It seems like it gets to be longer and longer between posts, doesn't it? Well, I am keeping busy with these kids. All their cousins (on Joe D's side) are in town right now so everyday they want to go to Nana's to play with them. So I haven't been getting a lot done at home.
Stacy (my oldest sister)and I went up to Hunstman Cancer Institute on the 11th to get a blood test to find out if we carry the same breast cancer gene as Becky. There is a clinic up there that conducts genetic testing for people that may be genetically pre-disposed to breast cancer and then use the information in studies. I felt lucky to be close enough to take part in it, as it is one of only 6 facilities in the world that do this research. Not to mention the test was no cost to me. I should get the results sometime next week. I'm not too nervous right now, but if I am positive for the gene, it will mean some pretty hard decisions to come, like how drastic will my prevention be? I hope I won't have to decide that.
Women that are BRCA 1 positive have up to a 85% chance of getting breast cancer and up to 50% chance of ovarian cancer. My extended family is riddled with both those cancers and we've lost several loved ones to them, so it is something I am taking quite seriously. If I am a carrier I will have all my kids tested for it when they turn 18 so they know if they can pass it to their kids and so they can be motivated to have a healthy lifestyle to lessen their chances of getting cancer.
I put all this information out there because it is not common knowledge. I had never heard of BRCA 1 and 2 genes until Becky (my sister) got diagnosed a few months ago with breast cancer at the age of 31. Her doctors suggested, because of our family history and her young age, that she have some genetic testing done and sure enough... So if you have seen something like this with your loved ones, maybe mention it to them as something to look into. Some would say they would rather not know, but I think knowledge is power. I have some REALLY great reasons to live, so I'm going to give myself (and my kids if they have it)the best chance possible.
I will step off my soap box now. For all my wonderful girl friends, do your monthly self-breast exams. It's not hard or very time consuming, but can make all the difference in the world to detect cancer early on when the chances are good that it can be taken care of. Here is a link to a site that shows you how if you are clueless, cause I know I was. Heads up- there are pictures on this link.
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/self_exam/bse_steps.jsp
1 comment:
I've been thinking about you these past couple of weeks since I talked to you. I was telling Josh that we should plan a trip down to see you. I hope everything goes well for you this next week. Please let me know how the test results come out. Miss you!
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