Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia 2 (MEN2)

We all hop along life's path doing our thing, we read and hear of people getting that dreaded disease called "cancer" and some won't even say the word. I've lost more friends than I can count on one hand and sat with a few friends as they drew their final breath. However, never would I have thought that it would hit my family, but it has, we are after all, not immune to tragedy and disaster. Since December of 2010, four of my family members have been stricken with MEN2 cancer (Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia 2), which from what I have learned is passed down through your genes. Why, after all these years, three women, one girl were struck with it within such a short period of time. If you have the MEN2 gene, your thyroid has to come out, if your Calcitonin level is high, it also means that lymph glands in your neck are cancerous and the affected ones have to come out as well. MEN2 is a rare form of cancer and peculiar because there is no treatment for it, MEN2 rejects radiation and Chemotherapy. Very little research has been done and the information isn't that current either. Even though not much is known and less about life expectancy, everyone is living life with hope and laughter and yes, occasional frustration, tears and I assume rage. I was tested as well and am asking myself why did I escape having that gene? It's not that I am not extremely happy that I don't have it, from what little we know it means that my children are safe. Do we know if it can skip a generation, no clue. I feel guilty that I got away with it and told my Oncologist, he's a Roman catholic and told me he knows about guilt, he climbs a mountain in Ireland barefoot every year and he assured me that it's a rocky path. I believe he said it's a seven hour trip, either that or a seven mile trip. I wanted to beg him to tell me where the mountain is so I could climb it myself, but reality and perhaps cowardice intruded and reminded me that there is no way I'd climb anything without shoes. Remember, I am not a professional, what I have written here is what I have gotten from the Internet and the family members who are affected by MEN2. If you want more information, the Anderson Cancer Center, has some good information, I suggest you check it out. Until it happened in our family, we never heard of MEN2.