Cancer markers: let's discuss/compare results
in Health ·
Quote:
As I’ve mentioned here before—it’s a sobering reality—even the most thorough medical checkups in the world can miss cancer. You can listen to your body and maintain the healthiest lifestyle imaginable... but that isn't a guarantee that you'll catch a problem early enough to actually beat it.
A couple of examples:
1) My dearest girl—she was healthy from day one. Her only real brush with illness was a case of chickenpox when she was little, and even then, it was so mild you barely noticed it. She never dealt with anything more serious than a common cold.
She was always so bright, energetic, and active—always playing tennis, snowboarding, or just running around doing something.
In the middle of 2004, she felt a small lump on her leg while rubbing her shins. She told me her first thought was, "It's cancer!" By August of that same year, she received the formal diagnosis. She went through the treatments, the surgeries... and had been in remission since January 2005. Even during her treatment, she remained that same spirited, slightly eccentric girl.
Everything seemed fine until September 2006, right around her 15th birthday. She came back from a hiking trip that day feeling exhausted and having pain on her right side. It turned out the cancer had returned. Just two weeks prior, she had seen her oncologist—tests, checkups, all of it—and everything looked perfect. In fact, her doctor even suggested we move her checkups to once a year instead of every six months because she seemed so incredibly healthy.
By mid-September 2006, they told her she was dying. She passed away on December 3rd. If you could have heard her talking that day—her strength, her wonderful sarcasm, her sense of humor—you would have asked me why on earth such a vibrant kid was stuck in bed instead of out with her friends.
2) My psychologist's sister—a lovely woman in her 50s—was a lifelong vegetarian and a Yoga instructor. She meditated constantly and honestly looked more vibrant and youthful than women in their 30s. She had zero history of illness, and there was nothing significant in our family medical history either. Then, breast cancer was diagnosed, and she passed away just a few months later.
Sadly, there are no rules to this.
I am always ready to tell people that if this happened to my daughter—given how healthy she was, her diet, her athletics...—then truly, no one is immune.
All we can really do is pray to God and cherish the present moment, because the future isn't promised to any of us.
Wishing you all wonderful health!!
As I’ve mentioned here before—it’s a sobering reality—even the most thorough medical checkups in the world can miss cancer. You can listen to your body and maintain the healthiest lifestyle imaginable... but that isn't a guarantee that you'll catch a problem early enough to actually beat it.
A couple of examples:
1) My dearest girl—she was healthy from day one. Her only real brush with illness was a case of chickenpox when she was little, and even then, it was so mild you barely noticed it. She never dealt with anything more serious than a common cold.
She was always so bright, energetic, and active—always playing tennis, snowboarding, or just running around doing something.
In the middle of 2004, she felt a small lump on her leg while rubbing her shins. She told me her first thought was, "It's cancer!" By August of that same year, she received the formal diagnosis. She went through the treatments, the surgeries... and had been in remission since January 2005. Even during her treatment, she remained that same spirited, slightly eccentric girl.
Everything seemed fine until September 2006, right around her 15th birthday. She came back from a hiking trip that day feeling exhausted and having pain on her right side. It turned out the cancer had returned. Just two weeks prior, she had seen her oncologist—tests, checkups, all of it—and everything looked perfect. In fact, her doctor even suggested we move her checkups to once a year instead of every six months because she seemed so incredibly healthy.
By mid-September 2006, they told her she was dying. She passed away on December 3rd. If you could have heard her talking that day—her strength, her wonderful sarcasm, her sense of humor—you would have asked me why on earth such a vibrant kid was stuck in bed instead of out with her friends.
2) My psychologist's sister—a lovely woman in her 50s—was a lifelong vegetarian and a Yoga instructor. She meditated constantly and honestly looked more vibrant and youthful than women in their 30s. She had zero history of illness, and there was nothing significant in our family medical history either. Then, breast cancer was diagnosed, and she passed away just a few months later.
Sadly, there are no rules to this.
I am always ready to tell people that if this happened to my daughter—given how healthy she was, her diet, her athletics...—then truly, no one is immune.
All we can really do is pray to God and cherish the present moment, because the future isn't promised to any of us.
Wishing you all wonderful health!!