Thank you for sharing, A.J., I pray all has gone well and throat will heal better than you think....I also had my thyroid removed due to enlarged goiter, and they found all was diseased and removed it all, but mine was NOT cancerous...my father did have throat cancer, so I feel greatly blessed.   I have always had a 'deep' raspy voice, I noticed more,after the surgery healed...I have always sang, but then I could not depend upon my voice staying on key.   But after two years, I think my singing is better....I don't sing prefessionally, just at church and HOME!!!  But I didn't have the extra complications you did.    Will keep you in my prayers. Johnette Pate McDuffie ----- Original Message ----- From: "A. J." <a12j02@sbcglobal.net> To: Pate-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, January 7, 2013 8:58:58 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [PATE] A personal experience with 23andMe and the Family Finder test In October 2011, I received an email from a lady living in California, who was administrator of several different FTDNA surname projects related to her family lines.  Among the members taking the Family Finder test, she noticed that the results of four persons indicated me as a possible distant cousin.  In reviewing my ancestral surnames, she further noted that Casey seemed to be a common surname between the five of us. I confirmed to her that a maternal greatgrandmother’s maiden name was Casey (born 1834).  After a few exchanges, I informed her that I would not be able to correspond for a week or two since I was scheduled for surgery for thyroid cancer the following morning. I was very surprised by the next email received from her just a few hours later.  She wrote:  “I manage 9 accounts at 23&Me which began as a health trait DNA database before getting into genetic genealogy. After discovering a high risk for thyroid cancer in our family at 23&Me, it was I who detected our daughter's almost imperceptibly enlarged thyroid.”  She also wrote that her sister had thyroid cancer 42 years earlier. My mother had thyroid cancer but I had assumed mine was just a coincidence until receiving this email.  Then my daughter had thyroid cancer last year. In the articles I posted about 23andMe last week, there are discussions about becoming aware of risk levels for various diseases and conditions.  Some thought it causes unnecessary worry about things that may never happen, which may be true.  But others appreciated the awareness since there are certain conditions which can be treated by lifestyle changes, nutritional supplements, etc. In my case, I used this information to inform my two children and my grandchildren that they all had some risk for hereditary thyroid cancer, and that they should inform their doctors of this fact and request them to check their thyroids on each visit.  It took almost two years for biopsies to show that the nodules on my thyroid were cancerous.  This delay resulted in one of the nerves to my vocal cords being severed during surgery causing some impairment in my voice.  If the doctors and I had known of this hereditary risk, then the surgery would likely have been done earlier and avoided the damage to my voice. This story illustrates the potential value of taking the 23andMe test, especially in coordination with FTDNA’s Family Finder test. Again, this is not an endorsement of the service, but informational only for any who may be considering taking it. A. J. Pate   ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PATE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message