Cancer rears its ugly head–again.

As I write this, I have two cousins battling cancer. I have a good friend and neighbor in the hospital because of cancer. My daughter-in-law’s brother has been diagnosed with lymphoma. My niece has been battling cancer for over a year, and although she is cancer free, she has to continue her fight to keep it from coming back. A fellow church member was just diagnosed. All of these people, with the exception of my niece, are near my age. I guarantee we all know people much younger who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease.

So, with me being me, I did some research. According to the NIH records, I live in the heart of the area with the highest cancer mortality rates. Look it up. You’ll see most of the southern states plus Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and Maine in the higher ranges. The highest? Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia. And maybe Maine if my color-distorted vision seeing a hugely magnified map is seeing correctly.

Why? Why these areas?

Is it genetics, with residents of these states going back for generations? Is it due to lifestyle? What we eat, whether we exercise or not, habits like tobacco use and drinking alcohol? Yes, sorry to disappoint, but research now shows that alcohol even consumed in moderation is a contributing factor to cancer. If you don’t believe me, look it up. Don’t take my word for it.

Is it because we did (and do) stupid things like sunbathe to get that golden tan without wearing sunscreen? I’m guilty. For years I spent time outdoors without sunscreen. Getting older and seeing the results of that bad choice plus having a precancerous squamous cell carcinoma removed from my nose was a wake-up call. A little late to gain some wisdom, but maybe not too late.

Let’s not forget about the warnings about eating processed foods, especially processed meat. Apparently, foods like bacon are a Group 1 carcinogen as well as deli meats and other foods we like.

I told my husband I didn’t think we Baby Boomers would live as long as our parents’ generation. He disagreed. He reminded me of how they ate foods fried in lard, ham, bacon, and other foods we are told are bad for us. True. But they didn’t grow up drinking soft drinks, eating bags and bags of potato chips, and as far as deli meat–well, bologna was a real treat, not a cheap food.

Their water was not as contaminated by chemicals. They grew their own food and got their water from wells that were not yet contaminated by ground water that contains harmful chemicals used in agriculture. Many ended up with heart disease in their older years, but medicines and surgeries prolonged their lives. My dad died three weeks before he would have turned 86. My mom died six weeks before she would have turned 94. Neither died because of cancer.

I honestly don’t know what the answers are. But if you’ve ever experienced chemo and other cancer treatments, you can tell the rest of us it is not a pleasant experience. You can tell us that cancer is always in the back of your mind.

But what is the purpose of this blog today? I don’t know. I guess it’s a way to express my dismay and my frustration. I wish I could fix it. I want to be more conscious of what I eat and lifestyle choices I make. I want to spread the word to others to make smarter choices. I want to encourage people, along with myself, to be smart.

I know President Trump addressing Congress last night is on a lot of people’s minds, and I get that. But you know what? However we feel about politics, there is little we can do. Yes, we can vote. Yes, we can share our views with our legislators. I have the privilege of living in a country in which I can express my viewpoints, and I feel I have an obligation to do so. But the truth is, my lone voice must be joined by many others to make any sort of a change. I can’t change anything on my own.

What, then, can I change? My lifestyle. My choices. True, genetics play a role. True, I can’t prevent everything. My vision loss has taught me that because there was nothing I could do to stop the condition other than see my doctor and have the eye injections and surgeries that served to delay the inevitable. But I’m trying to be smarter. Wear sunscreen. Swim only before 10:00 A.M. or after 2:00 P.M. Eat foods like blueberries, tomatoes, squash, and bell peppers which contain cancer-fighting nutrients. Watch my cholesterol. Eat heart-healthy foods to avoid heart disease.

Most people who see this blog won’t read it because…well, people just don’t have a lot of interest in blogs. Those who do read it will wonder why I wrote it and what business it is of mine. After all, can I really change anyone’s mindset about health issues? Probably not.

I can try, though. I can open the forum for discussion. I can donate to places like St. Jude and the American Cancer Society. I can try to educate others even though I’m not a health professional. What I am, by nature, is a teacher and a researcher. I want to share what I learn.

So I’ll raise a glass of FILTERED water and say “Cheers!” to those of you whose mindset is like mine. Let’s do what we can to end this horrible disease. And one more thing—

If you’re over 50, have you had a colonoscopy? This is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. If you have precancerous polyps, they are removed during the test. I have a friend who died because she never had a colonoscopy for screening purposes, and the cancer spread to her liver. She battled for about year and a half, if I remember correctly. She was only 62. As we know, that age doesn’t sound old anymore.

As always, if you took the time to read this entire blog, thank you. If it makes a difference in just one person’s life, my time is worth it.