Did I Cause My Cancer?
Today I am grateful for a smile, a simple smile that can help relax me. I am also grateful for the variety of tasks and opportunities my job offers.
Did I cause my cancer? This is a question I imagine many of us who have been diagnosed with cancer ponder at some point, even if only in our own minds. It is a tough question. Gilda Radner asked it too. She wondered if her smoking, love of saccharin and cyclamates (another sweetener), candies with red dye in them, and the damage done to her body while suffering from eating disorders, each or all may have contributed to her cancer.
I wondered if my high levels of alcohol consumption in my teens, the smoking I did for a few years, or my life-long love of ice cream and other sweets, or eating pesticide-laden fruits or using plastics with dangerous chemicals in them may have contributed to my breast cancer diagnosis. Some of these were more rational thoughts than others, and none of them took a stranglehold on my thought processes. With two sisters previously diagnosed with BC, that clearly indicated something genetic going on, and sort of let me off the hook.
The fact of the matter is we don't know what caused my cancer or that of my sisters. There are still so many mysteries surrounding cancer. It could have been environmental-something we were exposed to growing up on a farm, coupled with our genetics, that sparked a bad cell. It could have been a combination of factors.
But there is no use putting too much energy there. It doesn't change the diagnosis. And we have done what we can to provide useful information to our other sisters and the next generation of daughters and nieces. The important thing is making changes in our lives and habits that may help reduce chances of a recurrence, and improve quality of life at the same time.
That is what I strive to do. Exercise. Healthy eating. Avoiding known harmful substances. Getting enough sleep. Meditation and prayer. Gratitude practice. Do they help prevent cancer? They sure don't hurt. They make each day a better day for me, and that matters a great deal.
Did I cause my cancer? This is a question I imagine many of us who have been diagnosed with cancer ponder at some point, even if only in our own minds. It is a tough question. Gilda Radner asked it too. She wondered if her smoking, love of saccharin and cyclamates (another sweetener), candies with red dye in them, and the damage done to her body while suffering from eating disorders, each or all may have contributed to her cancer.
I wondered if my high levels of alcohol consumption in my teens, the smoking I did for a few years, or my life-long love of ice cream and other sweets, or eating pesticide-laden fruits or using plastics with dangerous chemicals in them may have contributed to my breast cancer diagnosis. Some of these were more rational thoughts than others, and none of them took a stranglehold on my thought processes. With two sisters previously diagnosed with BC, that clearly indicated something genetic going on, and sort of let me off the hook.
The fact of the matter is we don't know what caused my cancer or that of my sisters. There are still so many mysteries surrounding cancer. It could have been environmental-something we were exposed to growing up on a farm, coupled with our genetics, that sparked a bad cell. It could have been a combination of factors.
But there is no use putting too much energy there. It doesn't change the diagnosis. And we have done what we can to provide useful information to our other sisters and the next generation of daughters and nieces. The important thing is making changes in our lives and habits that may help reduce chances of a recurrence, and improve quality of life at the same time.
That is what I strive to do. Exercise. Healthy eating. Avoiding known harmful substances. Getting enough sleep. Meditation and prayer. Gratitude practice. Do they help prevent cancer? They sure don't hurt. They make each day a better day for me, and that matters a great deal.
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