"Screening for the big C" Topic

I am the worst proponent of medicine. I could have a detached limb and still not trust a doctor. So to write this is a bit of hypocrisy on my part, but the message is worth getting out.

My mum, who is 75, gets herself a mammogram every two years, even though she is not on the government list of "at risk" people. Healthy eater, exercises regularly, active, non smoker, no history etc. Anyway, thank god she did go. They found a very small and early stage malignant growth which she had removed without issue and has an excellent prognosis.

Folks, get yourself and your loved ones checked for whatver applies to you okay? I myself went to the Doc today (the surgery didn't fall apart around me strangely) and will be having a few tests. I swallowed my pride and my opinions and I am a stubborn git. Please, do the same.

cheers
Jon.

I lost my sister and her husband last summer – each to different but rare forms of cancer for which only experimental drugs have been developed.

I, too, was a stubborn git like Jon, but events like that change your perspective.

Do it.

JJ

Agreed, the earlier it is caught, the more that can be done about it. A friend lost a son a few months ago. He refused to see a doctor for two years, and when the pain got bad enough that he did go, it was too late.

Have annual exams. Not only are they the first line of defense against cancer, you get screened for other things that can kill you quicker, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.

The best day of the year is the day after your annual exam.

I lost my father to cancer in '92 at the age of 67. He had a spot as early as 1987. Doc originally told him it was probably a fungus. Go soak it in some sort of solution (can't remember what). May father was not one to go to the doctor regularly so when it did not go away, he did not go back. 2 years later, he was diagnosed with melanoma. For those that don't know what it is and the prognosis after being diagnosed with it:

Melanoma is commonly known as skin cancer. If caught early, it is one of the most treatable forms of cancer simply because it resides on the outer layer of the skin. If caught later, it is one of the most deadly forms of cancer because when it mastetizes it will spread to other parts of the body like wildfire. Organs and all.

It is conceivable that my father could be alive today though he would be about 89 years old. I would have given anything to spend a few more years with him.

I am coming up on the big 50 next year. I'll be getting a good screening.

Yep, I'm having bloods, x-rays and a couple of other intrusive ones for various things. I owe it to 5 rellies who succumbed, and should just be mature about things I guess.

Doctors found a growth on the spine of my middle brother,Adam. Biopsy results pending,but he wound up in hospital after a fall from his wheelchair at home and in severe pain,may also be affecting his kidneys and stuff too.

Now,it looks like it's stage 4 lung cancer. He's starting radiation treatment ASAP. Then home.

But first, he's back in the same rehab/nursing home he was in 5 years ago following a stroke. Still on the radiation stuff,but still holding on as best he can.

And back in the hospital again for respiratory problems and such.

And moving into hospice this week. Same nursing home he was at 5 years before ;recovering from a stroke. :^(

So far,his spirits have improved;moved into the hospice on Tuesday.

And he just passed on yesterday morning.

Been a year now. Still miss talking to the dude.