thecrystalmaiden
New User
Joined: 18 Feb 2007
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject: Third generation cancer family |
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Hi everyone, I'm new to the boards and this will be my first post. 
I'm eighteen and my mother died from breast cancer when I was 12, she was fifty two, it was her second case. My grandmother died at 51 when my mom was 20, also from breast cancer, also her second case.
I've gained fifty pounds in the last year from a bad lifestyle change, I just moved out into my own apartment, etc.... Anyway, I woke up this morning, and call it providence or whatever, but a thought went through my head - is my body going to kill me?
I guess I've spent this morning in a depressing meditation, feeling doomed, in a sense. I read now and then about cancer, ways to prevent it, etc... but all of the special diets seem to contradict each other, and I know in the last years of my mom's life she did everything the doctor's told her, and what my aunt (the health nut) told her, and it made little difference... though frankly, in the end, what killed her was the medicine, not the cancer itself. On her official documents the cause of death reads "heart failure." So who knows, maybe if she had stuck to the diet and hadn't been cut down by the medicine, she would have made it - but that's a painful thought.
Anyway....
I just feel helpless. I read about all these wonder diets that throw crazy statistics at you - "eating this will cut cancer risk by 70%!" "five servings of this a day will cut cancer by 30%!" Honestly, it seems like patients have to become better learned about the subject than doctors in order to survive this kind of thing. I don't know what to do, I feel like I won't survive to reach 53 and I don't want to leave my future family the way my mother had to leave us. It's a frightening thought.
So I come to you, the patients, the survivors, the people who are trying to prevent it - what should I do? Any ideas on what I can start doing now, at 18, to prevent a disease that may not hit until my age has tripled?
Sorry if any of that sounded melodramatic.  |
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Vee Smith
Moderator
Joined: 12 Feb 2006
Posts: 749
Location: UK
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| Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject: Re: Third generation cancer family |
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Firstly I think to set your mind at rest, you need to be tested for the BRCA gene. As the daughter and granddaugher of breast cancer victims, you are a prime case for testing. You may have to fight for it.
Secondly, there is NO special diet to prevent cancer. There is plenty of evidence to show that a sensible diet, reasonable exercise, and a relaxed mind all contribute to good health. A healthy body will usually cope with most attacks on the immune system. Avoid too much red meat, up the vegetables and pulses, keep the quantity reasonable, get rid of sugar as much as possible, don't take too much alcohol.
Thirdly, get busy. Keep yourself occupied and active. The more time you are out and about doing things, the less time you have to think yourself into a state.
By the way, you don't say where you live. It would help to know as different countries have different way of approaching the testing. |
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