family and frankly of groups like yours. they need to be able to go to places, ambassador, where they know that they can be in a loving and supportive environment. and we find out that the lower resource woman is, the less support she tends to get. which is why we build these programs around providing social support. a woman needs it at home. she needs to be brought into a clinic, a continuum of care where she can receive this kind of treatment lovingly and be navigated through it. having access and having the support means everything when you re making or about to make a decision like this. ambassador nancy brinker, dr. steven grobmyer, thanks to both of you. a very important topic. we appreciate it. thank you. funeral services will be held today for dr. joyce brothers. the popular television psychologist, author and columnist died yesterday of respiratory failure in new york city. brothers was indeed a pioneer with her first advice show airing on nbc back in 1958. in recent y
because i was exactly her age when i developed breast cancer. at the same time that came from brca positive, having the mutation which i did not discover until years later. and made the same decision. and it is a difficult decision. it s a personal decision. and as dr. grobmyer says, it comes with quality of life issue. yet this young woman has taken this issue and opened up a dialogue for all of us in america and around the world on risk factors, how people should have access to this important test. she was very lucky to have the ability to have the test. i was very lucky to have it. most women don t. i m hoping with the affordable health care act which now covers this in some insurance plans, that we ll be able to offer this to people. because where a woman lives and how much money she has should never determine whether she lives. how common is it for insurance to cover first of all the test? today, it is more common if you have certain kinds of plans. since august 1st, 2012, wit
founder of the susan g. komen for the cure. dr. steven grobmyer, head of the cleveland clinic breast center. good morning to both of you. doctor, let me start with you. jolie learned she has this mu tigs and the brca1 gene. getting a double mastectomy is a major decision. it required multiple surgeries. what factors sbo into making a decision like that? the decision to have a double mastectomy is obviously a complicated one. it s one that patients should make in consultation with their doctors and with their family. taking into account the long term risks of developing breast cancer and the quality of life issues that attend to such decisions. she was told as we reported that she had an 87% chance of developing cancer based on this testing. is that typical for someone with that genetic mutation? yes, it is. there are several known genetic mutations now associated with the risk of developing breast cancer. the risk is slightly different for each mutation. it s generally in the ran