HNPCC Info

Just read a story about one woman's cancer experience. I bet everyone has a story about what goes through your mind when you are told you have cancer. Her thought were about her stunned family members, one crying and the other in shock. I bet there are quite a few stories that could be qualitatively studied. Those experiences could help nurses better help patients during this time.

This is the group that was started on Facebook to bring awareness to HNPCC. Feel free to join this group if you are interested in raising the awareness of genetic colon cancer. We will also be investigating ways to raise funds to help those who can't afford the testing required to diagnose colon cancer.

This article has been published in the most recent edition of the Med Surg Nursing Journal. The article will be attached as a downloadable file in the very near future. This is an article that was a tribute to my mom. Her wish was to have me continue the journey of educating people on this genetic form of cancer. This article is just one more step in that journey.

This poem was sent to me by my cousin Hewitt Madigan's girlfriend Hazel. Hewitt wrote this poem for a friend a week after his friend's brother died. Hewitt died in 2006 from pancreatic cancer. His mother, Judy Madigan, died of colon cancer in 1983. His brother Joel had a colonoscopy after we informed him of the genetic connection. Joel had a partial colectomy due to a cancerous polyp in his colon. Hewitt Madigan, 1957 - 2006 make up a day minute by minute tell me who was and who wasn't in it was the morning a long one the afternoon hot were the fields there pretty were you happy or not? make up a week, day by day tell me who came and who went away did it seem to go fast did it seem to go slow was it during the summer or deep in the snow? make up a life time, the minutes, the days remember the laughter in all of its ways make up a lifetime, the months and the years let me always be with you through the laughter and tears. to jeff from hewitt 6/16/78

Everyone should care about the potential for genetic discrimination. Every person has dozens of DNA differences that could increase or decrease his or her chance of getting a disease such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer or Alzheimer's disease. It's important to remember that these DNA differences don't always mean someone will develop a disease, just that the risk to get the disease may be greater. More and more tests are being developed to find DNA differences that affect our health. Called genetic tests, these tests will become a routine part of health care in the future. Health care providers will use information about each person's DNA to develop more individualized ways of detecting, treating and preventing disease. But unless this DNA information is protected, it could be used to discriminate against people.

The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test measures the amount of this protein that may appear in the blood of some people who have certain kinds of cancers, especially large intestine (colon and rectal) cancer. It may also be present in people with cancer of the pancreas, breast, ovary, or lung. CEA is normally produced during the development of a fetus. The production of CEA stops before birth, and it usually is not present in the blood of healthy adults. Why It Is Done The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test is used to: Find how widespread cancer is for some types of the disease, especially colon cancer. Check the success of treatment for colon cancer. CEA levels may be measured both before and after surgery to evaluate both the success of the surgery and the person's chances of recovery. CEA levels may be measured during treatment with medicines to destroy cancer cells (chemotherapy). This provides information about how well the treatment is working. Check to see if cancer has ret...

Everyone should care about the potential for genetic discrimination. Every person has dozens of DNA differences that could increase or decrease his or her chance of getting a disease such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer or Alzheimer's disease. It's important to remember that these DNA differences don't always mean someone will develop a disease, just that the risk to get the disease may be greater. More and more tests are being developed to find DNA differences that affect our health. Called genetic tests, these tests will become a routine part of health care in the future. Health care providers will use information about each person's DNA to develop more individualized ways of detecting, treating and preventing disease. But unless this DNA information is protected, it could be used to discriminate against people.