‘The C-Word’

Medical science is amazing. We have eradicated meny once-fatal diseases. We can regrow hair and transplant organs. We can take a pill and lower our cholesterol or raise our blood-sugar. We’ve managed to conquer “bedroom issues” with a little blue pill, and we can clone a sheep. We had multiple pharmaceutical companies create a vaccine for a deadly virus in jus months. Yes, we have accomplished a great deal in the world of medicine.

But the one disease we just can’t seem to crack is cancer.

Cancer has been a blight upon human existence since before recorded history. Some of the earliest medical texts from Ancient Egypt, Greece and China all depict mankind’s attempts to understand and treat cancer. It is something that will almost surely affect you or someone important in your life. It’s almost as sure a thing as death and taxes.

Cancer has killed several members of my family and others in my family and friends circle have had to deal with it and have recovered. It’s one of those diseases that just makes no sense to me. It’s not caused by a virus or a bacteria. It’s just a glitch in the body where the body basically attacks itself. I know that’s oversimplifying it but it’s just hard to understand how cancer even exists and it makes me angry. It does not discriminate. Young and old alike, men and women, all races and ethnicities are equal opportunity targets when it comes to cancer.

A few months ago, someone I go to church with was diagnosed with a pretty advanced and aggressive form of

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cancer. It was particularly sad because she had previously had cancer and had beaten it… until it came back. I won’t name names or go into too much detail because I’m not a fan of telling other folks’ business, but she was around my age, which is scary for a number of reasons. She passed away not too long ago. When you’re 50-ish, it’s not quite young enough to say “She was so young,” but it’s still feels wrong.

Another cancer-related tragedy was my wife’s cousin, who found out she had cancer last June, at age 27, two days before her wedding. She was one of the fittest people I’ve ever known and she fought the good fight but passed away just a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. She was a non-smoker, nondrinker, volleyball coach and fitness enthusiast in the prime of her life. It just makes no sense.

October will soon be here, and that means you’ll be seeing those pink ribbons everywhere, which is great. They’re supposed to “raise awareness” for breast cancer, which again it great, but let’s be real… we are all very “aware” of cancer, of all types, and despite a century of research, we still can’t prevent it or cure it.

Evidence shows that early detection is the key to survival, so I encourage you all to get screened, to stay on top of your health care needs and to, above all, stay “aware.”