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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jul 1, 2015 16:55:18 GMT
I worry about it, but only in the context that I need to live long enough that my kids are all adults. I need to get them raised - then I can died in peace.
But I don't want to die, certainly.
And I do worry about cancer, but not so much that it prohibits me living my life.
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psiluvu
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,217
Location: Canada's Capital
Jun 25, 2014 22:52:26 GMT
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Post by psiluvu on Jul 1, 2015 17:02:37 GMT
Normally not much at all. But right at this moment I am terrified. I found a lump a week and a half ago let it go for a week to see if it would go away, it hasn't so I have an appointment with my gp tomorrow. I am not usually a worst case scenario person but both my mom and grandma had breast cancer. My mom is a 12 year survivor so I shouldn't be but at the moment I am panicking. I haven't told anyone not even dh.
Usually I am all things in moderation and whatever will be, will be.
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Jul 1, 2015 17:05:22 GMT
I don't worry about it at all....that is unless I find a lump or something weird. If you live long enough you'll get cancer; there's just no way to avoid it.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Jul 1, 2015 17:07:32 GMT
I'm a smoker who is getting ready to try to quit again. I worry about cancer a lot. I know I'm risking it by smoking and it seriously gives me incentive to quit.
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valleyview
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,816
Jun 27, 2014 18:41:26 GMT
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Post by valleyview on Jul 1, 2015 17:10:00 GMT
I'm a smoker who is getting ready to try to quit again. I worry about cancer a lot. I know I'm risking it by smoking and it seriously gives me incentive to quit. Best of luck to you!
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Post by peano on Jul 1, 2015 17:21:17 GMT
Even though my mother died from pancreatic cancer at 62, I don't spend much time worrying about it. She was a heavy smoker her entire life for one thing. Over the years, I've just focused on making healthier lifestyle choices.
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Post by 950nancy on Jul 1, 2015 17:25:49 GMT
My mom died at 58 and my dad at 69. Both from cancer. Three out of the four grandparents didn't do too well either (not cancer). My goal was to make it to 50. I did that in May. I think people that have it hit close to home can feel more anxiety. I don't fret about it, but I am realistic too. My new goal is 60.
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scrappert
Prolific Pea
RefuPea #2956
Posts: 7,792
Location: Milwaukee, WI area
Jul 11, 2014 21:20:09 GMT
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Post by scrappert on Jul 1, 2015 17:32:08 GMT
I think about it a lot. My Mom's whole side of the family has either passed away from cancer or heart disease. I figure I will also probably go in one of those fashions. I don't obsess about it, but I am aware. I go to yearly check ups, that's all I can do.
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Post by jumperhop on Jul 1, 2015 17:48:19 GMT
I worry about everything a lot more now after the brain tumor. Especially since the Dr left 20% in my head I worry a lot that it will grow back. I do think that this will be an issue for the rest of my life and that I will probably die from this eventually. But it's not just the tumor I worry about, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer's, heart disease, MS, Diabetes, ulcers, Lupas, Mental illness (I worry about that a lot thanks to hallucinations in the hospital) You name it I have worried about it in the last 3 months. Yes I am paranoid and yes I crazy, I blame the tumor! Jen
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,179
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Jul 1, 2015 17:52:23 GMT
Like a lot of people I worry about it some, more when there's an indication that something might be wrong and it's hard to keep your mind from going there.
I also know that you can do everything possible to try to avoid certain illnesses, but still get them. My brother honestly answers "no, never" to all the questions about smoking, drinking and drugs, and he's not diabetic and doesn't have a long history of hypertension - but he then says "And look where it got me." He still got a rare autoimmune kidney disease that has landed him on dialysis. He did so many things right, but still got sick with something that none of us ever thought about or saw coming in any way.
