results showed no signs of cancer, a nurse suggested that she go for genetic testing, and Fishbaugh tested positive for the BRCA1 gene, which could lead to a higher risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. The author opted for a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, with reconstruction, and a complete hysterectomy. Unfortunately, Fishbaugh's chronicle strikes one as mannered. She is whiny, complaining about hospital food and claiming not to have been informed that a hysterectomy would throw her immediately into menopause. An addictive nature manifests itself in the form of abuse of multiple medications. She also spends a great deal of time reliving her parents' deaths. VERDICT Though she displays a more positive attitude about her "new" life, Fishbaugh wouldn't be this reviewer's first choice as a role model for women facing similar dilemmas. Readers will be better served by Gayle Feldman's You Don't Have To Be Your Mother.—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Library Journal