Like most working moms, Michelle Majewski is busy. She spends her days juggling a career as a sales account executive, managing a household, and spending quality time with her husband, their son Owen, and their two dogs. Owen, now 4 years old, is a charmer. He also has extra medical needs, without a clear diagnosis or explanation. The search for answers used to keep Michelle up late at night, looking for information that could help her family.
“After my family was quietly tucked in bed for the night, I would go back into my office and research Owen,” said Michelle. “I knew that there was a reason for the challenges that Owen was facing every single day. I also knew that no one else was going to search for answers the way that I was going to.”
As part of his diagnostic work-up, Owen had ExomeNext® testing through Ambry Genetics. Results were negative: no genetic explanation was found at this time for Owen. But then Michelle learned about the Patient for Life program.
Patient for Life is a premium service offered by Ambry that provides lifetime support and ongoing, proactive notification about new genetic discoveries for people who’ve had exome testing. Ambry dedicates a team of researchers and leverages an evidence-based, published gene-disease relationship system to evaluate new information. When a newly characterized gene is found to be the cause of a genetic condition, updated reports are issued, and doctors and families are notified – all at no additional cost.
Even though Michelle and her family don’t yet have answers, the Patient for Life program has given Michelle back her sleep. “I know for certain that an entire team of people is continuing to research for me. And once an answer is found, I know that our doctors are going to be notified,” said Michelle. “We don’t have to do another blood draw. We don’t have to pay any more money out of pocket. We’re just going to get the answers.”
Watch the video to hear Michelle’s story and how the Ambry Patient for Life program brings her peace of mind.
