.. and the bad

The bad is a little difficult to explain.

My uncle was found to have a genetic condition which gives him a predisposition to colorectal cancer a while back. A bunch of the rest of us were warned by a familial cancer unit of a hospital, except that none of us had any idea of the urgency of what they were saying.

So basically, the condition causes polyps in the colon and these will eventually become cancerous. It seems my cousin was found also to have polyps and my dad was tested recently as well to see if he had them. Having the polyps means you have the genetic mutation which is autosomal dominant.

My dad has polyps, except its a different type. His is atypical, which means less polyps and a later onset. Unfortunately though, as with all cases, left untreated and the polyps will eventually turn cancerous which one of his has.

Your options, should you have the mutation, are to have polyps removed to keep your colon, however eventually you will get cancer and have your colon removed anyway. Or, have your colon removed as a precautionary measure to reduce your risk of cancer. Doesn't mean you don't still have to get checked for polyps though - they can still form on what's left if you don't have it *completely* removed, and I don't think I need to say what that means.

So, Dad's fortunate at this stage in that, barring final confirmation with an endoscopy, he'll be keeping enough of his colon to continue a "normal" life. I use the term "normal" because he still has the condition and still needs to be screened regularly.

That said, as with all genetic problems, others in the family who are directly related, will be affected. My brother and I, at this stage going just by numbers, have a 50% chance of having the mutation. Them's pretty horrible odds if you ask me.

Being told you have it, I imagine, is going to feel much like being told you have cancer, cos let's be honest, its not far off the same thing. You have the condition, you will get cancer unless you have your colon removed, and even then, you wanna be bloody vigilant about stomach cancer, liver cancer and breast cancer at the very least from what I've read.

So, since its nearly Christmas, I'm not jumping the gun. I still have a 50% chance of not having it and they're better odds than none :) I'm going to concentrate on making sure my dad gets through surgery ok on the 30th of December and in the new year when everything has settled down, off we go to the specialist to get the tests done.

For anyone interested, here's some info:
Genetics Home Reference
MedicineNet.com - Definition
Associated Polyposis Conditions
Understanding Inherited Colorectal Cancer
Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)