Ask a childhood cancer survivor

[cosmowanderer]

What do you think of the awareness movement? Are people still becoming more aware? Is cancer much closer to being cured? Has wearing pink really helped?  What about the donations? What do you think of the term "Big Cancer"?

One main question and several possible sub-questions. Answer as full or brief as you like (or not).

I think awareness is great in the sense that people are becoming more likely to get checkups and check themselves at home regularly. I think, though, that a lot of people still have the "it'll never happen to me" idea, and so those people don't get themselves checked. There's a lot that can be done when its detected early, and that's important in a lot of cases. I do think people are becoming more aware, but I think there's still a lot of people who don't know what to look for or what their risk factors may be, or what they can do to reduce their risk of cancer.

I'm on the fence as to whether or not I think it's close to being "cured." There's so much happening as far as research goes and new treatment development, but rates of cancers are still increasing, so I think we need to focus more on preventative measures than we currently are. Smoking, poor diet, lifestyle, etc can all be contributing factors to cancer. I remember a statistic I saw (and since I can't remember the source, please take this only as anecdotal) that said somewhere around 80% of cancers are preventable. So while we're making a lot of headway in treatment, we're losing the battle when it comes to number of cases. I also remember reading (and again, I don't remember the source, so this is only anecdotal) that just 50 years ago, 1 in 30 people would be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Today, it's 1 in 3, so the rates have increased tenfold, which is really scary.

As far as wearing pink goes, I think it's done a ton of good for raising awareness and donations towards breast cancer, but the downside is that people generally become focused on one issue and other health issues fall by the wayside. Breast cancer is a huge issue, but so is prostate cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and so on, and we should be thinking about them as much as we are about breast cancer. I'm by no means trying to dismiss breast cancer, because it is much more common than anyone would hope for, but I think it goes back again to preventative measures and overall health in general.

As far as donations go, I'm not sure how I feel. I've heard so many stories about the donations helping people, and I know there are places like St. Jude's that don't charge patients that can't pay (or so I've been told; I've never looked closely into St. Jude's operation), but I've also heard of some of the non-profits using more money towards advertising, merchandise, and events rather than actual research or patient care.

Did I cover everything? Hehe.

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Yeah, my son's mother survived breast cancer at the cost of autoimmune issues, diabetes, and depression. Sounds like you've had a rough row, but kudos to you for tackling your issues head-on.

What's sad is that most of those are likely to be the result of the treatments instead of the cancer itself. Chemo and radiation therapy are quite harsh on the body. I hope your son's mother is doing well now, I'm sorry to hear the issues she's had.

Thanks, I used to not treat my health like a priority when I was younger (not that I'm very old now), but as I've matured I've really learned the value of being healthy.