Growing up with Google, we are not satisfied to do what we’re told, take our medicine and wait to speak until we’re spoken to. We want to know “why and how come about everything.” And thanks to Google we now can.
People diagnosed with cancer now receive acupuncture, yoga and Qigong protocols from their oncologists. When we go to appointments, we take iPads to record both the doctors and the MRI images. We demand copies of our reports.
At the conclusion of my treatment, I received a large package of brochures and publications with headings like, Living Smart: The American Cancer Society’s Guide to Eating Healthy and Being Active and Adopting a Plant-Based Diet.
The overwhelming message from all the materials my doctor gave me was: you are not helpless as you go forward, you can take charge of your likelihood of getting cancer again. My oncologist subscribes to the most current reality, which is that we have far more control over getting cancer than we have previously been led to believe.
In an article published online by www.telegraph.co.uk entitled, Obesity poised to overtake smoking as key cause of cancer, Jennifer Ligibel, a cancer specialist from Harvard University says, “‘We are at a critical point now; we cannot afford to ignore this anymore,’ she said, warning that on current trends, obesity would overtake smoking as the key cause of cancer in about 10 years.”
The good news from this article and many others like it, is that to a large extent, we know what causes cancer. We know it so well, we can classify it. The American Cancer Society knows it well enough to give specific guidelines:
I rarely eat red meat or processed meat like bacon, hot dogs or sausage.
I rarely add butter, margarine, oil, sour cream, or mayonnaise to foods when I’m cooking or at the table.
I take it easy on high-calorie baked goods, such as pies, cakes, cookies, sweet rolls, and doughnuts.
I never, or only occasionally, drink alcohol.
Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in her blog post Recipe For Disaster: Alcohol and Estrogen-Positive Breast Cancer states, “The preponderance of data confirm that drinking alcohol on a regular basis increases the risk for breast cancer by approximately 40%. Furthermore, in women with estrogen-positive breast cancer, drinking alcohol increases the risk of a new cancer in the opposite breast by a jaw-dropping 90%.”
Prior to my diagnosis, I regularly consumed the above items, thinking that since they were mostly organic or agave sweetened that I was safe. The data says otherwise. Going forward, the items in my grocery basket have permanently changed.
Prevention is what we will fall back on after decades of waiting for “the cure.” It is time to start listening to the causes of cancer. It is time to start diminishing our chances of getting cancer the first time, the second time and the third time. Cancer was not personal for me. Instead, it was cultural and epidemic, rooted in everyday patterns which reveal our bland acceptance of it.
The new cancer conversation is redefining the fight against cancer as something you do, instead of something you wear. We are less concerned about wigs and hats and prosthetics and pink. We want answers and we want to know why we are sick. We are not satisfied to sit in support groups with people twice our age and talk about how we feel. Lastly, in our 140 character vernacular: we want access to the data, we want to see the research, we want the cure, and FWIW we want it now!
Patients get out and stay active even during chemo.