Myridian Monday

We would like to take a few Mondays each month to introduce you to some of our shining star employees here at Myriad Genetics. These employees exemplify what it means to be a Myridian. Their efforts at the office and in the community are what Myriad stands for!

Our first spotlight is on Colleen Walch, a Patient Services Coordinator and a Myriad employee for 8 years.

I am honored and grateful that I was asked to share my story for the blog. I have been with Myriad for 8 years and I LOVE what I do. My story does not have a really happy beginning, but the ending for me is wonderful. My Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 24. She had an oophorectomy at that time. Fast forward 16 years. My Mom again was diagnosed with cancer, only this time, it was breast cancer. Her healthcare professional took off her left breast and convinced her that she did not need any further treatment.. no chemo… no radiation…. nothing. I begged her on my knees to please take it but, alas, the healthcare professional won out. He said to her, “After all of this… you don’t want to lose your hair, do you?” That made her decision clear not to have any further treatments. She recovered fairly well until about 6 months later ,when at a checkup, her healthcare professional found a lump in her right breast. By this time, she was stage 4. She tried everything at that point to combat the raging disease, but to no avail. She fought the good fight but lost her battle.

It was a hard thing for our family to watch her struggle and get weaker every day. I was ( am ) angry that she missed all of the good stuff…. All of the graduations, weddings, family vacations, grandbabies, long talks and long walks. CANCER TOOK MY MOM AWAY FROM ME !!! Not only from me, but also from my children. It wasn’t fair. Then one day, my friend introduced me to Myriad and what they do. I was fascinated with this opportunity to help other families have a much different outcome that ours did. Every time I speak with a patient, I envision my young mother with small children and I fight for the patient. My Dad still asks me how can I work here after all that we went thru with my Mom…. My answer to him still is… “If I can help only one family all the time that I am here and it changes one life… my time at Myriad was worth it.

— Michelle Landon, MS, CGC
Associate Product Manager