Wendy Nolan, seated (center), is surrounded by co-workers supporting her cancer fight. She works at the UT Erlanger Oncology practice.
Peer pressure has great power.
Wendy Nolan, a 43-year-old medical assistant at UT Erlanger Oncology, should know.
Some of Nolan’s friends in the office where she has worked for 17 years pestered her to take a test designed to uncover a genetic mutation that signals a raised risk for ovarian cancer.
Nolan, of Whitwell, Tenn., was dubious at first. Some things you just don’t want to know.
But friends knew about Nolan’s family medical history – her mother’s earlier bout with breast cancer, a cousin with breast cancer, another cousin with melanoma. Treating cancer patients all day as they do at the UT Erlanger Oncology practice, Nolan’s friends persisted.