Do you ever wonder what caused it?

I think considering the cause is worthwhile if it leads you to change lifestyle factors that may have lead to the cancer.  From my perspective, everyone can live a healthier lifestyle.  However, beyond that, I see little benefit to focusing on the past.  This is the patient's condition now and it will take all of your and his energy to deal with the treatment, side effects and lifestyle changes to maximize his chances for survival.  

I sometimes wonder if it was my lack of exercise, or did I eat less nutritious food? Or did I eat too much processed food? My onco said it has to be genetics because I'm quite young.  If it was lifestyle-caused, I would have acquired this at an older age.  I sometimes think too hard that I can't find an answer so I just say, "God's will".

Like SandiaBuddy says if it promote healthy changes, then pondering why is useful, but really it isn't something you can determine with certainty. It runs in my family, my aunt died from it and my dad got it at 80, prompting me to get scoped at 49. I had one tumor, probably a polyp gone bad[I need to check that], but I haven't had another polyp in ten years[come Sept.]. I was a bit heavy, I liked my beer, I ate whatever. I'm still 30 lbs more then I'd like to be, still enjoy beer, try to eat more veggies and fruit, but still eat most things. For all I know, it's the baby aspirin that makes all the difference. I understand wanting to make the right changes and be healthier, but I also read about people who are caught up with all these quacky cures and treatments, spending money they don't have enough of to begin with. The last serious article I read on cancer, stated folks are just unlucky most of the time when cancer happens. I guess I'm willing to leave it at that. Outside of smokers, sunworshippers, and those exposed to proven carcinogens, I figure most of us didn't do anything wrong, and most, like me, can be better/healthier, but for all I know, stressing over stuff is a bigger cause of illness than the stuff is.........................................Dave 

airborne72 said:

Same Same

I totally agree with what Dave just posted.  There is a large, well-funded research effort underway seeking the cause and cure for cancer.  I am content to allow them free reign and full responsibility in their efforts.  They are researchers; I am not.

Each of us live unique lives with a different molecular identification (genetics) and exposures (where we live and how we live).  If you translate that into a mathematical equation the number of different outputs is astronomical.  I am confident that eventually they will discover the causes and the cures for cancer.  In the meantime, I am focused on me and my relationship with it.

I read several of the articles written by so many notable institutions regarding cancer and the do's and don'ts of diet and lifestyle.  If it were a test then I would have scored a 99!  Drinking beer was my only flaw.  And now, thanks to Xeloda, I have lost my taste for it.  In my opinion, that puts more credence on genetics than lifestyle.

But despite my opinion, which is only equal to yours, I absolutely believe that our limited and depleting energy is better utilized thinking happy thoughts (remember Peter Pan?) than it is stressing and agonizing over the cause of our disease.  For sure, make appropriate changes in your lifestyle if applicable, but I believe it is equally important to continue living.

Jim

Jim:  I lost my taste for beer on Xeloda/Capecitabine as well.  I bought a six pack more than a month ago and I have only managed to drink three.  I was wondering if anyone else experienced this?  And does the taste come back?  I actually like beer as a treat and I am sad to have lost my taste for it.

I often wonder about this. When I see all the risk factors I can't find one that applies to me. Years ago I read that having had IBS I had a 65% hogher chance of getting it but then someone on here a while back told me that's since been disproven. The irony is that the things they say to watch for food wise such as processed meats and all that, are things that I could never eat or very little of because it set off the IBS. I've been a slave to the whims of my bowels my whole life and now they've done this to me? That's justice...

I'm adopted and my birth mother has no cancer in her family. Apparently her mother was extremely overweight and she didn't die of cancer, she died of heart disease and she was older. I've been unable to locate my birth father so I don't know about his side.  

Jan

airborne72 said:

Serious Stuff

SandiaBuddy:

Your post is disturbing.  I thought my loss of taste for beer was only temporary; now I am scared that it might be permanent!

My wife is hoping that it never returns but the Peroni brewery in Italy is hoping that it quickly returns.  We'll see.

