Katherine Moser faced her genetic destiny early when she learned that she, like others in her family, carried the gene for Huntington's Disease.
The decision to take the genetic test was hers and now she is Facing Life with a Lethal Gene.
Ms. Moser is part of a vanguard of people at risk for Huntington’s who are choosing to learn early what their future holds. Facing their genetic heritage, they say, will help them decide how to live their lives.
---
She never, she said, regretted being tested. But at night, crying herself to sleep in the dark of her lavender bedroom, she would go over and over it. She was the same, but she was also different. And there was nothing she could do.
--
Like many families affected by Huntington’s, Ms. Moser’s regarded the disease as a curse, not to be mentioned even as it dominated their lives in the form of her grandfather’s writhing body and unpredictable rages.
--
Ms. Moser is still part of a distinct minority. But some researchers say her attitude is increasingly common among young people who know they may develop Huntington’s.
More informed about the genetics of the disease than any previous generation, they are convinced that they would rather know how many healthy years they have left than wake up one day to find the illness upon them.
--
More than anything now, Ms. Moser said, she is filled with a sense of urgency.
“I have a lot to do,” she said. “And I don’t have a lot of time.”