Cancer came a callin'

In 2005, cancer came knocking on my family's door and it has changed shape ever since then.  My sister called me one fall day - within days of her 38th birthday.  After years of family support for breast cancer causes, my sister now had a stage 3 cancerous lump.  A wife, a daughter, a sister and a mother of 3 - cancer does not discriminate.

Five years on, my sister remains cancer free but forever vigilant.  But the plan has now changed.  As part of her monitoring process, she was involved in a study looking at the link between early breast cancer in women, family histories and genetic mutations.  Her participation was to prove that those with no real history of breast cancer were random cancer patients. They had tested her to see if she carried the breast cancer gene.  Now the results are in: BRCA1 positive.

BRCA genes are the good guys of the cell duplication process.  Just as a photocopy is not as perfect as the original, the BRCA genes' job is to fix any problems with the the DNA of a 'copy' so it is an close to the original cell as possible.  If the BRCA can't fix the DNA, it destroys the problem.  When you have a BRCA mutation, it means that the fixing process is faulty and more abnormal cells slip through the cracks.

Did this gene mutation happen because of something my sister did or didn't do right?  Not in the least.  The BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are hereditary and go back many generations.  No one is to blame.  But it seems the gene mutation has come through my mother's side of the family and both my mother and I have tested positive for the mutation as well.

So we all have some decisions to make moving forward.  Women with the mutation have an increased risk of developing ovarian and breast cancers - much higher than the general population.  But the solutions are not simple.  They involve surgery to remove ovaries and breasts.  So with a variety of screening tools, monitoring and surgical interventions, we will take proactive steps to ensure we are survivors.

Cancer may have come a callin' but we will prevail.

The land of the Ute

Life in a new country is full of new sights, sounds and experiences.  But sometimes it's the everyday that is the most interesting.

Let’s get the car thing off the table to begin with.  The El Camino and the Ranchero are alive and well in Australia.  In high school, my friend Chris Fong had an orange Ranchero/El Camino.  I hope he’s moved on to greater things but ‘utes’, as they are called, are the vehicle of choice for trades people and I will assume young blokes who need the cargo bed for surf boards.  The highlight of this craze was my sighting today of a ’59 Chevy El Camino.  (Before anyone asks, the license plate was ’59 Chevy’ and the El Camino silver lettering was on the body – nuff said).

They also have plenty of debate over the use of the  terms SUV and 4WD.  I read an article on the West Australian saying Americans (and I assume they meant Canadians too) are stupid to call  crossover’s an SUV and that every 4WD car should be called a 4WD.  Little do they know that most SUV’s in Canada are driven by Yummy Mummy’s who will never take it off pavement.  I guess they assumed we would use 4WD’s off road – what and ruin a manicure?

Want to get an oil change for your car?  Need to take it to the dealership or a mechanic and for $150 and 2 hours of your time they will change your oil, do a 100 point inspection, check your brakes and wash/vacuum your car (If you’re lucky they will shuttle you to the mall while you wait).  If you just want the oil changed, $99 and the same 2 hours.  If you are looking to build a successful franchise here in Perth, might I suggest a Mr. Lube?  The guy thought I was crazy when I told him you could drive in, stay in your car, get a coffee and paper, and be out in 20 minutes for about $50 in Canada (okay, so Steve still paid about $100 every time at Mr. Lube in Canada because he always accepted the other recommended items).  He said that $50 wouldn’t even cover the cost of the oil and filter.