Saturday, December 10, 2022

Genetic testing 12/9

genetic testing
I had to wait a week(!) for the required 2 hour genetic testing appointment. I thought, how impressive that field of genetics has advanced so much that it was no longer just a vial or two of blood, but something a lot more. 

So, I filled out a lengthy online form regarding family history and was looking forward to this appointment for 12/9 from 10 am -12 pm.

After briefly looking over my online survey, the nurse gave me a print out of gene combinations and proceeded with a general lesson about chromosomes and mutations, sort of genetics 101. 

After about 10 minutes, I explained that I was knowledgeable enough about what is a chromosome, how many we have and that some might have mutations --  understood enough of the basics. Then she said:

Nurse: "So if the result shows any mutations impacting breast cancer, you need to understand that it is not YOUR FAULT."

Me: "Hmm, I don't think it is my fault."

Nurse: "If you feel sad and feel like crying, it is ok. We can offer additional counseling right now."

Me: "I am perfectly fine, don't feel the need to cry and I don't need any counseling at this point."

At 10:35 am I was walked down the hall to draw two vials of blood.

So, instead of drawing this blood a week ago in any lab, I had to wait for a week for a scheduled appointment to get a mini lecture on genetics, agree to do an expended genetic testing and now will have to wait several weeks for results.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Labels

chemotherapy (29) chemo side effects (24) friends (12) radiation (12) cancer (10) fun (10) keytruda (9) food (7) biopsy (6) fatigue (6) insurance (6) port (6) testing (6) hell (5) iv (5) recharge (5) scan (5) test results (5) MRI (4) celebration (4) chemo (4) doctor (4) hair loss (4) hospital (4) mammogram (4) side effects (4) support (4) surgery (4) taxol (4) acupuncture (3) benadryl (3) carboplatin (3) diagnosis (3) operation (3) protocol (3) radiology (3) wig (3) Clark Museum (2) Dana Farber (2) allergic reaction (2) arthritis (2) ct scan (2) cytoxan (2) emotianl state (2) emotional state (2) everyday life (2) family (2) funny (2) genetic testing (2) hair (2) nurse (2) preparation for chemotherapy (2) second opinion (2) treatment (2) trip (2) triple negative (2) tumor (2) turban (2) zofran (2) 1st chemo (1) Faulkner hospital (1) HER2 (1) Lahey (1) MassMoca (1) RSL (1) accupuncture (1) adriamycin (1) adriamycinche (1) birthday (1) blood work (1) blue cross blue shield (1) bone scan (1) brain fog (1) cravings (1) daughter (1) depression (1) diarrhea (1) discovery (1) dressing (1) drugs (1) estrogen receptor (1) halfway (1) hospitals (1) how to tell you have cancer (1) hugs (1) infusion room (1) invasive carcinoma (1) lessons learned (1) low white cells (1) music (1) mutations (1) nausea (1) new year (1) pathology (1) pepcid (1) pink (1) plans (1) pneumonitis (1) progesterone receptor (1) reduction (1) referral (1) respite (1) response (1) results (1) rides (1) samples (1) scheduling (1) self-diagnostic (1) seroma (1) soups (1) statistics (1) suppliments (1) survival (1) tissues (1) tokens (1) travel (1) treatment regiment (1) ultrasound (1)