Previvor

There is this term being thrown around lately that I felt I should talk about. It is Previvor. I promise, that is spelled right. And it was first told to me by Doctor. She mentioned it because she had done a Breast Cancer triathlon and she had heard of some of the ladies getting upset because the Survivors had a couple of Previvors running with them. Now let me tell you what Previvor actually means. It means that you are a person who survived a predisposition (meaning you are more likely to get it) to cancer but you have never had the disease. Usually that means that you have the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene and are doing everything in your power to prevent that gene from killing you.

The reason I bring that up is because I, like some members of my family, carry the BRCA gene. That means that you go to the doctor (usually a cancer doctor like mine) twice a year and get everything checked out. You do your exams, blood work, and hope that everything come out okay. It also means that you are told when you can have your kids by, and when you get to have the surgeries (if you so choose) to prevent you from getting the Big C. I was given an option of having children by 25 and having the surgeries done, or doing the exams twice a year. I think you can figure out by my family history which one I picked….

The main debate with this word is that we have never heard the words “You have cancer.” And while we personally haven’t heard them, there is a long history of people in our family that have. My goal is to never have to hear those words being said to me. Another debate is that we haven’t really survived anything. But, again, that can be argued. We survived the surgeries. They are called elective surgeries, but if the other option is cancer, what choice do we have? We have survived the pain and trauma from losing someone we love because they didn’t have the choice or the time to do what we have/had to do.

I had to go through the pain two weeks after my Mom died from one of these predisposed cancers that I have a very good chance of ending up with too. I have a very good chance to end up with the same type of cancer that killed my Grandmothers. Imagine if that were you… I was 19. Crying in the doctor’s office because I just got told that my body is going to try to kill me. Unless I do something about it. I was also told that there was a 50% chance I would pass that on to my offspring. When I was told that, I instantly thought that there was no way I was going to put my child through what I was going through. But, in say 20 years, there are going to be so many medical advances that maybe my children won’t have to worry about this. Who knows? I sure hope so.

So to wrap this up, please remember that people have feelings. And usually they are going through things you have no idea about. Sometimes, all you need to do is offer your support and love.