Cancer is a Four-Letter Word!

No.  It's worse than a four-letter word.  It's much more devastating than a few choice expletives. Heck, if you know me, you probably know that I kind of like cussing.  But cancer itself is a curse.  It's murder.  And unfortunately, I think it could also be suicide.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't believe people set out to kill themselves with cancer.  But I do believe we unknowingly hurt ourselves by the choices we make.

These days, we have to question everything - what we eat, what we put on our bodies, what we clean with, what we drink out of, what fabrics and textiles we surround ourselves with, and what medications we use.  We even have to be careful about the water we drink!

Now, I'm not saying that each and every one of these causes cancer, but in some people some of these things can contribute to healthy cell death, and the growth of cancer cells.  That's the most frustrating part.  No one tells you specifically WHAT to avoid, but that's because each and every one of us has a different genetic makeup, and therefore we react differently to the various stimuli that we come into contact with.

It's like the person who smokes a pack a day, versus another who does the same.  One gets cancer of the mouth, or trachea, or lungs, and the other lives to be a hundred and five.  There is no sense to it.



Some of you may know the battle my mom has been fighting.  A non-smoker, she had to have a lung transplant 15 years ago.  The fact that she has survived this long is amazing, as many transplant patients sadly don't last this long.  But, because of all the anti-rejection medications she takes, she is more susceptible to skin cancer.  She had several checkups where they did Moh's surgery to remove small cancerous spots, but about three years ago, they found a bit more, and she ended up with half of her nose removed.

Fast forward - she had plastic surgery to repair the nose, but a year later, that too had to be removed.  So two years has passed and yet again, even more cancer.  She has lived for two years with a hole in her face, and now, they will probably take more.  It just isn't fair.  I'm grateful for the extra time we've been given, but I'm so angry because I feel that the medical profession doesn't know as much as we think they know.

We trust their knowledge and expertise - and yes, I do believe they know what they are talking about - but I don't believe they have ALL the knowledge.  I don't believe they understand fully just how the body works.  At times, I feel like it is the blind leading the blind, but we trust and follow them because we're not as knowledgeable about the medical field.  After all, they ARE doctors, right?  I would like, for just once, a doctor to examine reasons and treatments beyond textbook knowledge and pharmaceutical drug-pushing.

I've had so many friends and family who have had to deal with cancer - and many more who have had family members with this disease.  Some have succumbed, some have survived, and some are still battling.  I'm so sick of hearing, "there's nothing we can do," or that surgery, radiation, or God forbid, chemo is the only way to deal with it.  We poison the body to kill the cancer cells.  Just let that sink in.

We need to become more educated about our own bodies and the products we use.  There is something we can do, but we have to be proactive and preventative, not reactive.  We have to protect ourselves, be informed, and not stick our heads in the sand, afraid to trust our instincts.  Change is needed, and however hard it is, if we don't recognize and do something about our health, then we may be putting ourselves at risk.

Some great cancer surviving gurus offer a lot of insight to life-changing behaviors and habits.  Check them out, if you're interested!

Chris Beat Cancer

Kris Carr

The Truth About Cancer