Personal Narrative: F. A. P As A Genetic Disease

Life has thrown many curveballs at me. The most difficult situation to infiltrate my life was finding out that my family has an inherited genetic disease called F.A.P (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis). It is also “classified” as a genetic mutation. F.A.P is a disorder characterized by cancer in the large intestine. People with this disease can have from hundreds to thousands of polyps in their small intestine or stomach; however, this disease mainly affects the large intestine. These polyps grow faster than normal but start out benign. If you don’t go to your yearly check ups they can become cancerous very quickly. F.A.P. is really rare, so there is very little information and research on the topic. There are many tests and procedures one must go …show more content…
Eventually, one will need surgery for it; a surgery which will take out the entire large intestine. I found out I had this towards the end of my junior year of high school. Shortly thereafter, I found out that my mom, my grandma and my aunt too have F.A.P. My aunt has helped me so much through the ordeal; actually, my entire family has. I believe this issue has made me a stronger person and look at life a little differently. Information this drastic can dramatically change someone’s life; at first I didn’t quite know what to think about it all. I am getting through this complex situation so far with the support and help of family and friends. Although it is very difficult to explain F.A.P. to people, not to mention an explanation of how I feel about it, everyone still does everything they can to help, which I appreciate very much. I keep myself distracted with things like volleyball, working, hanging out with friends and family, and normal activities that any other teenager would normally do. My life won’t be perfect or normal, but that won’t stop me from living it. Besides normal is boring. Although there is going to be bumpy roads along the way, I will not fear the