Which bananas will YOU chose?  How will you chose to live your LIFE?

"You can't change what you can't confront"

 Deciding whether or not to get tested for a genetic condition can seem like an overwhelming decision.  At times, it might seem as if you're incapable of actually making a decision.  I'm not an indecisive person, so for me it was not a difficult decision to make.  I knew that I wanted to know.  One way or the other.  I'm a planner.  If I knew, then I can make plans accordingly.  But I know that other people might think it would be crazy to get tested for a genetic condition in which there was no known cures or treatments.  Why bother they may think?

I had many reasons for wanting to know my results.

• The first, most immediate reason would be to calm my mind and bring my outrageously high levels of anxiety down...should I test negative.  Realizing that should I test positive, my worry and anxiety could get even worse.  But knowing myself, once I knew an answer, I would be okay because then I can make preparations.  
• If I was positive, it would be important to know that to be involved with clinical research trials.  It would feel empowering that I would actually be doing something, if not for me and my immediate health, but also for future generations that could be considerably affected.  Each of my children and nieces and nephews carry a 50/50 risk of also having the same mutation. 
• With my particular genetic condition, there are certain things to avoid.  Such as any medication that is vasoconstricting or birth control, because of their potential to cause stroke.  Therefore today when I get a cold with congestion, I'm very careful about any over-the-counter medications I chose.  The first stroke my father had was because he had taken Sudafed for his sinus congestion.  We did not know that he had this underlying disorder that weakened his blood vessels in the brain, and it caused a major bleed.
• There were also financial reasons to know.  And this is where my major anxiety was related to.  For me, we dropped my 401K contributions from 15% to 10% and took that extra money each year and put into a vacation fund for my family.  Honestly, it was comforting to me and again empowering that I can do everything I can to live for today.  While I'm still healthy now, our family vacations and those memories are so precious to me.  I also took out additional Life, Disability and Long-Term Care Insurance policies before getting tested.  Getting tested also impacted my career decisions.  Because of my level of anxiety and stress when I first found out, I took a voluntary demotion and our family moved so that I could be home more and not travelling so much.  It was one of the greatest decisions I've made for my quality of life.  While I can say that I really enjoyed the position I was in before, I wasn't able to take care of myself the way I needed to because I was working too much.  Now, I have better balance.  I've had other opportunities to apply for other promotions, but have chose not to because life to me now isn't about working more.  That's not to say that I don't want to to well and be the best that I can be where I'm at right now, it just means my ambitions aren't professional any longer.

There were also reasons for me to consider not being tested:

• The biggest one for me was the fact that now this medical condition would be a "pre-existing condition" and documented in my medical record.  In 2009, there were not laws then (now there is the "GINA: Genetic Non-Discrimination Act") to protect patients from genetic discrimination.  Even though GINA has been passed, I am still extremely leary that patients aren't discriminated against.  I currently work in the healthcare field and I see discrimination everyday.  This is why I bought the insurance policies before getting tested!  Today, medical institutions and hospitals cannot offer anonymous genetic testing because of the medical ethics codes.  If a patient gets tested via a medical institution, it must be documented in your electronic health record.  Be careful!
• For me, the fear of the unknown was greater than the fear of the known.  But that may not be the case for everybody.  Once I made a decision, I didn't look back and wish that I never would've.  But again, that's me.  This is something you need to think about before getting tested.  You need to be sure that you don't have any regrets.

For myself, I knew very quickly that I wanted to know my results.  I never wavered from that.  However, I was very careful and cautious in my preparations before doing so.  I made calculated and strategic steps before getting the blood drawn, which ultimately I believe led to me coping with things very well today.  To me, this comes to the fact that you can't change what you can't confront.


What in your life is difficult to confront?  We all have our difficulties.  But after facing this obstacle and getting through it, I feel like anything else that has been thrown at me is just merely a speed bump in the road.  If I got through this, I know I can get through anything.