Do you ever watch "The Big C," a Showtime series starring Laura Linney? The show is about how a woman chooses to deal with her cancer diagnosis. Since this is television, cancer is a whole lot funnier on Showtime than it is in real life.
Watching the show got me wondering - just how likely is one to develop cancer? The overall likelihood of a man getting any type of cancer in his lifetime is 45%. For women, it's 38%.
http://nj.gov/health/ces/documents/lifetime_risk.pdf
Since my mother had skin cancer, breast cancer and uterine cancer, I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. Every ache, pain, swollen spot, or red mark has me self diagnosing at the Mayo Clinic's web site. Since only 5% to 10% of cancers are inherited, all of this worry is wasted effort. My mother always said that all the ailments that hurt or otherwise make you feel miserable were not to be worried about. In her opinion, the serious illnesses would sneak up on you quietly.
Check out Dr.Oz's video which addresses the most ignored cancer symptoms. He and Mom seem to agree.
http://health.yahoo.net/videos/droz/most-ignored-cancer-symptoms
Don't obsess about your health. Be aware of what your body might be telling you and see the doctor when a symptom starts hanging around for a while. Otherwise, don't worry, be happy! And ladies, practice breast self examination and get your mammogram.
Hi Beverly, Looking forward to seeing you soon at Creative Writing group. I met up with Johanna one morning as I was walking on Hooten Rd and she was so happy to tell me about a photo you had of Eva arriving in Switzerland or Germany, not sure. I wanted to email you and ask if you would email it to me also but I don't have your email so here I am on your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm perplexed as to what Johanna is talking about. I don't have any pictures from Eva. I'm sure we can resolve whatever Johanna is talking about in class on Wednesday. See you them.
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