I'm in the situation of having the BRCA1 mutation and am weighing up all of my options. My mum has had breast cancer 3 times, grandmother breast and passed away from ovarian. The Family History Clinic in Brisbane and my GP are recommending mastectomy and ovary+tube removal. I'm just starting the info gathering. If I go ahead with the surgery, and I'm strongly leading that way, I'm hoping for the last week of school this year so that I can have the school holidays to recover. i've only been a teacher 3 years and I don't have the sick leave to allow me to have the op during the year. Of course if I had a diagnosis there would be no question, but being an elective this is already going to cost enough without having an income.