Health History is Family History
True Story
Family health history is as important as a family’s genealogy. In 1997, I was pregnant with my first child. Prior to scheduling my first OBGYN appointment, I received a form in the mail to fill out. One question sent me into a tizzy…Family History. I panicked.
My maternal side never talked about ailments and diseases and I did not know about my paternal side (side note: my parents divorced when my brother and I were very young and we had no contact with my paternal family). When I called her to discuss it, she said, “I don’t know.” I explained how important this information was. She mentioned a great aunt who was senile and a cousin who had cancer (type unknown). I pressed my aunts for info and no one knew or would say. It upset me but I let it pass – you can’t get blood from stone. I expressed my concerns to my brother and he became just as curious as me.
A few months later, my brother came to visit me and brought me a surprise – some death certificates! For some people, this would be a strange present however this was a godsend for me. The death certificates were from the paternal side of my family for our direct line ancestors. It was shocking and sad – there was heart disease and cancer for the men and women in our family. I started pulling the death certificates of all my older relatives and noted the cause of death for each.
A Scary Moment
Until this point, I was not big on going to the doctor so visits were few and far between. To be honest, I did not go unless I was on death’s door. After the scariness of this news, I scheduled annual checkups and became an advocate for my own health and that of my family.
Sometime between 2010 and 2015, medical insurance companies decided that women’s health was not important enough to require an annual exam or mammograms at certain ages and increased the amount of time between each. Knowing my paternal grandmother died of ovarian and breast cancers, I always stated on my medical forms that I was predisposed to these diseases, making it important for me to continue the annual exams. Sometimes they indulged me and sometimes they insisted that I wait.
Fast Forward Several Years
Picture it…North Carolina August 2019 (in my Sophia voice from The Golden Girls). After my February 2019 tri annual exam and mammogram, I went to the doctor for another issue. I told her I felt a little lump during my monthly breast self-exam. She felt it and noted that I had just had a mammogram. Thankfully, my doctor was a breast cancer survivor and submitted a referral for me to have another mammogram. It took over one month for my medical insurance to given their approval; they wanted me to wait 6 months. However, my doctor pushed for it and got it approved.
I went from a mammogram to biopsy to a scheduled lumpectomy within thirty days. Afterwards, I had three months of chemotherapy and four weeks of radiation. Thank God for me knowing my own family health history. I was Stage 1a (the earliest stage) and caught it before it became serious.
All that to say, we share genes with our family members and there are certain diseases that are hereditary. Down Syndrome, cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, thalassemia, heart disease, certain types of cancer and fragile x syndrome, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer are genetic. Most African American families don’t talk about their medical issues and illnesses; they consider it “too personal.” Most of the time, we would find out through whispers and family gossip how a person died. Family health history should not be a family secret. We need to share this information because so many diseases are genetic. If you are a family historian, you will look closely to see how your ancestors died and if there is a pattern. And just like me, it will help you navigate your own health care.
If you’re interested in knowing your family history but you don’t have the time or resources to do so, I have affordable packages to do the research for you. If you book the Kati or Kubwa packages during October 2022, you will get a 10% discount plus a free gift!* Click here to contact me.
*You must book and pay the 50% non-refundable deposit before 11:59pm on 10/31/22 in order to receive the discounted services and free gift.