Jim

Jim:  Serious indeed.  Hopefully I will end the chemo on August 27 and then I will be able to provide an update after a month or two.  Maybe it will be like being a teenager and learning to like beer all over again.  I will never forget my first beer and pizza at about age 15.  I pretended I liked it, but honestly I was appalled.  What a difference a few years made.

airborne72 said:

A common bond - other than cancer

I will finish my Xeloda & radiation treatments on 14 August.  My intent is to try a cold one on the 15th, hopeful that it will give me some sense of the old Jim.

It's interesting how we have similar experiences in life.  For me it was 14 years of age (1965).  A case of beer was less than $5 legally; to buy one through a bootlegger it cost almost $10.  Now I am paying that for a six pack.

If you weren't aware, Benjamin Franklin thought a lot about beer as well.

Jim:  Maybe when you tilt the glass you can start a beer thread.  I am really hopeful that after a while, my tastes will normalize.  The price of beer really has skyrocketed lately.   I remember the cheap six packs at 99 cents, and that was when it was legal for me to drink.  However, I think the quality and variety has improved as well.  No more Lone Star or Schlitz for me.  Life (especially now) is way to short to drink bad beer.

betula said:

Thanks for the replies.  I

Thanks for the replies.  I guess I was looking for affirmation that my life's moto of "everything in moderation" did not cause his cancer.  What I mean is that we eat pretty healthy, not a lot of red meat or processed foods.  We have fruits/vegtables with about every meal and do some organic but we don't worry about drinking a couple beers or about having fast foods once in a while or a dessert.  We are not over weight, we are active, etc.   However, I have family members who eat everything organic down to their flour, salt, pepper, etc and now are limiting gluten.  I had begun to worry that I have been too cavalier with my "everything in moderation" attitude and that this may have contributed to his getting sick. 

I realize that we will never know what has caused it and I have to be okay with that.

I was once told by one of the oncology nurses that colon is the most common cancer she's seen in people who are fit and eat well, the 'my body is my temple' types. She said they're also the angriest at getting it. Which is understandable. I think it's a perfect storm situation. Cancer cells are just healthy cells that won't die. Something has triggered them to shut off their automatic death after a certain amount of time. I suspect it's one day where a person is near just the right environment when just the right thing is happening and it happens. Maybe that person could experience that thing the next day and it wouldn't trigger something. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and everything came together and one little cell went rogue. Maybe a chemical ir maybe a carcinogen in a food, maybe something in the air, who knows. And maybe that person has experienced this thing many times before but on that one day it ws detrimental for some other reason. There are very few cancers that are directly related to something. Smoking is probably the main one. Yet not everyone gets lung cancer. My father-in-law had bladder cancer 25 years after quitting smoking. His doctor said he's never had a patient with bladder cancer that wasn't a smoker or former smoker. Odd, hey? My FIL is alive and well and had it over ten years ago, I should add.

I've said this before but I'll mention it again. We have friends that had an older horse that was put down due to colon cancer. They'd had him for years along with several other horses they'd had for years. He always ate hay and grass, obviously. No other horse had it. But he had a huge tumour. So, a total vegan who was long term in with others in the same environment. It can't even be something like when a pet gets cancer because they've lived with a smoker or someone who eats badly or things like that. No stress, they were always just pleasure riders and actually didn't ride him very often. Horses are physically fit, too. It doesn't explain why we get it but it sure does show you that you cannot look back and wonder what you did wrong.

Jan

betula, 

I have advanced prostate cancer and have wondered numerous of times, what caused it. I have five brothers, with an age range of 56 - 45, and they have no signs of prostate cancer. Recently, I sent my oldest brother an email asking myself why did I contract prostate cancer and listed a number of possibilities that could have caused it. Most of which probably have nothing to do with my cancer. But it did get it off my chest and now I look at it as water underneath the bridge and I need to concentrate on curing this cancer. 

God bless...

Not really. Cancer happens