When Andrew first became ill in fourth grade, it was as if the child I'd raised had been traded for a totally different boy. The first 16 years, no one had an answer for us except to throw another medication and another diagnosis on top of the heap.

At my lowest point, I thought about suicide. I knew I couldn't live like that anymore.

So as a last resort, we went to Mayo Clinic.

When Mrs. Kearns told me that she had some family members who had difficulty tolerating medications, I told her that often these kinds of problems can run in families.

Dr. Sampson listened to me. I felt we were finally going to get the answer to all of these issues for so many years. We did the genetic testing and found out, in fact, Andrew was not able to break down the medications the way most individuals would. Because of this, the medication level was likely higher in his system, causing him to have more side effects and, in fact, making him ill.

For 16 years, no one knew what was wrong with me. And in two months, Mayo Clinic had it figured out. And now I have my life back.

The hope for the application of the technology that's come out of the Genome Project, as in the case of Andrew, is that it will help make it possible for us to select the right drug at the right dose for every patient, every time.

We are so grateful to Mayo Clinic. The fact that Mayo's research was integrated into patient care saved Andrew's life. And they saved our family's happiness.

Sept. 29, 2022