Name: Ryan Kowalik

My Family Health
Tree
Grandpa Grandma Grandpa
Macular Heart Colon caner Grandma
Degeneration Disease

Aunt
Aunt

Uncle

Mom Dad

Brother Me Sister

With the help of your family, fill in the boxes with the health conditions of your blood relatives.
Be sure to complete both sides of the family. Fill in as much as you can. Be sure to report
diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer (especially colon, breast, or ovarian
cancers). By knowing which health conditions and diseases are in your family, you can make the
right healthy choices to help prevent those conditions from being passed down to you. Post your
completed family tree on the refrigerator to remind you and your family of the importance of
making healthy choices.
Name: Ryan Kowalik

Record whether you have any of the following 6 conditions in the table below: heart disease,
stroke, diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer, and/or ovarian cancer. These diseases are tracked
because they are common and there are very good information about how to avoid them. In
addition, list any other diseases or conditions you have. Once you have completed your history,
enter the information for the rest of your family.
Relative’s Relationship Twin? Health Age at Living? Age at
Family Name to you (Y/N) Condition diagnosis (Y/N) Death
(Blood
related
only)
Ryan N — —
Immediate Kowalik
(Brothers,
sister, Kelly Sister N — — Y —
parents, Kowalik
children) Anthony Brother N — — Y —
Kowalik
Scot Father N — — Y —
Kowalik
Diane Mother N — — Y —
Kowalik

Brenda Aunt N — — Y —
Mother’s Romandetti
(her father,
her mother, Dolores Grandma N Heart 70 Y —
her sisters, Romandetti Disease
her Tony Grandpa N Macular 55 N 82—
brothers) Romandetti Degeneratio
n
Name: Ryan Kowalik

April Aunt N — — Y —
Father’s Jessop
(his father,
his mother, Mary Lou Grandma N — — Y —
his sisters, Kowalik
his Joe Grandpa N Stomach 54 N 54
brothers) Kowalik Cancer
Don Uncle N ___ ___ Y __
Kowalik

Family Health History

I thought it was extremely interesting to look at the diseases present in my family and to see if

there were any diseases passed down from generation to generation. Luckily for my family, there are no

diseases that were noticeably passed down. My grandfather on my dad’s side had colom cancer, so my

aunt, uncle, and my dad take specific precautions and get checked every year to ensure it doesn’t

become a disease that gets passed down through the following generations. I believe that the reason that

my family is healthy is because they follow a healthy active lifestyle and make the right dietary choices.
Name: Ryan Kowalik

My family has many strengths when it comes to healthy decisions. We do as much as we can to

prevent diseases. One of our biggest strengths is that my family greatly values exercise and physical

fitness. My parents always find time in their busy schedules to go to the gym and run, lift weights, or

both. Living right next to the bike trail is very convenient and my parents make it a habit to go on it

during the summer. I also try to make it to the gym 5-6 times a week to do cardio and strength training.

Exercise is very rewarding to your body and being educated about the benefits and risks of not being

physically active are very motivating. Another strength in my household is that my parents also always

encourage my siblings and I to be as healthy as possible. They always cook healthy meals and we don’t

go out to eat very often. I think these strengths are main reasons why my family does not have a lot of

health issues and there are no generative diseases.

I believe in most families smoking and chewing tobacco is a big factor in the way diseases

develop. In my family, fortunately, there are no smokers or tobacco users. Luckily for us, that means

there is no second hand smoke being inhaled into our lungs. As I learn about all the horrible things that

smoking does to your body in nursing school, I would never consider smoking nor would I want any of

my family members to develop this terrible, life-altering habit. I think this is also a very important reason

why there are no diseases being passed on through my family.

Thankfully, so far there are no diseases in my family that have been passed down and that I am at

a high risk of having. There are no patterns of disease and no diseases that appear frequently. When there

is a disease in my family, it doesn’t seem to be contributed to any lifestyle factors. My grandpa lived a

healthy lifestyle and still got stomach cancer, my grandma lived healthy and she still has a pacemaker

controlling her heart, and my grandpa developed macular degeneration without smoking, being

overweight, or having any of the other risk factors. I think it is important to understand that some

diseases are ones that you can’t control and there is nothing that you can do about them. If you don’t
Name: Ryan Kowalik

understand that then it will bother you and your family and you will think that you could have done

something more to avoid the onset of this disease.

I thought it was very interesting looking into the diseases that my family has and seeing whether

they were passed down or not. With that being said, I think that my family and I are doing everything

that we can to prevent these diseases from being passed down through generations. Eating healthy and

exercising daily to maintain a healthy weight will prevent the onset of these diseases as much as

possible. Also, going to the doctor annually to get screened for these diseases will help exponentially. I

will try to continue to live the healthiest lifestyle possible and educate my parents as I learn more

throughout nursing .