The evening news yesterday announced a new philanthropic campaign being launched by a rich high-tech CEO to help reduce mortality in Breast Cancer patients. While my old self thinks that's great, my new self says what about all of the other cancers out there, why limit your sights to just one? Or at least pick the one that actually kills more women each year than breast, ovarian and cervical cancers combined- LUNG cancer? Why....because of all of the cancers out there, Lung Cancer, or rather the people who are living with it, are the most prejudged.
The truth is the high-tech CEO and his company minions can spend their donation dollars anyway they please, and companies won't be lining up anytime soon to help cancer research with what is judged to be a self-inflicted-through-smoking cancer. It doesn't matter that there are people with lung cancer that have never smoked, or like me, who hadn't smoked in over thirteen years when diagnosed.
Since I am constantly asked about my smoking history when people learn that I have this disease, here it is: March 31, 2002 - that is the last time that I lit up a cigarette - I was 39 years old, with my 40th birthday coming up in a couple of months. I had smoked a pack a day on and off since about age 20. I had quit a number of times, sometimes even for weeks and months, but work or relationship stress would send me back to the highly addictive habit. In the spring of 2002, I wanted to quit as a 40th birthday gift to myself, so I did. It was rough for a few weeks, but this time it stuck. I learned from my previous quitting attempts not to let my guard down - thinking that I could have an occasional puff without getting hooked again, and I was especially vigilant when work and relationship stresses inevitably came my way. The key to quitting smoking I found is REALLY-REALLY-REALLY wanting it! After a few years, I basically forgot that I had ever smoked. Fast forward 13 years, 1 month and 7 days to my lung cancer diagnosis day, May 7, 2015.
Interestingly enough, Dr. C. doesn't believe that smoking was the cause, or at least not the only cause. Researchers are looking more and more at environmental factors. I read an article today that said the world will have double the cancer rates attributed to air pollution over the next 2 decades if we continue our current polluting ways. Many of the books that I have been reading lately look to emotional and psychological factors, identifying 'cancer personalities' - personality traits that contribute to illness and disease. I am finding this area interesting and will be blogging on it in the future. Other areas of study include diet and chronic stress as contributing factors to the development of cancers.
Strangely enough, I smoked for less years than over a dozen smokers and ex smokers I know, and am the only one with a lung cancer diagnosis - so smoking alone is clearly not the only factor in contracting this disease.
To combat this illness, I have developed a holistic approach in my wellness routine. In addition to the Nivolumab, I have improved my intake of fruits and veggies, continued a routine of regular physical activity, and added stress reducing exercises, such as yoga, meditation, and visualization. I also get regular massages and acupuncture treatments.
I can't change the past, and I can't change the fact that some people are going to judge me based on my type of cancer, all I can do is live, love, and be as healthy as I can today!
(Elephant photos taken at PAWS in San Andreas, CA
- a place where I like to spend my donation dollars)
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