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,752
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Jul 1, 2015 18:02:58 GMT
It's kind of funny, I was just thinking about this this morning as I drove dd to work. She's always reading research articles and she told me she read that the chlorine in our water could give us cancer from taking showers. Apparently our skin "drinks" the shower water and so it's like drinking 8 cups of chlorinated water or something. I asked what the article recommend we do about that and we are supposed to buy shower filters. My eyes rolled back in my head. I'm almost 44. If showers are going to kill me, so be it. I was thinking if we did everything or stopped doing everything that could cause cancer there would be nothing left! That said, I take what I consider to be reasonable precautions - I wear sunscreen if I'm out in the sun for long periods of time, I stopped storing most food in plastic containers, I don't heat things in the microwave on plastic plates, and I don't consume article sweeteners. I also get yearly mammograms because my mom had breast cancer twice but other than that, I just live my life. I can't say I've ever really worried about getting cancer except when I got a called back for my mammogram. I figure I'll worry when I have something real to worry about.
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Post by papersilly on Jul 1, 2015 18:21:37 GMT
it's crossed my mind but there are a million other things I need to focus on right now. all I can say is, you do what you can do and what happens happens. should it happen, I hope to be brave about. I have a good support system and a strong faith.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 18:06:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 18:23:11 GMT
I don't worry about cancer. I come from a different perspective of a family with a long life span (well into the 90s) My grandmother is still alive at 95 and probably the healthiest member of my family!
But, from her and her sisters I've learned that a long cancer free life doesn't equal a happy life as an elder. All of grandma's friends/peers have died. She is frankly tired of living and has been for the last 15 years or so. She has run out of goals, purpose and projects she feels deeply about completing. One day she told me it is like going on a really long vacation and all the fun at first but then you start wanting to go home... she is wanting to stop living and "go home" because being here is very tiring. She feels a sense that she belongs somewhere else.
One of her sisters had some form of dementia. She didn't know who she was, any memories of an earlier life or who the people around her were (lived the last decade with a son but didn't know who he was the last few years) She would laugh at funny stories or jokes but wasn't able to communicate back to the people around her. She wasn't able to carry out any type of self care at all. It is a horrid way to live.
My kids are raised. I want to live as long as I enjoy living but not necessarily a long life.
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azredhead
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,755
Jun 25, 2014 22:49:18 GMT
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Post by azredhead on Jul 1, 2015 18:54:41 GMT
Dh yes a little he's got it on both sides, me I've got enough other things that will kill me first.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jul 1, 2015 18:59:23 GMT
"I want to live as long as I enjoy living but not necessarily a long life." ^^^ this is a good way to look at it, voltagain. My boyfriend works in the low-voltage wiring industry and thru his work goes into a lot of retirement communities, including assisted living, skilled care, and memory care facilities. He's seen and told me enough about what he's witnessed some people going through that I now have a similar sentiment as you-- Longer is not necessarily better. (fyi, I thought about 'liking' your post, but figured that would be confusing, considering everything you wrote in it.)
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Post by tracyarts on Jul 1, 2015 19:03:38 GMT
Only if I'm having some weird symptoms that could be signs of cancer. Then I worry until they either go away or I have them checked out.
Most of the time, I don't even think about cancer. Or any other life threatening health condition. I've outlived several friends who died in early middle age, and that makes me feel really weird sometimes. I wonder why them and not me? I don't really think I have that much of a healthier lifestyle than they had. Which is why I think that all you can do is live as well as you're realistically able to, and the rest is up to fate.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 18:06:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 21:18:17 GMT
I don't wake up every day thinking "today is the day I get a diagnosis" but because I've already had melanoma, cancer is certainly in my realm of possibilities. That is why I visit the dermatologist twice a year for a full body skin exam. It's also why I don't put off routine check ups.
In addition, my eldest DD (who has genetically inherited every bad trait that I have) also sees the dermatologist twice a year and at the age of 21, has had more suspicious things removed and sent to pathology than I have...and again...I had melanoma.
