This is not intended as a personal revelation, rather a means of pointing out to everyone just how important knowing your family history, both medical as well as genealogical really is. Sixteen years ago, I had ovarian cancer. Naturally my daughters and sibling and nieces were concerned about being next. I felt like typhoid Mary. My Doctor provided me with the opportunity to have genetic testing done and since I live near the Philadelphia, I took advantage of that. I could see that my daughters doctors thought that obvious choice was to use surgery as a preventative but my doctor, who by the way is one of the top doc's in Phila, felt that this was overkill and needless because of the type I had. I had spent the past 16 years worrying about what kind of heritage had I passed on to my girls. In my case, I was the only one who could take the blood test, as you had to have had the disease to do so. Prior to my session with the counseler, which was also part of a breast/ovarian study, I had gone back through all the ladies in my family to see if I knew how they had died or, and or the age when they died. I also noted their heritage, which country they emigrated from and their ethnic background. This is very important. I knew my own maternal grandmother from whom I thought I might have inherited this problem had died mid-50's, however, everyone else in my maternal line lived long lives. So I worked up a sheet, giving their names and dates and medical history, if I knew it, back into the 1700's. I took my sheet with me, and discovered that I was the first person out hundreds etc. that had ever provided them with this information, which made it a lot easier for both of us. Most people don't have a clue about their families past. Using this information, along with a blood test that my insurance company actually paid for even though it was a couple thousand dollars was worth every penny. Turns out I did not have a genetic mutation, and the fact that my ancestors came from certain regions of the world, the ages that they died really made a different both to the study, to me and to their information bank. So my girls, with some semi month monitoring are good to go, a big relief to all of us. If you have not done so, take the time, as you work on your family lines, to note similarities in ages of deaths for both men and women, see what you can find out, and note which regions of the world that your ancestors came from and keep it handy. I find that I have become more conscious of this when I am working on anyone's family lines, If see some kind of pattern, I incllude that in my report. I recently noted that in one family line, that the women seemed to be dying at an early age in childbirth and pointed that out to the person I was assisting. Keep in mind, that some diseases can cross male to female, so when investigating a particular family lines, check those cousins of the brothers of the victim. You will be doing your family or client a big favor by taking the time and who knows just whose life you might save or extend a little longer. Judy Cassidy <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.