Family History

One thing that several people have asked along the way is "what prompted your sister to get tested?"  Here is a family tree...  I know this family tree is incomplete, but this captures family members, specifically women, with a history of cancer and goes all the way back to my great-great grandmother.  While this family tree focuses on the bad-ass females on my mom's side, it's important to point out that males can also carry the BRCA mutation and pass it on to their off-spring.  The mutation is passed on directly, meaning it must come from a parent.  It's not something that skips a generation.  While rates of breast cancer are more prevalent in the general population and with BRCA mutation carriers, ovarian cancer seems to be the Canote's female kryptonite.  And that is scary.  All cancer is scary.  However, breast cancer can be detected early and is typically treatable (but, goodness what a long road!).  Ovarian cancer is a bit of a silent killer.  It's much harder to detect and much harder to treat, which is why it is important to be proactive.  

I put this family tree together in 30 minutes using FamilyEcho.com.

My sister brought up 2 great points about our family history:

1.  Now we see why mom was on our case to get tested

2.  Thank goodness we have normal names like Jill and Julie and not Ethel, Olivine, and Mildred

Day 20 update:  No news yet.  However, Jessica (the most amazing nurse ever) called this morning to let me know that she had called the lab this morning to check on things and will be calling them back this afternoon to check on things again.  Okay, I know she is probably just as ready for me to get the results as I am, mainly so I quit calling and bugging her, but I also can tell she is genuinely on my side and is concerned.  She cares.  She 'gets it.'  I'm not just the 9:45 Tuesday appointment.  So shoutout to Jessica and the team at DHL's office!  

Update on my sister:  Jill has scheduled her hysterectomy for next week.  While the results are taking a while for me, it seems that once you come up with a plan, they move pretty fast (if you want to).  When she texted me her surgery date I thought "man, sh!t just got real!"  She's nervous.  But also at peace knowing that she's being proactive.  Again, while scary, we are reminded that this is a blessing.  Look at all the women of earlier generations who wished they had this warning.