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Please get genetic testing if it’s recommended for you
Note: I first wrote this story a few years ago — I am now 6.5 years cancer-free.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. It’s a special anniversary month for me too this year. This month marks 5 years of me being cancer free! I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 and had to do 20 days of radiation. No chemo. I was very lucky, it was a very small tumor.
But it wasn’t totally luck. A few years before this, the breast center I went to affiliated with my hospital contacted me and said that they recommended genetic testing given my family history.
I didn’t hesitate. I am a data person, and I wanted all I could get, so I signed up to get tested. The genetic counselor and nurse were some of the best people I have ever met — friendly, informative and warm. They made it fun to go there. I learned a lot too.
I was tested for a bunch of things, BRCA1 and BRCA2, of course, which are the main breast cancer-related genetic markers, but they also tested me for the presence of genes for something called “Lynch Syndrome,”…
