Non smoker-non drinker issue

sweetblood22 said:

Hi Sue
Think about how many cells are in your body.  These cells normally grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep you alive and healthy.  When cells become old or damaged, they die and then they  are replaced with new cells.

There are times when this all goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, things like smoking and alcohol, chemicals, or HPV, can produce mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue, a tumor.  Not only can DNA change, and run amok in a bad way, but it can change, or mutate, in a good way.  One of the Fanconi Anemia lead researchers, explained that one of the reasons, I have not had bone marrow failure yet, could be that I am a somatic mosaic.   The blood part of me, the DNA may have righted itself, while the mucosa, has not.  Thus my extreme high risk, and rate of HNC in FA patients.   When I was diagnosed and spoke to some of the people at Rockefeller University, and Cornell, that deal with my blood disorder, FA, they told me that there are FA patients that are 20 years old, that have never smoked, or drank, and have gotten HNC.  They don't even want FA patients to use mouthwash with alcohol in it.  

So, exposure to something like just the alcohol in mouthwash, in some one predisposed genetically to cancer, is bad, never mind any other of the many other carcinogens there are.  

If a person drank or smoked in the past, the risk of cancer, will come down with time, but I don't think it ever really goes away.    In my case, I did drink some, and smoke some, but I think because of my other genetic illness, cancer was almost a given, if I didn't die of bone marrow failure first.   

Cancer can be super slow growing, or the seed, (the damage from years past) can be planted, and only to take root years later and grow.  My tumor got pretty darn big, pretty quickly.  I found my swollen lymph node on October 9th and by December it was the size of a large lemon.   8-/   They never found my primary.  

I have to say that for me, I never wonder about the 'whys' of people's cancer diagnosis.  I guess I have just seen so many young people struck down with cancer, and unfortunately, not make it, I just think that cancer does what it wants in who it wants.  That may not make sense, but it does in my head.  
There are some people, that I do wonder, and cannot actually believe HAVE  NOT gotten cancer.  Like my ex.  Who abuses his body with eating crap, and chewing tobacco, and seems to go through life unscathed.  

Anyway, when you think about the amount of cells dividing in your body all the time, it really isn't surprising that something can go awry.  

Sue22 said:

Well said
Yes well said.....moderation is the answer I would think. Tks for your input Larry

luv4lacrosse said:

NO ONE REALLY CAN SAY WHAT
.... Is or may be the direct cause of any of our cancer diagnoses?? My Doc's all say the primary cause of my cancer was definitely HPV related, and that smoking and drinking with HPV cancer is not considered to me a primary suspect of getting cancer. I never smoked at all but was a regular social drinker for most of my life. I know people personally who smoke two packs of cigs a day and sit in a tavern every day after work, eat fast food and have never even had a major health issue. How do we explain this?? We cannot, I truly believe cancer for the most part will attack whomever and for whatever reason, just like I am 14 months post treatment and all is good, and others who have the exact same treatment as I did have a recurrance just a month or two after initial eradicaion of cancer. Why does this happen?? There are people like us right now that will continue to smoke and drink and have not had a recurrance?? Why does this happen??

My gut tells me that HPV is going to be a huge part of cancer diagnoses in the future, and we may also discover that before we knew anything about HPV derived HNC, that it may have already been a growing factor in the number of new cases of cancer in the past??

For me personally, I have made allot of changes to accommodate my "new normal." I eat much healthier than in years past, mostly due to the fact that fast food, deli sandwiches, steak, ETC. I simply have a hard time swallowing. The weight I lost from being sick I have managed to keep off through a better diet, and now that I do not compete in powerlifting anymore, I circuit train with what I consider heavy weight, but allot of reps and sets. I made a choice to give up my passion for "Grey Goose" cock tails, but if I feel like having 5 or 6 beers at a sporing event or the many professional orginazations that have social gatherings related to my work, I will do so.

My doc's still want me to adhere to the ACS rule of "2 per day" for a man, and allot of the time I do, but I cannot live my life hiding from everything the news media and the medical profession says will cause cancer.

I have rambled on far too long, but I guess i am trying to say, "we just do not know" and especiallly "why me and not the other guy" who is doing all of the stuff the medical community promises will cause cancer, and this guy will never get cancer.

I hope all of my friends here at CSN had a wonderfull Christmas, and whatever condition you may currently be in when New Years comes, try to ring it in as much as you can in your own way.

BEST!!

Mike