Attitudes are everything

Through the medical roller coaster of a cancer person's life, what is the one thing that gets you through it all? Your attitude.

That's easy to say. Some days, my attitude can seriously be slipping. for some silly reason it can be affected by those minor things like pain and distress levels.

So how am I doing? Middle of the road someplace. Exhaustion yesterday which lead me to stay home from my aunt's 80th birthday party. Annoying not-ingrown-but-still-infected toenail that has me on antibiotics and off methotrexate. And if it does not respond to the antibiotics, they will have to cut it open... Ick. And my back is killing me.

But none of this is cancer so I will stick a cheery smile on my face and suck it up while I dream up some yummy dinner that will preoccupy me this afternoon.

If you were told you were at high risk of getting cancer, what would you do?

So genomics is progressing. The newest research shows that through genomics they can account for the causes of 50% of breast cancer cases. They also state that if you are at high risk, you can lower your risk by maintaining a healthy lifestyle - good weight, not smoking etc.

"When researchers looked at the top 25% of risk scores, they found that these would account for about half of breast cancer cases in the future. Using previous models, genetic variants could account for only 35% of future cancer cases...."

"The model found that lifestyle factors, which are in a woman’s control, can generally lower the genetic risk by half. And the higher a woman’s genetic risk, the more she can reduce it with healthy behaviors. So avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol and smoking, or maintaining a healthy weight, for example, can bring a genetic risk of 30% down to around 15%, while a woman with a 4% genetic risk of developing breast cancer can reduce her risk by 2%."

So those statements beg a few questions.

1. What would you do if you were told if you were at high risk of getting breast or any other kind of cancer?
2. Does the high risk seem as much of a concern if you can lower it by maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

Other research has talked about what you do at a younger age can impact your cancer risk later. But do teenagers really care about healthy lifestyles? The teenagers I know often eat a lot of junk food, drink soda and other sugary drinks, and are not as concerned with getting a healthy meal three times a day. Then twenty-somethings seem to switch to some healthier habits as they mature and settle down. College is a big time for alcohol consumption and other risky behaviors. In recent decades the rates of teen smoking are way down. I know these statements are generalizations and there are exceptions but I am using them to make a point.


So if you knew at 15 that you were going to develop breast or any other cancer at age 50, would you change your lifestyle?  Or at 15 are you less concerned with cancer and more concerned with being a teenager and getting in to college?


My opinion is that at 19 at my first cancer diagnosis, I was somewhat concerned with how long I would live, accepted the fact (eventually) that I was at higher risk of another cancer, and that I was going to live my life as I wanted.

When I was at the end of my treatment - surgery and radioactive iodine - I was told to live a healthy lifestyle and not to take unnecessary risks. My thoughts were summed up as I would rather live my life as I wanted than sit around waiting for another cancer visit. I did eat relatively healthily but I also traveled a lot, drank alcohol and smoked (yes!) cigarettes.

I don't really want any predictive modelling done on me, any more than a friend of mine could get me to go see a psychic. I'm happy with my life, I wish I was healthier but I can't undo the past.

If you were told you were at high risk of getting cancer, what would you do?

So genomics is progressing. The newest research shows that through genomics they can account for the causes of 50% of breast cancer cases. They also state that if you are at high risk, you can lower your risk by maintaining a healthy lifestyle - good weight, not smoking etc.

"When researchers looked at the top 25% of risk scores, they found that these would account for about half of breast cancer cases in the future. Using previous models, genetic variants could account for only 35% of future cancer cases...."

"The model found that lifestyle factors, which are in a woman’s control, can generally lower the genetic risk by half. And the higher a woman’s genetic risk, the more she can reduce it with healthy behaviors. So avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol and smoking, or maintaining a healthy weight, for example, can bring a genetic risk of 30% down to around 15%, while a woman with a 4% genetic risk of developing breast cancer can reduce her risk by 2%."

So those statements beg a few questions.