So I'm afraid for myself AND my DD. (DS goes to the dermatologist annually for skin exams...he's only had one area of suspicion removed...he's 16)
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MaryMary
Pearl Clutcher
Lazy
Posts: 2,975
Jun 25, 2014 21:56:13 GMT
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Post by MaryMary on Jul 1, 2015 21:51:46 GMT
I am a worrier and have had every single thought that was mentioned in the OP. "Am I supposed to put sunscreen on my kids or what?!"
I looked up cancer rates just a couple days ago and saw an article that said 1 out of 2 people will get cancer. That sufficiently freaked me out. However, the ways to lower your risk are to avoid tobacco (done), alcohol (done), red meat (recently became vegetarian), and maintain a healthy weight (working on it).
So, I'm going to just focus more on diet and exercise and hope for the best.
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on Jul 1, 2015 22:36:16 GMT
Not at all. I live each day as it comes and I don't have cancer today.
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Jul 1, 2015 22:58:59 GMT
I'm pretty sure I am destined to end up with skin cancer at some point: I had at least two really severe, blistery burns when I was younger. I'm fair haired and fair skinned, and while I do my best to sunscreen up, I'd hardly say I'm diligent about it. My doctor has a couple of spots she's keeping an eye on.
But I'm not worried about it. Most of the skin cancers are very treatable when caught early, so I just make sure to get an annual skin check.
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scrapaddie
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,090
Jul 8, 2014 20:17:31 GMT
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Post by scrapaddie on Jul 1, 2015 23:07:03 GMT
Life causes cancer..... I am not going to live in fear..
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 18:06:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 23:08:01 GMT
I'm a smoker who is getting ready to try to quit again. I worry about cancer a lot. I know I'm risking it by smoking and it seriously gives me incentive to quit. GOOD LUCK! You CAN do it
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J u l e e
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,531
Location: Cincinnati
Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by J u l e e on Jul 2, 2015 1:18:06 GMT
I worry about Alzheimer's Disease more than cancer. Having lost a grandmother, mother and sister to AD, it is always out there. Cancer is curable/treatable. This is me. My father and his father both had Alzheimer's Disease. I try not to worry about it, and I'm usually successful until I struggle to find a word or retrieve a thought and then I become paralyzed. Which doesn't help. I know what a horrible end to their lives they both had and it terrifies me.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 2, 2015 1:35:51 GMT
I worry about Alzheimer's Disease more than cancer. Having lost a grandmother, mother and sister to AD, it is always out there. Cancer is curable/treatable. This is me. My father and his father both had Alzheimer's Disease. I try not to worry about it, and I'm usually successful until I struggle to find a word or retrieve a thought and then I become paralyzed. Which doesn't help. I know what a horrible end to their lives they both had and it terrifies me. I'm 67 ~ my grandmother died at 52, my mom at 72 and my sister at 59. A friend told me that she asked my sister if she thought I would get it and she instantly replied no, that I took after my dad. I got his naturally curly hair so I'm hoping I got more of his genes. Of course, he passed away from cancer at age 69. In all honesty, I try not to dwell on it because I could be hit by a truck tomorrow.
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Anita
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,646
Location: Kansas City -ish
Jun 27, 2014 2:38:58 GMT
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Post by Anita on Jul 2, 2015 1:39:04 GMT
I worry about Alzheimer's Disease more than cancer. Having lost a grandmother, mother and sister to AD, it is always out there. Cancer is curable/treatable. This.
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Post by PNWMom on Jul 2, 2015 1:53:19 GMT
Mehh....not so much (most of the time). I had breast cancer in 2013, and am almost 2 years out from the end of my chemo. That timeline is significant for me, because I get my oncologist's blessing to get pregnant after 2 years. I am told that the hormones I will take during IVF increase my cancer recurrence risk, but no one can tell me how much. Plus, my BRCA mutation gives me a 50% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. And my oncologist says that (despite 20 rounds of chemo, bilateral mastectomies and catching this before it spread anywhere) my TNBC tumor puts me at about 18% recurrence risk.
