Hello! Thank you for joining me for this week’s blog. My apologies for no blogs for the last couple of weeks. Suffice it to say, it has been a difficult time and blog writing was a low priority. The difficulties have given me a modicum of inspiration for this week’s blog in hope it will shake you awake.
LACK OF SUNSHINE
Today’s blog lacks wit or a sunny disposition. Today I come to you with a cold hard reality. This week I lost a deeply loved family member to cancer. While shock and grief can’t begin to describe my emotions, they come with reality and a wake up call.
SHOCK
My loved one’s diagnosis was shocking to say the least. She was diagnosed after almost a year of feeling plain yucky. She was actually misdiagnosed and had a scheduled surgery to correct what her doc thought was the problem. He needed “one more test” to confirm what he was pretty sure was the problem before surgery. The test was taken and surprise! What he thought was the problem was not the problem at all. It was cancer. Stage 4 to be exact.
EVIL CANCER
Imagine our shock and disbelief when we were told her issue was silent acid reflux and low and behold, it came back as stage 4 colon cancer that metastasized to her liver. This was really our first experience in dealing with evil cancer. We were told it is not curable, but it was treatable. We weren’t exactly sure what that meant. Now we know.
WHAT IF
I’m no expert but I do know that early detection can save lives. My loved one wasn’t so lucky. Hindsight is 20/20. “What if’s” come fast and furious. What if they would have done appropriate testing? What if they would have dug deeper? What if she would have gotten a second or third opinion? What if she would have listened to her body? What if?
YOU KNOW
You know your body better than anyone else. If it doesn’t feel right, get tested or screened. Early diagnosis focuses on detecting symptomatic patients as early as possible. When there is significant suspicion for a serious condition, early detection and treatment can be lifesaving however unfortunately not for every single health issue.
THE EARLIER THE BETTER
Health.harvard.edu says, there are many conditions for which the earlier the diagnosis, the better. That’s because we have effective treatments that work best during early stages of illness. Breast and colon cancer, for example, can be cured if caught early enough. That’s why screening tests including mammography and colonoscopy are so important. They have the potential to detect an early tumor before it has progressed to an untreatable ultimately fatal stage. If you feel unwell, worried or stressed about a possible condition, get a diagnosis or rule one out. Getting reassurance and clarity can be profoundly helpful.
HDD
In a nutshell, we can’t ultimately control our fate, but we can to the degree that we are able. Get tested and screened. If we can help, call us at 505-350-3397.
RIP precious K.A.R