Gene testing for cancer - anyone have this done yet?

[December99]

I had a yearly physical on Friday and during that physical I spoke to my doctor about the possibility of having the gene testing done that will tell me if I'm a likely candidate for cancer. Because of my mom dying of breast cancer this has become a great concern of mine. On top of the breast cancer I also have lung cancer and colon cancer that fun in my family on both sides (various on both sides). Basically, I'm a time bomb waiting to explode and I'm very scared of when that bomb is going to go off.

She said that it is becoming more and more of something that patients and family members are doing as the wide spread of cancers that are happening in the United States. She did say that this test sometimes is good and sometimes can mentally be not so good - basically if you find out the genes show you have the right ones in your body that will be cancer producers it's a wait and see approach. However, some information that I have been reading has said that if these genes are found, cancer fighting agents can be given to deter the cancer from continuing to grow. Don't know how true that is or not.

Friday I'm going to go in and talk to her once again as she is going to talk to me about doing a referral to a hospital/medical facility near Chicago that does do the testing. Has anyone gone through this yet or talked with their doctors about this?

 

[*Flower*]

The only ones in my family that had cancer were my maternal grandparents, and my grandfather was about 96 when he died. My grandmother was 87 when she died.

He had colon cancer and never went to the doctor until he was admitted to a nursing home and it was found. He lasted about a year after that.
My grandmother had breast cancer and it was treated early. She had a radical mastectomy, and passed away about 20 years later due to heart problems.
I haven't thought about doing the gene testing, but I know that only being one generation away from it is a great concern.

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, and hope that you will receive the guidance to do what's best for you.

((HUGS))

 

[dalepool]

I have a blood test done every year that would let the Dr know if I had cancer growing--somewhere---It doesn't tell you where just gives you the heads up. I'm an ovarian cancer survior---With ovarain cancer having only a 5% survival rate ---guess you could say I've been living on borrowed time.