a glimpse into my future?

Ever since I declared myself as a microbiology major my sophomore year of college I have been unsure as to what I would do with my degree.  Should I be a dentist?  Should I pursue research?  While I'm still unsure as to exactly what I want to do, I have more ideas.  As of late I have been interested in genetic counseling.  I first learned about it last semester in a careers class and it sounded interesting.

I met with a genetic counselor today.  Victoria.  Because of my age and my type of cancer my oncologist thought it was prudent to check for any genetic conditions that would have caused my cancer.  Victoria was pretty wonderful.  She first explained that only about 10% of cancers are caused by genetic mutations... but they are checking me just in case.  Victoria asked about my family history and constructed my family tree as my mom and I tried to recall all the health issues the dear old Harris family has experienced.  She said if I have a genetic condition it is most likely something called Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which is a mutation in gene p53, a tumor suppressor gene.  It is a dominant gene so if I have it my siblings and other family members will have to be checked as well.  Li-Fraumeni syndrome puts one at a much higher risk to develop cancer.  If this is something I have then I will have to be checked for other types of cancer earlier than most people.  I most likely don't have this mutation, like I'm nearly 100% sure that I do not, but it is better to be safe and sure.  My blood sample is being shipped to California to be tested and hopefully I'll have results in the next month or so. :)

Meeting with Victoria has helped me realize how cool genetic counseling is.  You help people and still have to be smart and scientific in your thinking.  So... who knows?  Perhaps that is where my future lies...