love is health
I've got blue genes4/30/2020 I've been taking lots of deep breathes lately. I've also been relying on really amazing puns to see myself through the harder times.
I found out today I have a rare genetic disorder called Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. This syndrome is a mutation in my TP53 gene, which is known as the "guardian of the genome." This is normally a tumor suppressing gene; however when mutated like mine is, it cannot do its job as intended, meaning tumors have an easier time growing without resistance from TP53. "Individuals with LFS have an approximately 50% of developing cancer by age 40, and up to a 90% percent chance by age 60, while females have nearly a 100% risk of developing cancer in their lifetime due to their markedly increased risk of breast cancer. Many individuals with LFS develop two or more primary cancers over their lifetimes." OOFT. Those are some heavy numbers and facts. They are especially heavy numbers to have to explain to my 5 siblings, 3 of whom are women, who have a 50% chance of having this mutation too. While it was heartening to have an explanation why I had/ have cancer so young, it's disheartening to hear this gene isn't specific to breast cancer, meaning I am at risk of developing other cancers as well. I was already making many lifestyle changes to accommodate the recurrent diagnosis. I feel like I'm going to have to make even more changes to prevent any other type of cancer from emerging too. After all, I very much intend to live at least 45 more years, thank you very much. You'll keep hearing me say "this is all happening so fast." I'm still working to wrap my mind around everything, and new information emerges seemingly every day. The pandemic alone was a bit much to digest. Pandemic + cancer again was tougher. Pandemic + recurrent cancer + rare genetic disorder is... it's a lot. This month feels never ending. So what does this all mean? It means that, I am freaking fortunate I caught cancer early, twice. Early detection really does save lives. It means I will be hyper-vigilant for the rest of my life. It means that even when this treatment is done, my life needs to revolve around cancer prevention if I'm going to life the long, lovely life I want.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AboutSnapshots in time across a span of years managing breast cancer Archives
June 2020
Categories
All
|