Today, my cousin and I were talking about our relative who was recently diagnosed with an early-stage cancer.
Me: "Is he okay?"
Cousin: "Yes, it's very early-stage. They removed the cancerous growth cleanly."
Me: "What type of cancer is it?"
Cousin: [chinese words]
Me: "I don't know what that is. What is it in English?"
Cousin: "I don't know."
Me: "What is the function of that body part?" (thinking that if it's breathing, that's lungs. If it's processing food, that's stomach. If it's processing alcohol and toxins, that's liver.)
Cousin: "Uh.... [looks away at the wall]"
Me: "Oh, I get it now." (It was prostate cancer.)
We talked about how two of my grandparents passed away from cancer, so there is a medical history of it. My cousin said we should all "watch for it" and prevent it. How can you prevent it? He said we ought to be happy, reduce stress, eat healthily, and drink tea.
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2 comments:
With that kind of medical advice, you might die of cancer like Steve Jobs ...
The type of cancer matters quite a bit. Cancer is many specific diseases, some of which can be found early and have a good treatment prognosis, and some of which don't. Be happy, eat well, etc. is all good, but it might not do a thing against cancer. If you have a family history, be vigilant about changes in that body part. If there is a screen for that cancer, you can start it earlier than recommended for the general public. Some people who have a very strong family history, with defined genetic contributions, even choose to pre-emptively remove the affected body part (for example, breasts or ovaries).
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