Have you been tested for the cancer gene?

[Trek420]

My Dad had colon cancer at 53 and mom pre-cancerous polyps so I will be lining up for my colonoscopy at 40 instead of 50.

Ah, there's also a way to collect a sample and mail it in rather than do the colonoscopy. That's been sitting in an envelope waiting for me to do that. This may be TMI but you can mail in a sample to a lab rather than the colonoscopy. I don't know which is more effective but for sure something is better than nothing. This thread is a good reminder.

As for preventative care, lifestyle and diet changes I'd have to say my Dad is an example of "eat well, diet and exercise .... die anyway"

With a lifetime of hard work, my parents grew their own organic food even long after they stopped farming their land for a living. What they did not grow was mostly local and organic. We even had our own well water.

At nearly 88 my Mom still gardens avidly and walks to the farm market.

They are my inspiration that a healthy active lifestyle is not about living forever but enjoying life while you are above ground. I feel that it's quality of life vs quantity. Nobody lives forever but while I am alive I'd like to be able to be fit enough to open the peanut butter jar, do the things I like to do etc.

[badger]

my friend, who just turned 60, does have the gene. She had a hysterectomy about 5 years ago, and I believe she goes for a mammogram quite frequently.

As for preventative measures, I unfortunately have a pretty pessimistic attitude.

I truly doubt that many of my generation will be seeing the century mark. Despite our best efforts to live a healthy lifestyle, we can't help that we're surrounded in chemical pollution. It's in our water, our soil, and the air we breathe. Plastics are doing so much damage, I don't think we've seen the full impact of it on ourselves and the environment. Did you know that the receipts we get from stores are loaded with unhealthy amounts of BPA? And just because we buy "organic", doesn't mean that they haven't been sprayed or treated.

The waters are loaded with the synthetic hormones that we pee out from birth control pills - that's affecting the fish. Male fish are turning female, some are born with eggs!? I'll stop myself before I go really off on a tangent.

Sorry for the doom and gloom, I'm PMSing

[KnottedYet]

While the life expectancy in the US is lower than in the rest of the developed nations, I don't think that's due to pollution. More like general lifestyle and access to healthcare.

It's always shocking to me to go to Europe (or New Zealand, or even Canada) and see how much healthier and leaner people look. And it's horrifying to visit the mid-west and see how corpulent people are. Watch some of the original Sesame Street episodes or other US TV shows from 40 years ago, and see how skinny everyone looked.

Pollution is a problem, but I think lifestyle and healthcare access are larger ones right now.

[lisathew8lifter]

i think your friend is wise to have the test. my best friend's mom died of breast cancer and all of her aunts on her mom's side have cancer except one. she had the test and tested negative for it thankfully. she was fully prepared to have a double mastectomy though. i never thought of the insurance company fiasco that could happen as a result of being tested. ugh. i hate insurance companies just as much as i hate cancer!

[Possegal]

Ah, there's also a way to collect a sample and mail it in rather than do the colonoscopy. That's been sitting in an envelope waiting for me to do that. This may be TMI but you can mail in a sample to a lab rather than the colonoscopy. I don't know which is more effective but for sure something is better than nothing.

Just to clarify, the colonoscopy is most definitely more effective. They can biopsy anything suspicious while they are in there. It's one reason it is the far better method than the fecal occult blood test - which will only detect blood in your stool. If you are looking to find something early, in a pre-cancerous state, waiting for blood in your sample is not the most effective way as most polyps don't bleed. Being able to sample anything suspicious is also what makes a regular colonoscopy better than the "virtual" colonoscopy, where you swallow the camera. There are researchers developing a sample style of detection that would look for DNA of colon cancer, but that isn't available yet. Until then, colonoscopy is most definitely the most effective way to screen for, and catch colon cancer early and when it is very curable.

Though agreed, something is better than nothing.

[rocknrollgirl]

I am currently waiting for the phone call with my results. I had the blood test 8 days ago.

Mom died of ovarian, her sister has breast, cousin on that side with breast before the age of 30.

If the test is positive, I will have my ovaries removed. I had a partial hysto 6 years ago.

After watching what my Mom went through, the decision for me is easy.