The Problem Of Cancer Is Not The End Of The World

I chose to write an essay about the “Topic of Cancer” by Christopher Hitchens. In this short autobiographical essay, Hitchens discusses his experience with Esophageal cancer. Just one day after lanching his book “Hitch-22” Hitchens was made aware of his illness, where he later describes the news as “taking me from the country of well, to the stark frontier.” It was then he chose to write about his experience for the purpose of documenting the changes that he, and his body were about to go through with chemotherapy, and also for the purpose of contemplating his current situation. The reason that I chose this story is because of my own personal experiences that I have had with many loved ones in my life. There is one case in particular that stands out in my memory, among the rest. It was when my friend of many years discovered that he had a very rare form of brain cancer. Soon after undergoing chemotherapy, he lost his battle. There are many people that believe chemotherapy at any stage is the best, and often times, the only way to cure cancer, yet others claim that chemotherapy is not the answer at all. A close analysis of recent statistics can settle this debate.

Our world is plagued with cancer. And our world is dying because of it. Lives are taken every day in wars around the world caused by pessimistic people who can’t be happy about life. These pessimistic people in our world cause this cancer, and the only way to find a cure it is to be optimistic.

However, as Jones stated, the severity of cancer is obvious when one realizes that there is no cure for it. This shows that although many individuals may not be able to fully understand what it means to have cancer, the fact that there is no cure should be enough for them to realize that the battle metaphor does not accurately depict the demanding challenges faced by cancer patients. Instead, it minimizes the harsh consequences of cancer and alters the reality of it, much like Bogost’s analysis of the algorithmic metaphor demonstrates how it distorts the reality of

Cancer is a serious and ever growing disease throughout the United States and across the globe. According to data from the National Cancer Institute (2016), about 39.6% of men and women will receive a cancer diagnosis within their lifetime. Due to advancements in screening and treatment, more people are now living with cancer longer than ever before. In 2014, there were close to 14.5 million people living with a cancer diagnosis and this number is going to rise nearly 5 million over the following 10 years (NCI, 2016). The 5-year survival rate for all cancers is also quite high at 68%. Despite the hopeful fact that survival rates are increasing, the incidence rate is also growing, meaning more people are being diagnosed with cancer (Von Roenn et al., 2013).

Cancer can be caused by a plethora of things, i.e. mutation through viruses, chemical or radiations, carcinogens. Mutation, a type of evolution, is any change in the nucleotide sequence of a cell’s DNA (Reece 199), this may come about by having a virus, exposure to certain chemicals and radiation, after the mutation, there is no reversing it and hence can be transferred genetically to any children. A carcinogen defined by Encyclopedia Britannica is, “any of a number of agents that can cause cancer in humans,” which leads to mutation. After

Every day, about 1,500 Americans are expected to die from cancer. Cancer is a disease in which cells divide uncontrollably, destroying vital body tissue. Most people are no stranger to the effects cancer can have on those close to them. I am most certainly no exception. In 2004, Lauren, a 10 year old girl, died from cancer. My mom used to work for her mom, so she was close with Lauren. Before she got sick, Lauren was much like any average girl. She enjoyed doing soccer, Girl Scouts, and loved to play with American Girl dolls. In many ways, she was just like me.

It was March 2012 when I had a fever and this strange lump appeared. I knew my life was about to change as I was admitted into the hospital for my chemotherapy. It terrified me because I hated hospital . Hospitals remind me of blood and the dying which made them horrible. However, seeing babies and old folks who were diagnosed with diseases broke my heart. I wished I could help ease their pain. I saw a little five-year-old boy with needles around his body and a pipe in his mouth. He was diagnosed with liver cancer. “He is too small to bear that kind of pain; he should have been able to enjoy his childhood, why is this happened to him?” I muttered. His parents seemed to be alright seeing their son’s condition, and their words made me speechless. “God loves him more, He knows he can handle the pain, even if God takes him away, we’ll be more than content because we know God will take good care of him.”

