Sad Reality.
Last week, my mom told me that my uncle needed to be operated on because there were tumors found in his colon. The operation happened last Tuesday and based on the initial assessments, if found positive, it is Stage 3 colon cancer.
They were working in Italy for many years. Now, past their retirement age, he came home from Italy to the Philippines to get operated on. They were asked to prepare Php300,000.00 (USD5,600) for the operation alone. Of course, there must be post-operation procedures that will cost them a large sum of money.
Today, my mom messaged me about my friend's mom (she's more updated than me. LOL). She said, my friend's mom - they happen to also be a not so distant relative, has lung cancer. I know I chanced upon one of my friend's facebook post from a couple of weeks ago that her mom was at the hospital but I did not know why. We were chatting on messenger but she did not mention anything too, so I thought it was nothing serious.
I finally messaged her again today to confirm what my mom told me and true enough, it is Stage 4 Lung Cancer detected only last April.
bone cancer. This is a case of metastasis, for she had a previous case of breast cancer due to which she had undergone a mastectomy. You can find jovema's latest post about her here.Of course, some of us may have come across the case of the mom-in-law of our fellow steemian @jovema, who is also battling
A friend's father is also battling thyroid cancer. Another close family friend had thyroid cancer and got cleared, but recently he faced another health issues. I am not sure if it is cancer-related. The mom of my kids' friend lost her battle to cancer (breast, then lungs) a few years ago.
What is Cancer?
I remember when I was younger and I hear the elders talk about this ailment, they describe it as sakit ng mayayaman (an ailment of the rich). Then, I thought literally that only the rich can get cancer. Now, I think they were saying that because, (1) the rich will have the money to get himself checked by medical professionals and find out the diagnosis; or (2) the rich, when diagnosed, will have the money to sustain the very expensive medications to possibly get cured completely or at least borrow a few more months/years on their lives.
Cancer is a collective term for many different diseases - cancer breast, prostate, lungs, blood (leukemia) among others.
Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place.
When cancer develops, however, this orderly process breaks down. As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die, and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form growths called tumors.
More about cancer here.
Nobody wants to get sick.
Especially life-threatening ailments like cancer. We don't want it for ourselves, we don't want it for our families.
They say anyone can develop cancer so I guess it should start with taking care of ourselves and try to live a healthy lifestyle at least.
Do not ignore changes in our bodies. If we feel something is odd, consult a doctor. Nothing wrong with being paranoid sometimes.
Cancer Research UK has listed down on their websites some key signs and symptoms of cancer which include unsuspecting signs such as breathlessness, persistent bloating or appetite loss. Do check out the site and find out more.
I came across one of the cases of our clients (I am an insurance professional) - she did not have any symptoms. One day, she just started stuttering until her speech was no longer coherent. She went to the doctor for a checkup and she was not asked to leave.
She had brain tumor.
She got operated on and is lucky to be doing very well these days.
Can Cancer Be Prevented? - Smoking
Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer in the world.
15 Types of Cancer! If that does not say anything about smoking, you tell me.
So please. Please. Please STOP SMOKING.
There are many other causes like obesity, diet, alcohol, physical activity, etc. They all point to 👉lifestyle. Let us take some time, step back and examine ourselves. Are we living a healthy lifestyle?
Protect your family
As an insurance professional (I am not gonna sell to you, but I can refer you to my team.. lol) I find it important to share these little bits of information that I know to help raise awareness to others.
If you buy car insurance, if you insure your home contents, if you buy extra warranty for your gadgets, then why not a life and critical illness insurance that can protect your loved ones should something unfortunate happen to you?
We will all die - the emotional hardship will definitely be there, but make the burden lighter to bear by at least ensuring that they will maintain the same quality of life they were enjoying when you were around.
There is a risk of being diagnosed with a critical illness - more as we get older. Do we want to spend a big chunk of our savings on treatments?
Some people, especially Filipinos shy away when the conversation leads to "insurance". They find it negative. Many years ago, I was also like that. But my exposure to the industry thankfully opened my eyes and mind and I deem it my moral obligation to share what I know.
So if you get approached by an insurance agent, please do not shooo them away. Listen. At least listen. Hopefully you will find it's importance.
What I am really trying to say...
Cancer is a biatch. It can affect anybody. Let us try to keep fit and stay healthy. If, unfortunately, we still suffer it, I hope we are emotionally (hmmm, difficult) and financially (ouchie, also difficult, so get insured) ready for it.
Prioritize our health. If something is off, consult a doctor. Get regular health checkups.
Be there for them. "Wave" at them once in a while on messenger. Better yet, pay them a visit. Connect.
