Letters
As one of the great-grandchildren of Golda Hitchcock, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Medical Center Report for its spectacular article on our family ["Family's genetic death sentence—and genetic escape," May 24]. My uncle David Allen, who was near death from stomach cancer, and his wife Pam had decided earlier in his chemotherapy treatments that a blood sample for genetic testing should be taken if worse came to worse.
Had he not done that, the results would have been quite dire for many of my mother's cousins and their children, I think. My mother and I had discussed for many years the likely possibility of both of us getting this cancer, which runs in our family. She, of course, had the test done. What a relief it was to know that she did not carry the mutation! We can now go about living our lives without the subconscious fear of being afflicted with this terrible disease, thanks to the abilities of the fine geneticists who were able to track down this mutation.
—Shane Moore, Amarillo, Texas
Give feet a handI think the idea of the program to educate diabetic patients is great ["People with type-2 diabetes offered new class on diabetes management," MCR, May 17]. We had one at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., quite a few years ago, and it was very successful. One component of it involved foot care and/or podiatric medicine. This is very important in maintaining the mobility of diabetic patients and attempting to prevent limb loss and decrease morbidity, most likely part of the goals of your program. With the increasing diabetic population and awareness in medicine in general, you should do very well.
—Bruce Meyers, DPM, Rochester, Mich.