Re: The Disney Magic

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:44:37 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing <onetwothree@xxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:35:42 -0500, Harry Krause
><harry.krause@xxxxxxxxx> 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
.

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