Have you survived living with a
genetic predisposition for developing a particular disease such as cancer? If
so, you are a previvor. Previvors are
often confronted with having to make decisions about their health that may
include aggressive screening and surgery in order to manage the risks involved
in getting a disease if they don’t. These decisions impact them and their
families as the cycle of disease through generations creates worry and fear.
Genetic testing determines a person's risk for developing certain diseases. Testing
can lead to the implementation of risk-reducing interventions such as more
screening, surgical prevention, and chemoprevention. A harmful mutation
can be inherited from a person’s mother or father. Each child of a parent who
carries a mutation in one of these genes has a 50 percent chance of inheriting
the mutation.
Maria’s father died from cancer in 1998. Her sister was diagnosed with colon
cancer at the age of 27. It was important for Maria to find out if she carried
a gene mutation related to Lynch syndrome, a type of inherited digestive tract cancer that her sister had. In this video,
she describes her journey before and after being tested and how she became empowered
to make her decision regarding surgery.
Frances
Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer
in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book
editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.
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