Important-health related
 

Our neighbor's son is 18 and just had a cancerous tumor removed.

A man in our neighborhood is terminal. He exchanged "chew" for smoking years ago and now has cancer. When the neighbors were discussing it, their son overheard and said-"I've got a bump
on my neck too." HIS FATHER IS A PEDIATRICIAN! They did a biopsy and rushed him to M D Anderson. It was removed. He has a depression in his neck and some facial numbness BUT they believe he will fully recover.

My point-You are never too young to be stricken. Be aware of ANYTHING that doesn't "feel" right. Don't blow off being tired to not eating right, partying or late hours. Sure, be resonable, but if in the back of your head something keeps nagging at you, please PLEASE check it out.

Thanks for the post! My mom had been feeling really weird and put it off on the "change." She was only 40, but she figured she was just starting early. I finally convinced her to go to the dr and it turns out she had cancerous tumors forming on her ovaries. She didn't require chemo, just removal of the tumors, but if she had waited any longer, it could have been worse. I'm so glad to still have my mom around.:)

Justamom, thanx for that post.

I'm in medical research at M. D. Anderson myself (pancreatic cancer team currently) and I can NOT begin to tell you how many people of all ages let symptoms or other signs go on for weeks, months, or even YEARS before they seek out some kind of medical attention. It is rarely a matter of not having insurance, either: "I'm not going to the hospital unless I'm sick." Well, being transferred to our ER from a local hospital is the threshold of "sick" for some people.

Every day, we see patients - again of all ages - who could be cured of their disease if they had just gotten to the doctor when things "felt bad". Many of them die unnecessarily.

So, this voice from the trenches is reiterating Justamom: if you feel bad, listen to your body and your gut instincts and get it checked out. If your doctor blows it off, get another opinion.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled GC. ;)

Adrienne

wow. this post really scares me. I haven't been feeling well myself, and am scheduled to get it checked out next week.

thanks for the post justamom.

This is not the first time I've heard about MD Anderson and pancreatic cancer. Is that the best hospital to go to regarding it? One of my really good friends lost her dad to it over a VERY short amount of time, and when I was reading about it, I read a lot about MD Anderson.

Munchkin--

I just PM'd you.

:)