From My Mind to....

Testing: A Way of Life Now

I guess it's inevitable that whenever one gets cancer, the talk of genetics comes into play. Did I have genetic markers within that predisposed me toward one form of cancer or another?

My Oncologist raised that topic during her call a few days ago. She is going to request a consult for genetic testing to see if I was somehow prone to getting my particular form of kidney cancer. Apart from some occasional lower back pain, which many people have at one time or another, I had none of the routine symptoms for my cancer.

One of the many questions I had to answer during all the tests I had leading up to my cancer diagnosis was a family history of cancer. To my knowledge, only lung cancer occurred in my family. My father and younger brother died from it both smoking heavily until they passed.

So in six months--that's how long it takes just to get the consult--I'll be tested. I have no reason now to believe I was genetically inclined toward kidney cancer. But I need to be sure I didn't pass some marker to my children.

More tests ....