On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:44:37 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:35:42 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

PocoLoco wrote:
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?

Sorry to hear of your familial problems, John. Hope your daughter has a
successful outcome.

As to your younger daughter's concern, it is very real. Some employers,
future employers and insurance companies show an undue interest in the
health of their employees or prospective employees. Your daughter should
arrange to take the test anonymously, with absolutely no recording of
her personal particulars. She'll pay for the test herself, of course,
but no one need know of the results but the young woman.

Why do I know about this?

Let's just say I've spent more than 10 years as a consultant to
companies offering health insurance, and while they did not
discriminate, I saw case histories of competing insurers who did.
Since them, more employers have gotten into the act of snooping into
worker health records. Certain forms of discrimination on such a basis
is illegal, but it still happens.

I second Harry's advice.

If she is that concerned, have it done anonymously paid for by her for
herself only.

Then again, why take the test? She could carry the gene and never
have BC - what's it going to prove?

Perhaps she needs to increase her awareness of changes and
possibilities, but perhaps it's better not to know.

Thanks for quoting Harry's response. It seems to lend credence to what my
daughter has heard.

If one tests positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, their chances of getting
breast and/or ovarian cancer are many times higher than for those who test
negative. One can then decide to have a prophylactic double mastectomy and
hysterectomy, which greatly reduces the chances of either forms of cancer.

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan