- By Lisa Kindel
- Posted November 15, 2022
Live Life Proactively: Trinity Chappelear Shares Life Post-ATM Mutation Diagnosis
The adage “knowing is half the battle” describes Trinity Chappelear perfectly. Her dear friend Brandi Preston lost her mother to breast cancer at age 14, spurring Preston to start The Kamie K Preston Hereditary Cancer Foundation, based in Omaha, Nebraska. The non-profit is devoted to educating and supporting awareness for genetic testing to …
- By Jodi Tahsler
- Posted November 10, 2022
A Q&A with My Faulty Gene founder Kathy Baker
My Faulty Gene is a nonprofit organization that provides information and assistance to individuals whose family medical history suggests genetic testing might be helpful in identifying an increased risk of disease due to a genetic mutation. They believe that everyone in need of genetic testing should have access to it. We sat down with Kathy …
- By Lisa Kindel
- Posted October 5, 2022
Never Surrender: Mike Rogers Grinds on Post Sarcoma to Help Others Beat Cancer
Back in the 1970s, skateboarding was all the rage. The Zephyr skate team from Southern California wowed young men all over the country with their different tricks, jumps, and grinds. One of these impressionable youths was Mike Rogers. He started his skating career in Florida in 1977. Little did he know he’d face much larger challenges than working …
- By Jaime Burguieres
- Posted September 29, 2022
An Attitude of Gratitude: Jaime Burguieres’ Previvor Cancer Journey Guided by Ambry Genetic Testing
When Jaime Burguieres was young, her 43-year-old maternal aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. Burguieres watched her vivacious aunt go through painful radiation and chemotherapy treatments that seemingly eradicated her cancer at the time. A few years later, her aunt was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the breast, stomach, and hip, …
- By Emily Huebsch
- Posted September 27, 2022
A Different Kind of Patient: Emily Huebsch Empowers Herself and Others Against Breast Cancer
Previvor: A person who has not been diagnosed with cancer, but has survived the predisposition, or higher risk, due to certain genetic mutations.* Breast cancer. Spoken in hushed tones, these scary words are often compounded by the aftermath of breast cancer deaths, creating a stigma around discussing breast cancer in regular conversations. With …
- By Noelle Carbognin
- Posted February 17, 2022
Thanks to Genetic Testing, I Now Know My Cancer Risk
“It’s one thing to be scared to hear something, it’s another to die from not hearing something at all.”—Rick, Colon & Kidney Cancer Survivor (American Cancer Society) When I was twelve years old, my cousin was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. She was only 24. My mother knew my grandfather on …
- By Nanette Bentley
- Posted August 20, 2019
Unexpected Health Crisis Helps Family Learn Vital Health Information
On the evening of November 12, 2018, my husband and I received a call from our then 18-year-old daughter Oli’s school, informing us that she had been found outside her room with no pulse, in full cardiac arrest after a fire alarm went off in the dorm. The security officer started chest compressions and brought her back with one shock from the …
- By Dina Scaglione
- Posted June 15, 2018
A Lifelong Father's Day Gift
As far back as I can remember my dad was always into health and fitness. So when I joined the track team in junior high, my dad decided he would start running with me to help me improve my race times. Little did I know, or could I appreciate, this was actually an excuse to spend more time with me. Donned in white Dolphin shorts he would shuffle …
- By AJ Stuenkel
- Posted June 12, 2018
Real Men Go to the Doctor
Throughout the month of June many 5ks will be run, fundraisers and educational fairs will take place, and blue will be worn, all in the name of Men’s Health. In the U.S., June is designated as Men’s Health Month while June 11-18 is recognized internationally as Men’s Health Week, with goal of both to “heighten the awareness of preventable …
- By Jessica Profato, MS, CGC
- Posted June 8, 2018
I Survived Cancer, so Why do I Need Genetic Testing for it?
As a clinical genetic counselor, I saw many cancer survivors for genetic counseling. In some cases, it had been 30-40 years since they were diagnosed. Some of them were in their 60s-70s when I saw them, but they were young at the time of their cancer diagnosis. Years later, they were referred to me to talk about the possibility that their …