Today, February 4, is World Cancer Day.
I know for many of us, every day is "cancer day." But World Cancer Day is an opportunity for people around the world, dealing with many different types of cancer, to stand together (figuratively), and let others see the scope of the disease. The day is put together by the UICC, the Union for International Cancer Control, a group made up of 1200 cancer organizations in 172 countries. Truly world-wide.
I like the theme for this year: "I Am and I Will."
The idea isn't that an "awareness" day is about being aware. It's about taking action. Ideally, the folks at UICC want us to take action in a larger sense -- doing something in our community that raises awareness and helps move toward finding cures for cancer. When we take actions locally, it all adds up to something global. There's so much misinformation about cancer of all kinds that pointing people to good sources of information, or even sharing our own story, is an important part of "awareness." We can do our part.
But to me, that "I Am and I Will" goes a little bit farther. By making others aware, we strengthen ourselves. It's so easy, as cancer patients, to feel like we have no control over our situation. It's tru that there's a lot we can't control. But there's lots that we can.
I speak from experience. Writing about Follicular Lymphoma, telling my story, learning about the disease, responding to emails from readers -- all of those things are empowering. My lymph nodes will do what they're going to do. But helping others understand the disease so they can have an informed conversation with their doctor? I can control that.
So think about ways that you can tell your story, share your knowledge, and make a difference, whether it's talking to other cancer patients, or other people who could use some help understanding what the cancer experience is about. That's what real awareness is.
Enjoy the day.
6 comments:
Hi Bob,
I am sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you knew the statistics for those who are diagnosed with Stage 4 fNHL? I am doing a study on those of us who were at stage 4 when diagnosed. If you don't have the stats, do you know how many of your followers were diagnosed at stage 4?
Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.
If this is not allowed on your blog, please forgive me and delete this comment. I love being a part of your blog and would not want to jeopardize my "membership" in your blog "family".
Jacqueline
Hi Jacqueline.
No problem with asking, You're still in the family!
Unfortunately, I don't have that information. I don't collect any info about readers; I only know what they tell me, and there are many, many readers who don't tell me anything about themselves.
You may be able to find some information from the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database from the National Cancer Institute. Basically, doctors submit information about patients (anonymously), their treatments, and their outcomes to this database, which can then be searched for research purposes. It's available to cancer researchers, but also available to the public. I've never used it myself, so I don't know how easy it is to access or to use, but I'd be very interested in hearing about your experience with it.
https://seer.cancer.gov/data/
Good luck!
I can't thank you enough.....I love this family!
I love this family, too! Thanks for being a part of it!
Bob
Hi Bob,
I was able to find the stat I needed through a cancer page in the UK. Here is part of the article that list the stats: Proportion of Cancers Diagnosed at Each Stage, All Ages
Stage at Diagnosis Percentage of Cases (%)
Stage I 17.0
Stage II 11.5
Stage III 14.8
Stage IV 35.1
Stage Unknown 21.6
When I was first diagnosed over 14 years ago I was told by several doctors that most who are diagnosed with fNHL were done so at stage 4. Although the UK article is over 6 years old, it reinforced what I was told initially. It may not be the same now, but when I was diagnosed, most people who were diagnosed, were done so at stage 4.
Thank you for your assistance, the site you suggested I check, eventually led me to the UK page.
Take care and stay safe,
Jacqueline
Interesting. I had been told it's mostly 3 and 4, because most 1 and 2 are asymptomatic, so it's kind of an accident when it does get diagnosed that early (like on a scan for something else). So I'm not surprised.
I think it's a hopeful statistic. Later stage is more common, and we're still pushing 20 years for a median overall survival.
Thanks for sharing.
Bob
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