Straight From the Mouth of Emily

I just wanted to share a little about my last few months and a little more about anxiety. As you’ve already figured out- I struggle! The last few months my struggle has been more about medical questions and medical testing.

I have known for many years that when I turned 38 I would have to have my first mammogram. My mom had breast cancer when she was 48-49ish so when insurance and health regimes recommend mammograms ten years before a parent’s diagnosis. As she also fought metastatic colon cancer, there are many precautionary tests to be taken in the ten years before her diagnosis.

I have two incredible doctors that I see, Amy Hale and Nicole Spray. I’d recommend them to anyone! They are incredible and truly listen to your fears and anxieties. Nicole Spray is at First Care, and I began seeing her because she used to work at the Breast Care Center at Hays Med. I also wanted to go to First Care because they have a special psychiatrist that deals with anxiety/depression/OCD and medications to treat it. She is via zoom and has been life changing for me!

Moving on! Nicole is very well educated in breast care. She learned all of my health history, having several aunts and great aunts that had cancers of different sorts as well as my mom. After hearing of all this, she spent time calculating my risk score using the Tyrer-Cuzick calculator. What it does is calculate your lifetime risk of breast cancer. Mine was obviously going to be high. My lifetime risk by 85 is 100%. My relative risk compared to average women my age is 8.6 times more likely. I’m considered high risk (elevated). I also have very dense breasts, and having a baby at 30 or after also elevates your chances. In hearing all of this, I absolutely panicked. Heart racing, breathing heavy, everything! To scare me more, Nicole said that she wanted to refer me to the Breast Care Center. She felt more comfortable with them having my case. WHAT? That made me panic! I told you, I’m a nervous wreck at times. She recommended getting my life insurance in place, and getting genetic testing done to see if there were any genetic mutations that would indicate higher chances of me getting breast or any sort of cancers. They used to only be able to test for 21 mutations, now it’s up to over 60! The medical field has come so far. The reason for getting life insurance into place before the testing, was because if I were to test positive, my rates would be sky high.

Well, I had my mammogram, and everything turned out good. Denise is exceptional at the center and took the time to go through all my risks and history as well. She highly recommended genetic testing as well. Jake and I had visited about this in depth, and he, as well as I, decided that I owed it to him and the girls to do it. No matter how scared I was, it was important. The genetic test was just a saliva sample. Even though they said it could take 2-6 weeks, it only took a week and a half. Praise God, my nerves were shot by then.

I got my results back, and guess what!? My results were negative! I do not carry any significant mutations for any of the cancers tested. I still have to have mammograms and MRI’s alternated every 6 months, but my lifetime risk is now down to 17.7% according to their testing. Obviously this is not fool proof, and the test does not know all, but this was good news. My heart felt so much better, and a weight was lifted from my shoulders. This is good news for Lily as well that I don’t carry any genetic mutations.

I hope this may have resonated with any of you that have needed more clarification or had any questions about genetic testing. Please, keep those appointments, early detection is key! Do it for your family, do it for your friends, do it for everyone who loves you. Do it for yourself!