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KERI BADAVAS

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The day I found out I didn't have cancer....yet.

20 Mar 2024 10:23

It was just another fall evening as me and the family were just finishing up dinner after a busy evening of football practice, dance class, and homework when I received a call from my doctor. He had recently sent me for a genetic risk assessment to see if I carried any of the BRCA gene mutations due to the high amount of breast cancers that ran in my family. My mom just had the same test about a month ago and hers came back clean, but my doctor wanted to test me as well to cover my dad's side of the family. When I saw him calling, I figured he was calling me to tell me my test results came back fine, and I could go on with my yearly checks as normal. I answered the phone and he immediately said, "Well I am sure glad we did this test because yours came back showing positive for Lynch Syndrome". I was completely thrown off guard as I never heard of Lynch Syndrome. I asked what is Lynch and how is it going to affect me and my life moving forward? He proceeded to tell me that it's a genetic condition that increases my risk of many types of cancer and at a young age. Some of the cancers included colon, stomach, intestinal, liver, endometrial, ovarian, brain, skin etc. (the list went on). He told me to come by his office in the morning to pick up my risk assessment test which listed out my cancer risks as well as the percentages so that we could make a plan moving forward. I hung up the phone trying to hold back the tears from my family. I didn't want them to know that their mom has a genetic condition that will possibly cause cancer someday. My husband looked at me as if he knew something was wrong, but he waited until the kids were not around to ask. When I told him the news, I don't think he understood the severity of the syndrome because quite honestly, I wasn't even aware of what it all encompassed. I decided to confide in my friend, Mrs. Google (of course she is a woman, she knows it all!) to do my research. What a mistake that was as it only scared me even more. I learned that Lynch syndrome is an inherited mutation in genes that affect DNA mismatch repair, basically it meant that my body didn't go through the regular process that fixes mistakes made when DNA is copied. These Lynch Syndrome genes of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM are to help protect you from getting certain cancers, but mutations in these genes with people who have Lynch prevent them from working properly. So, in short, instead of my MSH6 gene working properly and repairing any defective genes on a regular basis, it accumulates the cells, and in return causing the mutation - CANCER.

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The day I found out I didn't have cancer....yet.

My advice for coping with Lynch Syndrome