Pray. Pray that they soon find a permanent and non-expensive cure, and that nobody shall be affected anymore.
Further Readings:
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer
Images:
Cancer, newspaper:CC0 Creative Commons, 2013 PDPics on Pixabay
Ribbons:CC0 Creative Commons, 2016 Alisea_30 on Pixabay
Insurance:CC0 Creative Commons, 2015 Tumisu on Pixabay
Aside from smoking, it's also all the chemicals in our food and chemicals in growing our food. Maraming sakit ang hatid ng pesticides at GMO crops. Kelan lang ba ang cancer nagsimula, ang mga kanunoan natin died of old age or something else other than cancer.
Hopefully everybody will start investing in their own health now to keep from being sick. It's best to stay and live for our family as long as we can. So true though, we will all die eventually.
Correct. Organic food can be expensive though. 😯
Kung nasa pinas lang ako, i'd rather grow our own food.
Organic food may be more expensive but can you afford to put a price on your health? It's tough!
Can't afford to go to the hospital so we're buying organic food and growing what we can. It is tough pocket and labor-wise but we rather spend it now than later on hospital bills, doctors, pharmaceuticals.
So true @lovenfreedom, we just have to do the best we can with the means we have! : )
Our budget is shot because we're buying organic as much as we can. That's why we're gardening and growing some of our food, raising chickens. You can do pot gardening if you have spot around the house or outside.
Well said...
I can relate to this because mostly my loved ones who are dear to me my aunt and uncle died because of this illness. I have another aunt who is curently battling with this disease and we are continually praying for her healing.
It is extremely difficult seeing our loved ones in pain. We can give them show them our love and support by sending them each day messages of encouragement.
Ohh thoughts and prayers for your auntie... it is really hard, but let us be strong for them.
Hugs! ❤❤
Very sad, anyone can hit it. Taking a healthy life style and regular check up will somehow prevent or lessen it. Of course, being insured as well is taking care of yourself and taking care of your love one's too. Thank you its an eye opener. Xx
Thanks @sherylneil... it is really sad. They say though that some cancers have high survival rates when detected and cured early.
You take care buntis! 😍
Andami na rin akonh kilala sis. Cguro iba na talaga ngaun especially sa food intake ntin.
Lifestyle talaga sis, plus family history... ingats! Happy Eid!
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Thanks for sharing, it may be true back in the days when people say cancer is sakit ng mayayaman, but definitely not today. With the increasingly crazy lifestyle and hectic timelines, it's easy to take health for granted. And it's also true that types of sicknesses are increasing from time to time too, so even with lots of money it doesn't guarantee the rich could outlive the treatments or even the severity of the sicknesses around. So yes to good health, and yes to being responsible and aware of the importance of good health and rest. :)
Correct! Lots of factors are there and we can only be more careful of ourselves. There are things within our control like food, rest, sleep, exercise etc... 😉
Thanks for reading! ❤
Sorry to hear about your family and their ailments.
Visiting from @steemitmamas
Thank you @metzli 😊
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Governments say they want to prevent smoking and lung cancer but their actions show otherwise. Governments get rich from taxes on cigarettes. It would be easy for governments to make all cigarette sales illegal. People could still have the "freedom" to "grow tobacco and roll" their own if they want this "freedom". Putting the cigarette companies out of business would eliminate over 95% of smokers. Teens are too lazy to get addicted by having to grow and roll their own cigarettes. Big tobacco companies will continue to bribe politicians to keep this from happening. They get teens addicted when they are young and stupid and trying to fit in and prove they are "adults" by smoking with their friends. Smoking for as little as 2 years gets most teens addicted for life.
Ninety to ninety-five percent of lung cancer is from smoking or second-hand smoke. Every premature death from smoking (cancer, heart attacks, and strokes) is one less person the government has to pay social security benefits for the rest of their lives. Smoking addiction is a win-win situation for government (taxes and premature death with less social security payments). Governments can truly say smokers get addicted "of their own free will". How many teens do you know that would go to the trouble of growing and rolling their own cigarettes? Governments "facilitate" teens getting addicted by allowing legal production of cigarettes. Teens don't want "grown-ups" telling them what to do.
Smoking takes an average of 10 years off of your life expectancy.
References
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2015 Aug 17].
Jha P, Ramasundarahettige C, Landsman V, Rostrom B, Thun M, Anderson RN, McAfee T, Peto R. 21st Century Hazards of Smoking and Benefits of Cessation in the United States [PDF–738 KB]. New England Journal of Medicine, 2013;368(4):341–50 [accessed 2015 Aug 17].
