- By Carin Espenschied
- Posted August 3, 2016
How Laws Protect Genetic Information
There are many different things to consider when deciding whether to have genetic testing. In addition to the impact of the test results on your physical and emotional health and that of your family members (more on that here), you should also consider your insurance coverage and the possibility of discrimination. When I met with patients as…
- By Eve Mart
- Posted July 19, 2016
Relearning to Balance
After cancer treatment, I was so relieved to be finished with the demands of treatment and ready to put the experience behind me. Ironically, I found myself feeling uncertain with what my future held. I was so fixated on a magic number… five years. In my mind, if I could just get five years out from treatment, I would be magically cured and the…
- By Tiana Adams, PA-C, MBA
- Posted July 7, 2016
You Need to Know These: Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer
My name is Tiana Adams, and I am a practicing Physician Assistant with 18 years of clinical experience. During this time I have worked in many specialties, including Family Practice, Urgent Care, Occupational Medicine, Orthopedics and Breast Cancer Surgery. Currently, I am the Oncology Operations Specialist at Ambry. Moving into this role is something…
- By Dr. Dennis J Ahnen
- Posted July 6, 2016
Colonoscopy: What to Expect, Plus a Few Tips
Colonoscopy is central to the care plan for families with hereditary colorectal cancer (CRC) syndromes, as Georgia Hurst mentioned in her earlier post. Colonoscopic screening is the major means for prevention and early detection of CRC in this setting. It is worth highlighting what you can and should expect when getting a colonoscopy. It is…
- By Deepti Babu, MS, CGC
- Posted June 30, 2016
What Healthcare Providers Learn from Their Patients
When you go to an appointment with your healthcare provider, what do you expect? Information. Discussion. Compassion. Maybe a plan. And for good measure, a joke or two? That’s what I expect, anyway, when things are going well. That combination definitely shifts if things aren’t going well with my health. Then I expect to learn facts, offered…
- By Eve Mart
- Posted June 28, 2016
What did Cancer Teach Me?
It might seem difficult to comprehend, but I think cancer taught me a number of profound life lessons that few people realize until it’s too late. I don’t think I stand alone in that thought. In the face of breast cancer, I’ve seen many women show remarkable strength and do things even they never thought they could do. “You never know how…
- By Carin Espenschied
- Posted June 22, 2016
Decisions, Decisions: What To Consider When Deciding On Risk Reducing Surgery
If you have been diagnosed with an inherited colorectal cancer syndrome, your healthcare provider may have recommended that you consider having risk reducing surgery. Risk reducing colectomy is the removal of part (partial colectomy) or all (total colectomy) of the colon to reduce the risk of developing future cancer. Risk reducing hysterectomy…
- By Carin Espenschied
- Posted June 8, 2016
What Happens When I Get My Test Results
Learning the results of genetic testing can be a stressful experience for some, but it also has the potential to be empowering. If you are waiting for your genetic test results to come back or are considering having genetic testing in the future, hopefully the information in this blog will ease some of the concern you may be experiencing. I hope…
- By Georgia Hurst
- Posted June 6, 2016
The Importance of Genetic Counseling With Genetic Testing
As I sit in the hereditary cancer trenches, I see the negative effects of genetic testing sans certified genetic counseling every single day – and it is an enormous problem. Many of the fears and concerns that people discuss with me could be addressed and ameliorated simply if they spoke with a certified genetic counselor before and…
- By Jessica Profato, MS, CGC
- Posted June 2, 2016
How We Can Increase Awareness Of Male Breast Cancer
It has been mentioned in previous posts that there is limited awareness about the fact that men can get breast cancer, and that this limits the options men have for support. It only makes sense for us to consider how we in the medical community, as well as society in general, can do a better job of this – raising the profile for male breast cancer…