Christina Applegate, Suzanne Somers, Olivia Newton-John, and Julie Bridges, three names you probably recognize, but all four have one thing in common - they’re breast cancer survivors.

“I was always very confident that it would never happen to me,” said Bridges. “I was very confident in my health.”

Then Bridges woke up one morning and her life changed.

“My skin itched,” she said. “I went to scratch it and it felt like a little peanut M&M.”

Bridges was diagnosed with breast cancer. In September 2007 she underwent a lumpectomy. She then started chemotherapy and radiation. In between the two treatments, her doctor suggested genetic test to look for the BRCA gene. BRCA stands for Breast Cancer.

There are two types of BRCA gene - BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. Both give women who carry the gene up to an 85 percent risk of developing breast cancer by age 70.

Applegate found out she was a carrier of the BRCA 1 gene and with that discovery decided to have a double, or bi-lateral, mastectomy.
Bridges carries the BRCA 2 gene. She decided to do the same thing.

“Before I had this done, every little pain, little lump, bump, everything scared me to death,” said Bridges, “So, it’s really a big peace of mind to have it done.”

Dr. Randy Cooper, the surgeon who performed Bridge’s double mastectomy, says if you don’t carry a breast cancer gene, your chance of recurrence is small. But, that’s not stopping many women from taking drastic measures.

“When you start giving them the option of a lumpectomy or a mastectomy they’ll stop me and say, ‘Doc, I want a bi-later mastectomy. I don’t ever want to deal with the again,’” said Cooper.

Dr. Cooper says most women, about 90 percent, who develop breast cancer do not carry a breast cancer gene or have a family history of the disease. That’s why it’s extremely important to do breast self-exams once a month and get yearly mammograms starting at age 40.

As for Bridges, she's free and clear of cancer after her double mastectomy and hysterectomy but says her bout with the disease changed her life for ever.

“I’m just a lot more compassionate,” said Bridges. “You don’t realize what people are going through until you’ve gone through something like this.”