Fluke Incident

Does this run in the family? Will my daughter need to worry about this in the future? Do my sisters and mom need to be checked?

Being told I had cancer was a complete shock to me. No one in our family had ever been diagnosed (that we're aware of) and the thought of it showing up was scary. This sort of thing just didn't happen to "our family".

I knew I needed to be tested to see if harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes showed up in my blood work. On the chance this test showed a positive my entire female family would need to be checked (they didn't have to, but for precautions it would have been wise).

I was extremely concerned for my daughters future, I had to know for her sake.

The test came back negative. Thank God! What does this mean? Why was I diagnosed with cancer?

This means it was a fluke incident.

....

We were sitting at the hospital again, this started to be routine for us. Just as we sat down and got settled into reading a good article from the nearby magazines, my name was called. They always botch it, at least I could still find this amusing.

We zig-zagged through the hallways to a small office. As we sat down at a round circlular table I started staring at my surroundings. Above her desk was a book shelf that had medical books ranging from "Breast Cancer" to "Family Genetics". A young lady started helping me to try and figure out my family history, my family cancer history that is. I wondered how much schooling she had to do this. I wondered if we were the same age. I noticed small child-like drawings around her desk, and wondered if she was a mom or an aunt, I assumed mom.

She pulled out a blank white sheet of paper. "This is how you're going to connect the dots to my genetic family history?" I thought. She started with my parents. She drew a circle for my mom and a box for my dad. She then drew lines to their four children, all female, all circles. She continued this same pattern with my mom's side of the family. There were a lot of circles for a lot of females. My dad's side was much smaller and few women to count for.

She asked the same question over and over. "Does/Did this person have any type of cancer?" No, was my answer for everyone. When we were complete going back to as much family as I can remember, she stopped. The blank white sheet of paper was now filled with boxes and circles and lines drawing from one family member to the next. She had created my family tree. What was eerie about this was that she put an "X" over anyone deceased. I didn't like that.

Her drawing became inconclusive. To my knowledge, no one in my family has had ovarian or breast cancer, at least no one with my direct link. She thought my chances of having cancer genetically was very slim, but to be sure, blood work was necessary.

I had been poked so many times with a needle by now, what difference did it make? We made our way up to the vampire labs AKA blood labs. I knew right where to go, this was nothing new to me. The woman who took my blood, however, must have been. This was the first time that it hurt so bad when she stabbed me with the needle into my vain. I decided she was a vampire. Her hands were cold and she jabbed me with the needle so hard that it almost brought tears to my eyes. I left with a bruise.

Now my blood was going to be sent to the only lab in the entire United States who would run this test. The cost was high. If my insurance didn't want to cover this, we were looking at around $5,000.00. We really couldn't afford this, but the thought of not knowing was worse than the bill.

Due to my age (anyone before the age of 40) is likely to have their insurance cover this test. We were also told that once they received my blood work, they would bill my insurance and if the bill exceeded $275.00, we would get a call to confirm if we still wanted to continue. If the bill was less, then we wouldn't get a phone call, but would get a bill.

We received neither. For me (and with my insurance) it was a free test. I guess my insurance decided it was best I know this information. (Thank you insurance!).

The results of the test came back negative. My family was okay. My daughters chances of having cancer went from a risk of 50% down to 4%. It was a "fluke" incident.

A fluke incident that had to be dealt with.

...

For more information on this test:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA 

Or, please contact me directly and I can provide you with the information of the nice young lady who "drew" my family tree (locally for Tri-City, WA area only).

....