Familial Nonsense

 

 

Still Relevant Today

 Selected as the cover image for a calendar published over a decade ago, this cartoon of mine is, sadly, still relevant.

(I’m a citizen scientist member of the Union of ConcernedScientists, BTW.)

 

 

Getting Families Working Together to Prevent Hereditary Cancer

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Dr. Shirts’ snowball concept for preventing hereditary disease is fantastic! As someone who has witnessed the tragic and heartbreaking result when a family with a devastating history of cancer and a known genetic variant doesn’t work together, I really appreciate this new way of thinking about cascade genetic testing.

Read the stories, learn more about inherited disease risk, and how you can help this wonderful nonprofit save lives at www.ConnectMyVariant.org.

(I created this cartoon for the December ConnectMyVarriant newsletter, BTW.)

Holiday DNA

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I have an immense hatred of cancer, particularly hereditary cancer, which is so preventable. However, since it’s the holiday season, I thought I’d do something lighthearted (but still related to genetics) to wish the best to all my fellow advocates and health care professionals who are diligently raising hereditary cancer prevention awareness and saving lives.

National Family Health History Day

 

Thanksgiving is also National Family Health History Day. Created in 2004, National Family Health History Day was established to encourage families to share health information during a time when relatives are gathered together. It is an effort to help prevent diseases like hereditary cancer.

Genetic variants that increase the risk of cancer can be passed down for generations, sometimes centuries. And at least 1 in 279 people carry one of these mutations. Knowing and sharing family health history can be lifesaving.

Discussing family health history is a great idea. However, let’s be honest; it probably isn’t the easiest of subjects to discuss at the Thanksgiving table. So here are a couple of items to help get the conversation started. A lighthearted graphic to show relationships, and a pedigree to record family health history. (Did my Pilgrim ancestors discuss health at the first Thanksgiving? Probably, considering nearly half the colony had died, including my 9^th great-grandfather, William White. But I digress.)

The Pea Pod graphic is from a book project I’m working on that will hopefully help more people understand a little more about genetics and how learning more about your family tree can help prevent hereditary cancer. Once completed, I’ll try and provide as many free copies as feasible to any healthcare professional or inherited disease prevention advocate who might be able to use them.

To download this graphic, go to www.genetionary.org/family. To learn more about inherited cancer risk, go to www.genetionary.org.

Caregivers rarely get the opportunity to honestly share our stories, especially if they are heartbreaking. I’m so grateful for the support of the CGA-IGC* and the opportunity to share my story.

Here’s the link to the full story: https://www.cgaigc.com/post/recognizing-caregivers-in-observance-of-national-family-caregivers-month

*Collaborative Group of The Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC)