Support the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and Save Lives

There is a test that can tell you if you are a carrier of the breast cancer genetic mutation. If you test positive you are 85% likely to get the disease, and it is recommended that you have your breasts and ovaries removed. This is an issue that, unfortunately, I will have to make a decision on one day. One enormous downside is that if your health insurance company finds out your test results, they will drop you and you will become uninsurable with all insurance companies. My sister’s oncologist has recommended I don’t get the test for this reason, but my OBGYN (as well as other OBGYNs I know) have recommended I do get the test because of our family history with the disease. My 28 year old sister, Liz, died from breast cancer, my paternal grandmother died at 42 from the disease, her sister (my great aunt) died at 47, another paternal aunt died at 65, my aunt (grandmother's daughter) is a breast cancer survivor as well as several paternal cousins, and my other aunt decided to have her breasts removed as a preventative measure (and that’s just on my dad’s side).

This gross oversight has led many to forgo testing denying them important information that could help them save their own lives. It has also led many to opt-out of clinical trials, which in turn hurts advancements in cancer research.

What can you do? Join me and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation in helping to support the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) being brought to the Senate. Please take a minute and send a pre-written letter (you can add your own words as well) to your Senator by going to their website. If this bill is passed, it will save countless lives.

If you are further interested in this topic, a new book just came out called Pretty Is What Changes by Jessica Queller. She’s a thirty something year old writer in Hollywood who’s mother battled breast cancer and later died from ovarian cancer. The book is about her decision to have her breasts and ovaries removed once she tested positive from the genetic test.