Carefree Artist
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The art blog of award-winning artist and illustrator Mark A. Hicks. Featuring children's book, magazine, and greeting card illustration, cartoons and lots of other stuff.
Carefree Artist
2d ago
aware·ness (ə-ˈwer-nəs) noun “Conscious knowledge.” Preventing hereditary cancer starts with awareness. Here is my second graphic in what will be a series illustrating the basics of genes and genetic mutations to hopefully help raise awareness about what can be a life-saving subject.
I want to give a big thank you and shout-out to Michelle Springer, a certified genetic counselor, for being my technical reviewer on this project.
You can download a PDF of this infographic at https://genetionary.org/brca/
Again, like my first illustration in the series, I created this infographic with a ..read more
Carefree Artist
1w ago
I believe very strongly in the Duty to Warn when there is any danger to the life of another person. And that includes sharing information about genetic mutations and potential cancer risks.
Unfortunately, there are medical privacy laws that hinder the sharing of genetic information among family members. That leaves the task to family members who might be unsure of how to approach other genetic relatives about a difficult and complex subject.
Sharing information about genetic mutations with relatives who may have inherited the same mutation and who may be at risk of cancer can be a complicated ..read more
Carefree Artist
2w ago
ConnectMyVariant.org is an educational health-focused nonprofit organization that supports individuals and families with inherited disease, such as hereditary cancer, with early detection and prevention efforts.
It also works to increase awareness of the benefits of family outreach among physicians and others who provide preventative care, as well as those in the genealogy community.
Every month I will be sharing an image I have created as a volunteer advocate for ConnectMyVariant to help bring attention to the nonprofit's efforts to connect families and save lives.
  ..read more
Carefree Artist
3w ago
This is something many people struggle with. Granted, it can be confusing, but it is something very important to know when it comes to hereditary diseases, hereditary cancer, and sharing genetic information with your family. These are the relatives to start with when you have important family health history to share.
Keep in mind that the same disease-risk variant may be carried by numerous relatives separated by many degrees over multiple generations. That’s why knowing and sharing family health history is very important.
A PDF of this graphic can be downloaded at genetionary.org
It is ..read more
Carefree Artist
1M ago
This is a whimsical take on a very serious subject that, unfortunately, many grown-ups do not grasp. As a hereditary cancer advocate, I have found that many adults don’t really understand basic biology, much less genetics. Add in genetic mutations and cancer, and the mental gears stop turning.
I spent a big part of my illustration career creating artwork that helped to visually explain complex scientific concepts to 6 to 9-year-olds. So I thought I’d use those skills to maybe help more people understand genetics and hereditary cancer.
I do this with a heavy heart and with ..read more
Carefree Artist
1M ago
As National Cancer Prevention Month winds down, I wanted to share one more thought on how far we still have to go in the quest to prevent cancer.
As a former cancer caregiver, now widower, I can understand comparing a cancer diagnosis to a tornado. Hereditary cancer literally ripped life apart. It absolutely destroyed hopes, dreams, and plans. It changed everything.
While I have never experienced a major tornado, I have experienced a few small ones at various times in my life here in Phoenix. (Yes, we have tornadoes in Arizona. And we even have warning systems in place here.) The las ..read more
Carefree Artist
1M ago
A friend with a family history of cancer asked their doctor about genetic testing. The doctor’s response? “You don’t want to go down that rabbit hole.” What?! WHAT?!
Genetic testing should be a standard of care to prevent cancer. It saves lives. It would have saved my wife’s life. It’s given my child a chance to live a full life cancer-free.
4 in 5 women with a family history of cancer have not been offered genetic testing. 3 in 4 people eligible for Lynch Syndrome screening have not been tested.
There are hereditary cancers that can be prevented ..read more
Carefree Artist
2M ago
February is National Cancer Prevention Month. But preventing cancer isn’t just a one-month effort.
One of the goals of Connect My Variant, a nonprofit organization, is to campaign for increased awareness of the benefits of family outreach among physicians and others who can provide cancer prevention care, as well as the broader genealogy community.
Learn more at www.connectmyvariant.org.
(I created this graphic as a volunteer artist and hereditary cancer prevention advocate ..read more
Carefree Artist
2M ago
Having the EXACT SAME PATHOGENIC GENETIC MUTATION passed down over multiple generations -- sometimes centuries -- is obviously a familial issue, NOT an individual one.
But changing medical laws that haven’t evolved with genomic science is difficult. So instead, getting families to communicate about family health and cancer history is a big part of my advocacy. In future posts, I will be sharing tools that can be used to help with the sharing of genetic information among genetic relatives. There are cancers that are preventable.
Here is the link to the scientific paper at Nature ..read more
Carefree Artist
2M ago
If genetic testing reveals that you carry a genetic mutation that increases the risk of hereditary cancer, communicating this fact to relatives who might also share the same variant isn’t always the easiest thing to do. But it can be life-saving. Who do you share the information with? How do you share the information? And what information do you include?
I’ve created these two simple tools that can be downloaded from my website, www.genetionary.org, that might help. (And thanks to a certified genetic counselor and really nice person for all the help on the checklist!)
Knowing and shar ..read more