But I'm not living my life looking over my shoulder. I went for bilateral mastectomies to negate as much BRCA joy as I could, and I will have my ovaries removed immediately after my C-section. I made aggressive moves to do everything *I* could do to prevent this from happening again. If it comes back....it comes back. No one is picking on me......I didn't do anything wrong; what is.....is.
I *do* have moments where I am convinced that some random symptom means my cancer is back. But, I talk myself off the ledge and go on with life. I feel sometimes like my September oncology checkup will show a massive tumor somewhere, simply because that is the appointment where I am supposed to be cleared to have a baby (will be our first/only), and it seems to good to be true that I can get to the bitter end of this losing only hair and boobs destined to sag. If I get to have a baby, I lost nothing in the long run other than a few younger years of parenthood (we had been trying to get pregnant for only 3 weeks when I found the tumor, after over 17 years together with my husband), and I gain the ability (through genetic screening of my frozen embryos) to prevent my future child(ren) (we implant 2 embryos) from having a BRCA mutation. Which is a massive silver lining.
Overall, though....no. I stand right in front of the microwave, forget sunscreen on occasion (am blindingly fair at baseline), drink Crystal Light and eat food charred a bit on a grill. None of those things gave me cancer.
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Post by PEArfect on Jul 2, 2015 3:38:36 GMT
In our house cancer was a reality. It has forever impacted our lives. Hearing my youngest daughter ask, "will I die?" the first time she had a fever after her dad died was heartwrenching. During my LH's chemo treatments he always told me how he felt blessed in comparison to my mom. She had ALS and died just 3 months before my husband.
Do we worry about cancer? Yes and no. Yes, because it seems so common. No, because I truly believe there isn't much you can do to prevent it. My LH was a non-smoker, exercised, ate healthy. Just through conversations with patients and medical staff at the cancer center possible causes varied. Drugs, cigarettes, pesitcides, air pollution, stress, acidic blood, cell phones, artificial sweetners, GMO's, chemical exposure, OTC drugs, and even vitamins. My LH had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is the type of leukemia most common with children, least common for adults. Why did he get it at the age of 38 and not when he was younger? His only risk factors were being white and male. The rest of the risk factors did not apply to him.
We've been eating organic, non-gmo, whole foods, no fast food, very little processed food for several years now. Does it help? Who knows, but it definitely tastes better. I also watch for certain chemicals and artificial sweetners in products, food, vitamins, supplements, and medications. Again, does it help? I don't know, but it makes me feel better.
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Post by PEArfect on Jul 2, 2015 3:40:01 GMT
Normally not much at all. But right at this moment I am terrified. I found a lump a week and a half ago let it go for a week to see if it would go away, it hasn't so I have an appointment with my gp tomorrow. I am not usually a worst case scenario person but both my mom and grandma had breast cancer. My mom is a 12 year survivor so I shouldn't be but at the moment I am panicking. I haven't told anyone not even dh. Usually I am all things in moderation and whatever will be, will be. Sending prayers that it's just a swollen lymph node.
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jonesy
New Member
Posts: 9
Jul 6, 2014 15:12:18 GMT
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Post by jonesy on Jul 2, 2015 4:11:41 GMT
Well up until March of this year I never worried about cancer, then I was diagnosed with breast cancer on April 2nd. I am now in the middle of chemo (2down, 2 to go) and then will have radiation therapy for 3-4 weeks.
I asked the surgeon why me, I don't have any breast cancer in my family and is this just shitty luck? And that's what it is. It's not something I did or didn't do. I had been working on losing some weight and had been going to the gym and Zumba classes, which I will go back to and focus more on the healthy eating. I am going to be aware of my sugar intact, red meats and focus on more veggies now.
I now do worry a lot about it coming back and having to go through all this again. I really hope to put it behind me in the fall and have many years cancer free.
Make sure to get your mammograms.
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Post by k8smom on Jul 2, 2015 4:21:22 GMT
I worry a lot about it. I worry about heart issues more though (they run heavily in my family). Like full blown panics. Sigh. Me too pierkiss.
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