Appreciation and Public Service Announcement

As I have mentioned before one of my co-workers was actually diagnosed with breast cancer. While the surgery went very well to remove the lumps, they will be treating her quite aggressively with chemo for 6 months to ensure it has not spread elsewhere in the body. She is an incredibly healthy person, who eats right, is very active with her kids and maintains a healthy lifestyle, oh and she is young. Well ok maybe flukes, but as other co-workers come by to lend their support I hear of more and more cases of others who had this cancer as well in their youth. At least I consider late 20s still to be youth when we are talking in terms of cancer. The good news is that at that age the body is much more able to handle aggressive treatment and thus the success rate grows tremendously, but this is rather humbling to think about. You would be hard pressed to find a person who has not been personally touched by cancer either themselves or their immediate family.

But as I hear these women talk, most of them found the cancer themselves doing self-examinations and were able to catch it early. What I found most surprising though is that a large percentage of men actually get breast cancer. 1% of all breast cancer diagnosis are for men, not women (1 in a 100), which when according to WHO over 1.2 million new cases are identified every year. That results in 12,000 new diagnosis in men every year. The scary thing is that men tend to lag in identifying the disease by an average of 18 months, which significantly reduces the odds of recovery. So why do they teach self-examination to women but not men? Is it they think that we would be so arrogant that we would do a testicular exam but not a breast exam? In this day and age when we are trying to educate the public to be more aware of their body and possible afflictions, where things like this are taught all the way back in high school, I believe it is scandalous that they ignore this subject. So for male readers, consider this a friendly public service. Next time you see one of those placards for women on how to do a breast exam, take a second and educate yourself, it might just save your life.

In another piece of cancer related news, Ben’s condition failed to improve with this latest bone marrow transplant. He was undergoing radiation for 3-4 hours a day like a real trooper, but to no avail, the cancer is spreading and his body is just can not take this abuse much longer. So for his overall health and happiness, they are returning from NY to CA to be closer to home. To say this is devastating is an understatement. All that hope that has cropped up over the past couple of months is flushed away in one fell swoop. We all continue to pray for miracles, because I think that is all we have left. So everyone give a hug to your kid, a call to your parents or siblings to say I love you, or just give a chuck on the shoulder to your best friend. Life is precious, every moment of it.