Wisconsin radio host, 41, has double mastectomy and ovaries removed because of cancer risk

• Elizabeth Kay, 41, hosts 99.1 The Mix as she speaks to listeners about the life-changing surgery she’s undergoing
• A mother of one, she has a nearly 60% chance of getting cancer, so she’s taking measures herself.

A popular Wisconsin radio host had a double mastectomy and is planning to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after she was found to carry a gene that increases her risk of cancer.

Elizabeth Kay, 41, hosts 99.1 The MIX and tells listeners about the life-changing surgery she’s undergoing to overcome her 58 percent risk of getting cancer.

The mother of one has BRCA2, and doctors have calculated her risk of contracting the disease is 58 percent, worse than a coin flip.

After consultation, she decided to undergo a double mastectomy.

She posted a photo of herself taken from her hospital bed on Instagram today, captioning it, “I’m ready, let’s do it.” love my doctors 』

Kay, who has been on Milwaukee’s radio show since 2009, told WISN: “In the last few years, several members of my family have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Then another family member of a similar age was diagnosed, and everyone paused for a moment and wondered, ‘Wow, is this a hereditary cancer?'” This is me. What does it mean for our family? ”

“I decided to take similar precautions as Angelina Jolie did and have a bilateral mastectomy.

“Then you will have reconstructive surgery to remove your ovaries and fallopian tubes.

‘This is serious. My family has it too and I am actively working on it. I don’t want any part of cancer.

“If we can prevent it and have this information, we’re going to do something with it.”

After being tested, Kay revealed that her family had a genetic mutation called BRCA2, which stands for breast cancer gene 2.

Increased risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and fallopian tube cancer. This is because genes give instructions to make proteins that function as tumor suppressors.

Mutations in this gene make it less effective at producing tumor suppressor proteins, making it less effective at keeping potential cancers at bay.

The BRCA2 protein is also involved in the repair of damaged or altered DNA, which, biologically speaking, causes cancer.

This is not the first time a mother of one has undergone surgery.

In March 2021, she donated a kidney to a stranger in Kentucky on behalf of her mother-in-law Camille and was able to get an even better one through a paired kidney exchange program.

Kay frequently posts heartwarming images and clips of her family life with husband Eric and teenage son Brayson.