The body is affected on a cellular level by cancer. Going more into detail, cancer is caused by an error in the replication process of a cell. The cell is changed to rapidly and relentlessly reproduce more replicas of its’ mutated self. These cancer cells, along with the power to multiply quickly, have the innate ability to ignore commands from the body about destruction. If there are ever too many cells in the body, messages are sent to perform apoptosis. Apoptosis is where the cell commits suicide, but cancer cells can become immune to this signal. Together the two combine to make an unstoppable cell growing factory.

“You have cancer,” are three words that no one ever wants to hear or be told. These three words provoke emotions that are unexplainable. I, personally, have never been told these cruel words, but a loved one has. My mom, best friend, and hero was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. We were at the airport getting ready to board our flight to Colombia, where we had not visited in twelve years. The excitement of seeing our family after such a long time was quickly interrupted with the news we received. I may not have been the one diagnosed, but that does not mean that my life was not greatly impacted.

Cancer is one of the most destructive and scariest diseases that anyone could develop. According to statistics, there is approximately a 38.5% chance of getting cancer in one’s lifetime. Even if you personally do not get cancer you will live through the destructiveness of cancer from someone close to you because cancer does not discriminate; cancer kills young, old, weak and strong. I myself have lived through this horrible experience and have seen how it completely destroys and tears a family apart. I have lived through all the pain it makes the patient go through. I have seen, however how medical staff bring family together, creates hope for the impossible, and strengthen a patient's will to fight, and that is what I want to undertake.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Cancer is when abnormal cells divide into smaller cells without control and could invade other tissues without you even knowing until check-up time comes around. It can spread through the blood and lymphatic systems. There are numerous types of cancer that can affect any organ in your body. Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which we are made up of a trillion cells. Usually, when we get a scab or a scratch, new cells form to create a scar. Human cells nurture and split to form new cells when the body needs them. When cancer develops, this process breaks down. The cells caused by cancer become more and more abnormal. The old and destroyed cells stay alive when

Cancer is a disease. A disease that not only affects the life of the person infected, but also the lives of everyone around them. It breaks away at a person until the all that’s left is a husk of the person behind the façade. Such is the case with my friend, who after a few weeks after summer vacation, become despondent and hopeless for a better future. This continued for several months until it became a part of him. It had changed his identity. Where there had been an ambitious individual with goals of attaining world peace, only the will to go through school remained.

Cancer is the world’s second leading cause of death. In 2017, it is projected that there will be 1,688,780 new cases of cancer of any site and an estimated 600,920 people will die of cancer. Cancer is a highly intellectual, relentless, and malicious disease that consumes and ultimately becomes the host of our bodies. If I could attempt to do something without any chance of failure, I would spend my life researching and finding a cure for all cancers, spreading that cure, and using that knowledge to save the lives of cancer patients. I have seen cancer devour the purest of souls. Pancreatic cancer abruptly yet unobtrusively took my grandmother away in less than two weeks of being diagnosed. A year later, within three weeks of my grandfather being diagnosed with the same cancer, we watched

You hear stories about normal, everyday people that have or had fallen victim to, what could possibly be, the most traumatic illness that any of mankind could ever contract, cancer. Some of those unlucky victims just are not “lucky” enough to only have to endure cancer, and little did my father know, he would be one of those unlucky victims himself. As if cancer was not enough of an endurance, he also

Personal and professional experiences have empowered me to be a part of the fight against cancer. As a public health student and now professional, I know the burden of the disease and how it effects the quality of those suffering from the illness. I know about rates, trends, preventative measures, tips and tricks on how to prevent the disease. Yet, it wasn’t until someone I knew, or a friend’s family member was diagnosed with cancer and began their journey of healing, that I was personally affected on a deeper level than the statistics, medical literature could ever affect me. The most impactful experience I have with cancer was when I found out that one of my friends, at the tender age of 23 had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Amelia, before