Cause And Effect Of Cancer

It’s astonishing how one diagnosis can completely alter the life of a family. One day you’re looking to move into the fancy houses along the coast, and the next you’re forced to consider if you would be able to afford the same home with one income. When I was three years old my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer. I was too young to know what was happening, but at the age of seven, when my mom was diagnosed for the second time, I began to notice a change in my family’s daily life. I was told not to sit on my mom’s lap and that she could not play with me as much as usual due to her Chemotherapy, but it was not until her third time contracting cancer that I noticed the pain she was in. I was fourteen when I finally learned about the very thing I had been trying to figure out for nearly my entire life. This burden has solely shaped the way I act and how I handle life’s many challenges, but how it accomplished this was not always a joyous experience.

Cancer is a frightening topic, the National Cancer Institute states that “more women in America have died of [cancer] in the last two decades [than in WW1 and WW2 combined]”. It’s no wonder the word alone can bring anguish to many, there is still much we don’t understand about cancer. It wasn’t until recently that we began to noticed a trend of disease in my family. My grandmother Olga Losoya Suarez passed away in August of 2015 to colon cancer at the age of 75. As one can imagine this was devastating as she was the center of the family, always bringing everyone together on the holidays. Soon disaster struck again as my grandmother on my father’s side, Carolina Tovar, passed from pancreatic cancer in June of 2016 at the age of 71. Although most of the family felt a mixture of emotions, one that dominated the rest was concern. My parents, Aunts, and Uncles concerned that cancer was becoming more prominent in our family sought checkups from their doctors. My Aunt Linda informed

People tend to usually tremble when hearing the unpleasant word “Cancer”. Imagine being the one diagnosed with this horrible illness. More and more people in today’s society are struck with certain health issues such as diabetes, obesity, heart diseases and many more. Cancer is the at the top of this horrible chain of problems. Based on my experiences, someone that is diagnosed with cancer, does not realize how life can change so rapidly for them. Their whole lifestyle changes and they have a different outlook on life. Not until a person experiences a family member going through cancer, is he/she able to understand how important spending time with family really is.

Cancer has one of the biggest effects on the patients mental health but also the patients loved ones and friends. It is one of the hardest things to get a grip on when the doctor tells someone that they have cancer and a fifty-fifty chance of making it. "The disease can bring many changes-in what people do and how they look, in how they feel and what they value" (Dakota 4). It makes people look at the world and their lives in a different way, valuing now what they took for granted and seeing the bigger picture in every scenario. It is something that no one can actually brace, even after the doctor tells them. Through it all though, the person must remain strong and optimistic because the cancer can affect the person's moods and in return affect the outcome of the person and the chances of their making it

Nearly 14.5 million Americans have had a history stint with some type of cancer and were still alive on January 1, 2014(American Cancer Society, 2016). There will be an estimated 1,685,210 new cancer cases and 595, 590 deaths in 2016 attibuted to caner in the U.S. (American Cancer Society,2016 ) Those astonishing numbers do not even account for the cancer patients family and friends whose lives are also affected this horrific disease. In order to get a glimpse of what a cancer patient has to go though, I decided to read Stuart Scott’s memoir, Every Day I Fight, by Larry Platt. He is an ESPN anchor that was diagnosed with a rare form of Appendiceal Cancer. It was a great book, and wanted to discuss the merits this book had on showing what

“Cancer does not discriminate against race, sex or age; there are many types of cancer and there are not always available treatments.”

“’So what’s your story?’” she then then replies “’I already told you my story. I was diagnosed when-‘” He interrupts and says “’No, not your cancer story. Your story. Interests, hobbies, passions, etcetera… Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who becomes their disease. I know so many people like that. It’s disheartening. Like cancer is in the growth business, right? The taking-people-over business. But surely you haven’t let it succeed prematurely’” (Green, 32).

In this article, Sarah Cotterill writes about how cancer has changed the way she sees and processes the world she lives in today. During this hard time of her life she has experienced both highs and lows throughout. Cotterill is only 29 years of age but feels she has the knowledge to speak in this topic since she has experienced it first hand.

Carr, B. (2013). Psychological aspects of cancer: A guide to emotional and psychological consequences of cancer, their causes and their management. New York: Springer.

This past summer, I, along with my mother and father, travelled to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. My mom had been invited to participate in the St. Jude For Life Study because when she was around six to eight years old, she had a form of leukemia called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This particular study is to help all present and future St. Jude patients and help to research for a cure. While there, I saw first-hand how cancer can affect a family. You can just see all of the stress, the worry, the exhaustion, the tiredness, the fear, and the tears on the families’ and the patients’ faces.

Cancer is usually a terrifying word. Those who have never received a diagnosis of cancer, likely cannot fathom the anxiety such an event produces. Even forms of cancer that are highly treatable often bring about significant and immediate life changes for patients. Hopefully, the ideas from this article can help to demystify cancer, and make it somewhat easier to cope with the disease and its effects.

No one thinks that it will happen to them. No one thinks that one day it might be them walking into the doctor’s office, only to hear those three horrifying words – “You have cancer.” To say that cancer changed my life is an enormous understatement. Cancer took me on an insane roller coaster for two years.. turning, twisting, jerking. I never thought it would happen to me. I heard those three lethal words, but they were not spoken to me. My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December of 2014.

Many psychologists feel that psychological treatment is also a good way to teach patients how to endure their physical treatments. Many of these treatments present physical problems, but the treatments are almost more taxing on the mind. “Research clearly shows that unrelieved pain can slow recovery, create burdens for patients and their families and increase costs to the health care system.” (Rabasca, 1999). In overcoming anything whether it is a task for work, school or anything that can be physically and mentally draining like cancer, it is important to keep a strong mind and a positive outlook no matter how rough it is. Most patients of cancer are so far

The bagpipes reverberated in the air as the members of Morris County Relay for Life solemnly circled around the track set alight by lambent luminaries signifying friends and family who had passed away to cancer. My somber mood and dull heartbeat were exacerbated by my realization of the magnitude of cancer’s effect. Not only does it impact those fighting the disease, it forces family members, friends, and colleagues onto an uphill battle filled with constant apprehension.

Imagine your older sister was just diagnosed with Leukemia. How does that make you feel? How do you think she feels? I wanted to research the thoughts and feelings someone who has cancer might go through. From the research, I found depression to play a big role in the outcome of the patient’s therapies and quality of life with cancer. In fact, a study shows there is a direct correlation between the two, which is quite fascinating; it amazes me how the brain, the body, and the unconscious mind work together. This topic hits home when it comes to cancer. Sadly, we have all lost someone to the deadly disease or know someone who is battling it right now. I’ve always wondered what my loved one might be feeling. Do they believe they can fight cancerous cells or will they succumb to the illness and fall into depression? I find it upsetting to see the second choice happen, but what if there was something we could do? These questions lead me to research the correlation between two hardships: cancer and depression.