- By Eve Mart
- Posted February 16, 2016
Treatment to Survivor
Being a breast cancer survivor isn’t a static label. For me, being a breast cancer survivor has added another layer to the person I am and have become, and that has been an evolutionary process. It took time to get my energy back, but I now happily maintain a very active lifestyle. Again, it took time, and patience was not my strong suit.…
- By Dr. Robina Smith
- Posted February 11, 2016
What to Expect from Surgery and Recovery
Whether a woman is facing the decision to have breast surgery as a treatment option for cancer or she is being proactive and having a preventive procedure done to reduce the risk of ever having cancer, the decision is not an easy one. Surgery can be a frightening experience for some people, and rightfully so. Although surgery is designed to physically…
- By Theresa Smith
- Posted February 9, 2016
So I am supposed to chop off my breasts?
When I was offered the option of having a preventive bilateral mastectomy, it was so overwhelming. I couldn’t think about. I couldn’t talk about it with anyone. I didn’t research the procedure. I just put off thinking about it entirely. I couldn’t handle it emotionally, and the thought of what it would do to me physically was very scary…
- By Jessica Profato, MS, CGC
- Posted February 4, 2016
Coping with Cancer: 5 Lessons from my Patients
As a clinical genetic counselor, a big part of my job was educating my patients about the basics of genetics and hereditarycancer. Another equally, if not more, important part of my job was to talk to them about how a diagnosis of cancer, a positive genetic test result, or a combination of the two was impacting their life and those of their family…
- By Eve Mart
- Posted February 2, 2016
Healthy Habits, Healthy Mind
The funny thing about ‘healthy habits’ is that you can do everything ‘right’, but there are no guarantees in life. For me, breast cancer is hereditary. he·red·i·tar·y Something (like a health problem, like cancer) that is due to inherited genetic changes (mutations), which can be passed from parent to child. I have a BRCA1…
- By Dr. Robina Smith
- Posted January 28, 2016
Preventive Oncology
To this date, we cannot totally prevent cancer from forming; however, for certain cancers we can reduce the risk of it developing. Approximately one half of cancer cases can be prevented by modifying risk factors or by early detection of precancerous lesions. For breast and ovarian cancers, approximately 10% will develop due to hereditary predisposition.…
- By Deepti Babu, MS, CGC
- Posted January 21, 2016
Advocacy groups: I got more out of it than they did
Several years ago when I was a new genetic counselor, doe-eyed and fresh out of grad school, I made sure certain topics came up in every session I had with a family. I covered the facts: the family history I’d collected, a review of genetic patterns, and any genetic testing options the family needed to consider. I’d usually write down notes…