March is Colorectal Cancer awareness month. More than 50,000 Americans will die of it this year alone. There are a number of screenings, like a colonoscopy that can help save your life and there's also Genetic Counseling.
Genetic Counselors help figure out a person's risk of developing cancer. If someone is pre-disposed, they work to figure out a formula for testing that can help prevent or catch a cancer in the early stages. A review of your family history and a simple blood test provide most of the answers to begin the counseling.
Kimberlee Francis has an extensive family history of cancer. Both her mother's parents died of cancer, her sister and her father are both now fighting it.
Her sister urged her to get Genetic Counseling to find out her own risk. That testing showed that Kimberlee has Lynch Syndrome, which pre-disposes you to colorectal cancer, "It doesn't mean I have cancer, but it opens up the opportunity for me to be more proactive about testing."
Kimberlee now gets a number of different tests every year, "I have an annual colonoscopy, I have an EGD every other year which is a small camera scope. I have to have an annual pelvic exam as well as a mammogram. I am much more proactive with the testing."
Kimberlee works with Kelly Morse at the Hickman Cancer Center at ProMedica's Flower Hospital. Morse is the only Board Certified Genetic Counselor specializing in cancer genetics in Northwest Ohio, "I can't tell you how many times I had people ask me why would I want to know that, or I don't want to know this."
Morse says knowing if you're pre-disposed to cancer is helping save lives, "We'll review their medical histories as well as their families. We talk about the genetics of cancer, do they need testing? Are they the best one in the family for the testing? We'll go over insurance costs all of those things would be covered with the patients."
Kimberlee has a simple message about testing, don't wait to get it done. She says if you have a family history of cancer like she does, genetic counseling can provide a potentially life saving look at your future, "How many people have signs and symptoms that they ignore so long that they become normal and it's too late when they do go get testing."
Genetic Counseling is a rapidly evolving field. For example, Morse saw a patient a couple weeks ago and the recommendations for her have already changed. So Morse says if you talked with a Genetic Counselor a few years ago and they didn't find an answer, they may have that answer now. Morse says to see a Genetic Counselor all you need is a referral from your primary care doctor.
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