Very true @dnagrimes. If governments really want to eradicate or at least limit smoking it should be banned or treated as illegal. However as you said they only impose taxes and give warnings, for what...
Thank you for adding this information. 😊
If enough of us put pressure on our legislators we can get the sale of cigarettes made illegal. It will take a large majority of people because of all the tax money (and bribes) they will lose. Tobacco growing (and marijuana) can still remain legal so they can't complain of "loss of freedom". Cigarettes are the only product that when "used as directed" kills its consumer. If teens have to grow their own tobacco and roll their own cigarettes the addiction/deaths will disappear. Prohibition proved that people want legal (and safe) alcohol. So let them make, tax, and sell it. The addiction of nicotine is stronger than heroin. Getting teens addicted to nicotine is the only thing that lets tobacco companies continue to make billions of dollars dollars while killing millions of people prematurely with lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and other cancer.
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If you take the movies as an example, the theme always use to be heart attacks and stokes, now it is cancer. Everyone is getting it from youth to the elderly. While smoking is always going to put you at greater risk there are also so many other factors which are also putting us at risk!
Food is a big one. The food older generations use to eat is very different to what are staples in most of our lives today. They didn't have per-packaged foods, they cooked properly with real ingredients. If you look search the timeline which these foods started becoming the "norm", health started to decline. We never use to eat GMO foods either, it is said that wheat is so modified now that body doesn't even recognise it as food. How many people did you hear of with gluten allergies and intolerances back in the 50's, 60's and 70's? There's something to be said for that! Then there is the chemicals they spray on our food, something the body should never be having!
Air quality has also changed... industry is polluting our air with very little consideration. I believe diesel cars aren't doing us any favors either, the level of exhaust pollution in my locals streets is becoming bad and we're all breathing that in.
Then there is the unseen pollutants that we can't see, feel or touch. The amount of low level frequency radiation running through our air now is simply out of control! This is the radiation emitted from phone towers, mobile/cell phones, wifi, bluetooth and so many of the devices that have now become the morn in most people's everyday lives. Most people have no idea what dangers are attached to all of these things and industry is working very hard to keep it quiet. The latest study (the NTP) results have found that this non-ironising radiation is causing us damage yet non-ironising radiation isn't taken into account when they set the safety standards on these devices. With the introduction of 5G coming soon it will only continue to get worse! It is said that 5G will increase skin cancers and trouble with the eyes. Don't be fooled in thinking once 5G coming in that the 3G and 4G networks will be closed, because they won't, they will be all running together, lots of differing frequencies all running through our air together which does make it worse for our bodies.
As we continue to put our bodies through more and more stress chemically and environmentally, cancer statistics are only going to continue to rise. My question is, how bad is it going to have to get until we believe the science to make the changes to get back to where we need to be and how many lives are going to be lost within that time?
Oh I also forgot to mention products we're using on our bodies that are full of chemicals - from skincare to make up to deodorant to washing up powders and liquids... the list goes on and on. While many claim to be "natural" when you read the back there are still often names that you could never pronounce.
My theory is now, if I can't read it and know what it is, I probably shouldn't be putting it on my skin. And if we look at the latest news about sunscreen and harmful effects it has been having on our bodies... imagine what the rest of it is doing!
Yes, I read somewhere someone said- if there is an ingredient she could not read on the labels, she does not eat or use that product...
Thanks for the info. Really helpful.
Yeah, it seems to be the way we all need to be moving now.
Oh you're welcome, I love seeing conversation starters like this, it is starting to become a major issue within our society and in turn our loved ones, family, friends and our communities.
Something has to change and we are the ones with that power to make the change. I just don't think the majority of society is ready for that just yet. I fear it will have to get a lot worse before it starts to get better!
Food, pollutants, radiation-- i could not agree more. There are really many factors that add to the risk and it is indeed frightening...
Yeah that's it... it's not just one thing but a collective of many things!
This post really hit me. Much members of my family died in the past years due to different kinds of cancer. It's a disease I am very much affraid of. One on four people are diagnosed with this kind of illness last years. It really scares the hell out of me. Thank you for sharing this information. There can not be enough awareness on this serious threat for your well being.
A lot of people are suffering and it is sad that there is no particular cure... it must have been very difficult for your family. .
Thank you for sharing! It is very sad when we find out someone we know and love has cancer.
We can do the best we can by living as healthily as possible and avoiding things known to cause cancer, but in the end, anyone can end up with it.
Thanks for posting. ♥
One more sad thing is cancer is a big business in pharmaceutical company, and I once watched an article in youtube about the invention of a cure for cancer and how they where persecuted. Thinking twice if im going to make a blog about that but too scary.