1. What would you do if you were told if you were at high risk of getting breast or any other kind of cancer?
2. Does the high risk seem as much of a concern if you can lower it by maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

Other research has talked about what you do at a younger age can impact your cancer risk later. But do teenagers really care about healthy lifestyles? The teenagers I know often eat a lot of junk food, drink soda and other sugary drinks, and are not as concerned with getting a healthy meal three times a day. Then twenty-somethings seem to switch to some healthier habits as they mature and settle down. College is a big time for alcohol consumption and other risky behaviors. In recent decades the rates of teen smoking are way down. I know these statements are generalizations and there are exceptions but I am using them to make a point.


So if you knew at 15 that you were going to develop breast or any other cancer at age 50, would you change your lifestyle?  Or at 15 are you less concerned with cancer and more concerned with being a teenager and getting in to college?


My opinion is that at 19 at my first cancer diagnosis, I was somewhat concerned with how long I would live, accepted the fact (eventually) that I was at higher risk of another cancer, and that I was going to live my life as I wanted.

When I was at the end of my treatment - surgery and radioactive iodine - I was told to live a healthy lifestyle and not to take unnecessary risks. My thoughts were summed up as I would rather live my life as I wanted than sit around waiting for another cancer visit. I did eat relatively healthily but I also traveled a lot, drank alcohol and smoked (yes!) cigarettes.

I don't really want any predictive modelling done on me, any more than a friend of mine could get me to go see a psychic. I'm happy with my life, I wish I was healthier but I can't undo the past.

Its not the patient's fault

It is never the patient's fault [unless their ailment was preceded by vast quantities of alcohol and the slurred statement of 'watch this!']. So why do people persist in being so insensitive to sick people? And then there are the people who know what you need to get better even though they never went to medical school. Or their religion will solve your problems.

"You have lung cancer, how many years did you smoke?"
"You have breast cancer, didn't you get your annual mammograms?"
"You just need to exercise and eat better and I'm sure the first 100 pounds will easily come off."
"You didn't pray enough so of course you got cancer." 


Whatever, if you have the ailment you find this all rude, insensitive, and sometimes worthy of a public bashing (e.g. Facebook slam).


But do you expect to run into it from practitioners of alternative treatments as well? I have from my accupuncturist. But at the same time she didn't understand the ramifications of my ailments. She would also ask when my lymphedema was going to resolve itself.

One person in this article is asked by their reflexologist after prostate cancer surgery - what did you do to bring this tumor on? And you hear the stories about someone passed away from cancer - and it is implied that they did not fight hard enough.

Sick people are people too. They may be going through a bad time in their life but they are still are people with feelings and sensitivity - and may be extra sensitive because they aren't feeling well.

Its not their fault.

Staying pink means staying positive

This has now been decoded. I don't think so.

Fellow blogger, Katherine O'Brien, wrote to Good Morning America recently about the pinkification of the set and show, which I think was Monday but I could be wrong. She asked about why there was no mention of metastatic breast cancer and it was all about awareness. They wrote back:

"The focus of today's report was breast cancer awareness and the visual affect to highlight the need for more research."

"A patient's positive attitude is beneficial in any medical process."

We are supposed to think positive and the world will be full of sunshine and roses and kittens or something.

Katherine made a great video on this which due to my technical skills I can't upload here that you should watch as she does a wonderful job in making her point.

Pink doesn't help. And the TV station needs sensitivity training.

Attitudes are everything

Through the medical roller coaster of a cancer person's life, what is the one thing that gets you through it all? Your attitude.

That's easy to say. Some days, my attitude can seriously be slipping. for some silly reason it can be affected by those minor things like pain and distress levels.

So how am I doing? Middle of the road someplace. Exhaustion yesterday which lead me to stay home from my aunt's 80th birthday party. Annoying not-ingrown-but-still-infected toenail that has me on antibiotics and off methotrexate. And if it does not respond to the antibiotics, they will have to cut it open... Ick. And my back is killing me.

But none of this is cancer so I will stick a cheery smile on my face and suck it up while I dream up some yummy dinner that will preoccupy me this afternoon.