Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer. Often times, I continue to have vivid flashbacks of the day my father came home from his first major surgery. I can precisely remember the slim plastic tubes protruding from my father’s neck connected to a small bottle collecting the accumulating drops of blood. I was …show more content…
Although some individuals may believe that it was a miracle that my father survived cancer, it was much more than that. The optimism of my family, friends, and loved ones enabled my dad to relieve his stress and focus on his cancer treatment. This situation has changed my mindset in life and it has provoked me to stay hopeful even when the odds are not in my favor. I’ve began to use positive thinking to help guide myself to my ambitions. This made my transition into adulthood much easier because I was prepared to deal with difficult situations. I began to cherish my loved ones even more than before. I realized all the luxuries that I had received and took for granted. I learned that the most important people in life is your family and without them, it’s near impossible to be successful. If my father had lost his fight, I would have had to become more independent as I would become the man of the house. Going into adulthood, I’ve learned that I should take situations into my owns hands rathering that relying on others. Some people that may be there for you today, may not be there
Diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live, Randy Pausch decided to give a last lecture. Randy felt this was important so that he may give a sort of goodbye to those who he cared about, share advice and life-experiences that he felt were important, and most importantly for his kids, whom would never really get to know him because of their age. This book is a collection of stories and general life advice that Randy felt was important to share before moving on.
I had just finished facing my fears watching the metallic needle slip so seamlessly under my skin into the veins of my nervous, clammy hand. Hugging my Mom like it could have been the last time I saw her, seeing my dad's face stern and worried. I wheeled down the hall into this operating room, white was all I saw, a bed in the middle for the surgery to go down. As I lay on the bed waiting to be put under I remember seeing the blue masks of the people to be operating on me, I had to put all my trust in them, trusting someone you seen for less than 5 seconds with your life. Absolutely terrifying. The nurse slipping the fluid into my IV as I lay on my back looking up at the white ceiling, this cold sensations rushed over me. Then suddenly, I was out.
At some point in your life you experience grit in one form or another, whether it’s for yourself or watching someone else. I have seen through my personal eyes the struggles and hardships of watching someone you’re so close to deal with cancer, and use grit and motivation to overcome the situation. About three years ago my family was given the dreadful news that my aunt Shawn had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Even though it was horrific news there was one golden ray of light on the event, that she was only at stage one or two so she had a greater hope of getting rid of the tumor. My grandma spent even more time with her giving us updates on the treatments, doctor appointments, and how my cousins and uncle were coping with the situation.
Cancer. The word by itself can conjure images of severely ill and frail people attached to IV medications and chemotherapy drugs as they cling to life in a hospital bed. Other illustrations and pictures depict unrecognizable, misshaped organs affected by abnormal cells that grow out of control, spread, and invade other parts of the body. Cancer studies show that close to one-half of all men and one-third of all women in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer during their lives. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have had cancer. As patients are newly diagnosed with their specific type of cancer, whether it be breast, lung, prostate, skin, or blood cancer, etc., each patient has to consider what will happen with their future health care plan and who will be involved in their long journey from treatment to recovery. Once diagnosed, cancer patients become the focal point and the center of all activity in terms of care but cancer not only physically invades the patient’s body and well-being, it goes beyond the patient and significantly affects the emotional stability and support from from their loved ones and caregivers. Based on the insidious nature of cancer and typically late detection of malignant diseases, family members (either spouses, children, parents, other relatives, and friends) often become the patient's main caregiver. These caregivers, also known as informal caregivers, provide the cancer patient with the majority of the support outside of the medical facility or hospital environment and become the primary person to provide various types of assistance. They provide the physical support with bathing and assisting in activities of daily living, they become emotional ...
Cancer is a deadly disease that millions of people die from a year. Many loved ones are killed with little to no warning affecting families across our world. My family happened to be one that was affected by this atrocious disease. This event changed the way my family members and I viewed cancer.
One half of men and one third of women will get cancer in their lifetime. ½ million people are going to die this year, that’s more than 1,500 people per day! One in eight deaths in the world is due to cancer. Cancer causes more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Cancer is a disease that’s preventable, curable, and deadly.
