Risk Assessment, your experience?

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Mavericksmom
Mavericksmom Member Posts: 635
edited August 2019 in Life After Breast Cancer

My MO wants me to go through the Risk Assessment program at the hospital. I went through it in 2004 and I know I am negative for BRCA genes. I have an appointment with a genetic counselor in October. The information they gave me is scant at best, a nice brochure that tells very little about it, focused more on why to have it done, which doesn’t seem to apply to me because I know my BRCA results

Has anyone gone through this? I would appreciate hearing experiences. I don’t remember anything about it other than my sisters and I talked to someone and I had a blood test.

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  • el7277
    el7277 Member Posts: 64
    edited August 2019

    My genetic counseling was awful. The ladies kept me for over 2 hours to give me information that could have been done in a 1/2 hour. Whether or not you do it should depend on your personality. I like things short and to the point. I would never have done it had I known. The nurses who were running it were also doing bc research and asked me if I would be part of it. Big mistake...I said yes. It felt intrusive and I hated their questions after I have answered so many over the years about history etc.

    Can't your doc do a risk assessment without it? My counseling was part of the brca testing and had I known I would have just done it through the mail. I am not one to sit and listen and talk like I did with these genetic cou selling nurses.

    Others experiences may be very different but that was mine...it was not positive.

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  • Mavericksmom
    Mavericksmom Member Posts: 635
    edited August 2019

    Thank you el! That’s kind of what I thought. Like you I just want short! I get highly annoyed when I am asked the same question over and over. I understand that needs to be the case when you are having surgery, but other times it is uncalled for! So many times I felt like telling doctors to “read the damn chart!”

    I think I am getting added pressure because my MO is part of the program there. As of now I plan to keep it, but good to know because I will go in and tell the woman that I don’t have more than an hour to go over things. I will definitely say NO to being in any research study. That is not because of what you said, but because of past experience.


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