Tests, tests and more tests...

I met with the genetic counselor today. The good news is that both of the tests were negative...in this case negative is a good thing. Well, the sweet little counselor couldn't just say good for you and goodbye....nope, she had to hit me with two more tests they want to run. The first one is a more extensive version of the first two, it is called BART ....kind of hard to explain but they won't run this test until they get the results back from the first...then they go back and look at family history and since we have two women diagnosed with breast cancer in their 30's that "qualifies" me for this test. She describes this as the most intensive BRAC test...If I would test positive this would mean an increased risk of uterine cancer for me. My sisters and my kids have a 50% chance of having the same gene flaw (that's not the right term but that's how I think of it) which puts them at higher risk for breast cancer and uterine cancer. Anyway, this test is only $650 so they are calling to see if insurance will approve it. The second test is for Cowden Syndrome which is another genetic test for breast cancer and thyroid cancer and uterine cancer...this is where it gets crazy....the main reason they are offering this test to me is based on my head size...yep, I have a pumpkin head! She looked at me and said "did you know that your head is larger than normal?" Right there I busted out laughing and all I could think of is that is why I always think my face looks so fat in pictures...that or my double chin...I like the big head theory better! Anyway, when they have breast cancer patients that don't have positive results on the BRAC tests they look at their head circumference because this is one of the characteristics of a person that has Cowden's syndrome...there are other things like dermatalogical issues which I have had so she offered me this test...there is a lab in Cleveland that is doing a clinical study on this and they will run the test for free...that's a shocker..nothing in medicine is ever free but I took them up on their offer...gave them 4 tubes of blood and will hear back on that in 2-3 months. I guess only 1 in 200,000 people have this but since I could have the test for free I agreed to do it.

So don't quote me on any of this because it was all very confusing....I am just glad about the first tests coming back negative because those tests carried some very high risk numbers for family members.

To my faithful comment posters - as you have probably seen we have had some individuals that I don't know leaving comments with links...I haven't opened any of the links and I hope you haven't...I have set up an option that will now let me moderate comments before they are posted. What this means is you will not see your comment added until I have "approved" it. PLEASE don't stop adding your comments...I love reading them!!!

Enough for now....