Halfway through my senior year of high school, my friend, Hayley, died. Hayley left an impact on the lives of her peers. While cancer consumed her body, she continued to smile and focused her attention on her peers. After her unexpected death, I felt helpless and alone; I fueled those feelings into a passion to prevent the pain of people around me.
HL: The more I drowned myself in the thought and fear of my cancer the more I realize it’s not going to go away so why waste time worrying about it when I can try to be like everyone else? People always die and I am a person. I know I am going to die eventually just like every other human being, but just because I die differently doesn’t mean I'm not like anyone else. I learned to accept my cancer as soon as I realized it’s not disappearing anytime soon.
Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States. Near 8.2 million people die of cancer each year. Is cancer going to be a continuing leading cause of death around the world in the near future. According to one of the world’s leading experts on cancer says,”An effective cure for all types of cancer could be just five to 10 years away.” Although no cure is currently available for cancer treatments are sometimes available. In some cases treatments are not available or effective so the only thing left for them is oncoming death. Forevermore, there are ways to keep people comfortable or speed up the process of death so they don’t have to suffer or have their family watch as they are in painl. So the problem of cancer with a prognosis of
With an inaccurate diagnosis, comes the emotional and physical toll of treatments, as well as the cost. When diagnosed with cancer or even awaiting the results of a cancer test, one can develop anxiety (Brawley). Doctor Welch, a professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, teaches his students how “screening leads to a lot of anxiety.” Along with the emotional toll that follows the diagnosis of cancer comes the physical aspect. Treating tumors that would have not become life-threatening has some pretty big risks: pain, infections, anesthesia reactions, or complications (McCullough). Along with those risks, one may lose a part of their body or a function. Because of all the treatments on nonfatal cancers, women may lose a breast while men can lose their sexual function (Aschwanden). But above all that, treatments and “diagnostic interventions can even cause an early death” (Brawley). One of the biggest worries people have when diagnosed with cancer, is how will the treatments be paid for. With the cost of cancer treatment in the United States set to grow thirty-nine percent from 2010-2020, billions of dollars could be spent on something that might not have even required treatment (Aschwanden). For any family or individual person, paying for cancer treatment can cause a financial fallout. The “treatment of an overdiagnosed tumor cannot provide benefit, but it can lead to harm” (McCullough).
Cancer causes a lot of deaths in this world, also a lot of sadness for many families. There is many types of cancer, such as lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer, and leukemia. All of these cancers can be very dangerous, and can kill you. I feel like people should know, and also care about how dangerous cancer is. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death statistics say, but there might be a cure for it, if you find out right when you begin to get it.
Life often throws obstacles at you so, just like the theme in “Gift From a Son Who Died” don't let terrible news change who you are. Before being diagnosed with leukemia, Eric was an athlete with a competitive edge. Being used to doing all the activities Eric would do, he was only left at home sick with his goals, “... determined to go to college later, study hard, make the soccer team, eventually make all-American” (Lund 889). After having found out he had leukemia, Eric was still convinced that he was going to be able to play soccer and attend school with a life threatening condition. As Eric lived his life with leukemia, he often reminded himself of the valuable events in his life he wasn't
As for cancer, cancer is one of the biggest killers of them all. The cancer organization states, “In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US.” Cancer is the second most common death in the US. According to the CDC, cancer kills twice as many human than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. About one third of cancers can be prevented, but in some other countries such as third world countries, and middle, low income families don’t have the advanced technology as the fortunate and high income families.
Cancer is often talked about in terms of years in remission rather than cure because there is still the creeping concern that the cancer will one day resurface. But whereas some “old school surgeons” would see potentially suspicious dark scar tissue on a computed tomography scan and say you cannot say cancer is “cured,” Allison maintains if there is no real evidence that a person still has cancer and they have been in remission for 10 years, “for all intents and purposes it is cured.” Despite the progress against cancer, however, it is still the number-two killer in the U.S. after heart disease. Although more people are living or living longer with cancer than in years past, that is still not truly curing
In December, my father suffered a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. His heart stopped twice during the operation, and he was not expected to survive. He had an intensive recovery period, and I wanted nothing more than to make him better immediately. His trauma had made me impatient and afraid to hope. I was having trouble waiting for things to unfold naturally and wanted to know what would happen in the end. Simple, everyday decisions or occurrences took on great importance.