Next up - Genetic Counseling

Apparently, life is getting back to normal considering I haven't posted since last Thursday.   Today Mike was up at 3:30 am, at work by 4:30, taking down trees at our CSA farm by 2:00 and home at 4:30.  10 minutes of conversation and then Zoey & I were off to ballet and then a church meeting for me.  That sounds about right.  It's crazy, but that's our life and I wouldn't trade if for anything.

Tomorrow is the next step in our journey - meeting with the genetic counselor in Madison.  I don't know what to expect, but imagine that she'll list the pros and cons of genetic testing.  I don't know what she could tell us that would make us say, "No, we don't want to find out anything."  But, apparently there are a lot of people that just don't want to know if they have genetic markers that could be significant for themselves and/or their children.  Maybe it's fear or maybe it's optimism that would cause someone to make that decision.  For me, being as educated as possible, having as much information as possible and knowing what our options are is what helps me feel more in control of a situation that I have had little control over.

Because of all of this I have also started researching our family histories on ancestry.com.  I am now officially addicted, I think.  Maybe that's why I haven't blogged lately...

The catalyst was finding out that Eastern European Jews are at a higher risk for Lynch Syndrome, which is the main genetic marker for colon cancer risk.  As far as Mike knows he has no Jewish ancestry.  However, his family is from Lithuania & Austria so the potential is there.  Again, maybe it's a stretch, but by DOING something I feel like I have a bit more control.  As an added bonus, it's been really cool to find out where our families are from.

No doubt I'll have more to post tomorrow.