It certainly is, Doris! And one of the reasons I started genealogical research over 20 years ago. I am a 4th generation cancer patient -- My mother, my grandmother and my Ggrandmother all died of various forms of cancer and at early ages. My family is riddled with pockets of it as well as heart disease, and a few other problems that are genetically pre-disposed. I finally found the "root" cause in my mother's line, French-Canadian, when researching that line. A cousin of mine had sent me a lot of the line and virtually every single member of my Ggrandmother's family had died of some form of cancer. Knowledge is power. All cancers at this point are not curable, but finding the predisposition toward it or any illness through your own genealogical research, can be invaluable to yourself and to making future generations aware that they just need to keep a closer check on themselves and their loved ones! I am living testimony of that. There are a couple genealogy programs that address tracing your ancestral medical history. I haven't tried one out myself yet, but they do look interesting. Cathy Listowner: PAPKE-L, KUTSCHKE-L, BRASSER-L and NYDUTCH-L @Rootsweb.com Papke & Collier Genealogy Home Page http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/c/o/l/Cathleen-M-Collier/index.html#lin ks Pommernkontakte (managed by Gunthard Stuebs) http://pommernkontakte.de/index.html?sessid=902c28d2590217e7f984864cd40a4281 &mode=page&db=rc&page=welcome Co-moderator AAA-surviving-cancer@yahoogroups.com Grandparents are similar to a piece of string handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of grandchildren. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doris R Waggoner" <doriswaggoner@juno.com> To: <NYDUTCH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, 22 May, 2002 11:47 PM Subject: Re: [NYDUTCH] Harmon Abell born abt 1811 somewhere in New York > I can't speak to your naming questions. But I'd suggest that even that > far back, the medical history is important to you and your family. I had > long known that my mother's mother had breast cancer in 1930 (she took > the bus downtown to the medical-dental building, found herself a surgeon, > and had a radical mastectomy. No radiation or chemo in those days. She > livved 45 more years!). I got breast cancer in 1996. I had a modified > radical mastectomy, no radiation or chemo needed, and am fine. My mother > got breast cancer in 1999, had a lumpectomy and radiation and is fine. > It wasn't until we were talking about her family the other day that she > told me her mother's mother had died of cancer and she always had the > idea it was breast cancer. So that's four generations. Not all the > daughters got it, of course, but still it's important for others in the > family to know! I also have a friend who can trace breast or prostate > cancer (caused by the same gene, though neither is always genetic) in > almost every death on one side of her family for four generations. If > your family's doctors know about such risk factors, they can help you > change the risk factors you can control and do the appropriate tests. > Not to scare the bejeebers out of you, you understand, but that kind of > information is one of the side benefits of genealogy! > > Doris Waggoner > Seattle > > ________________________________________________________________ > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. > > > ==== NYDUTCH Mailing List ==== > Questions, problems, or comments may be directed to the Listowner, Cathy Collier <cathyclerk@cfl.rr.com> > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >