Welcome to Gaia! ::

Currently, I know my family is highly susceptible to cancer, specifically bone cancer and skin cancer. The skin cancer my uncle had I believe exacerbated by a back skin injury, it went into a 5 year long fight against skin cancer, where his skin never regenerated that spot, and the hole in his back kept getting bigger and bigger, the nutrition in his body fell further, and further... he looked like death incarnate, 100 pounds, or lighter, upon actual demise, with his eyes open, in wracked agony. It is said that the cancer spread throughout the vital organs of his body, specifically the bones, which then lead to higher calcium deposits in the blood stream, poisoning him, and his lungs, which were shot up from decades of heavy drug abuse.

My grandfather died of bone cancer, which seemingly had spread to his skin and lungs, as well. So whether or not my uncle actually had bone cancer, or skin cancer, I am not sure. The doctor told him, and he told me, so it may have been a misdiagnosis, or what have you... all I know is they're both dead. As it has only targeted men in our family, and so far, all of them, except for my grandfather on my moms side (only one still alive not dead from old age/cancer) and my dad (on my dad's side, the only one not dead from cancer who is male).

Basically, the skinny of it is... what if I get this accursed cell over-growth syndrome, disease, cancer, what have you? I LOVE calcium, I drink milk like it's water, I am a milk, calcium, and nutrient freak, none of the things the men in my family typically like... Is it preventable, or am I cursed by my genetics to die within the next two decades? Does it matter if I get cancer? We all have to die sometime, why not from cancer? Having a definite kaputz to my life being obvious (more so then all of our inevitable dooms) might motivate me to live in the now, and live more profoundly... or it may cause me to be miserable beyond compare... Should I seek treatment? The men in my family have femme frames, and from what I saw of my uncle... and of my grandfather... they were lifeless corpses before they finally dropped... If I have it, or get it, maybe I should just live with it, instead of trying to cure it. Chances are against me, it'll more than likely reoccur, and I won't have the capability to fight it again if it does, and my mortality will be more painful, and disgusting...

Not to burden my fellow commies... but, to be honest, I'm scared shitless. I won't live in fear, I will move on, with cancer or not, but ... I'd prefer not to have it, if for no other reason, it's a family tradition worth breaking... and I don't want to put those who will love me, those who do love me and know me, through the pain of me losing my body and sanity to this damn... illness...

Well. If you ever need to talk, im a good listener. dominusdivad@hotmail.com is my MSN

That goes for you and all my Comrades in the guild.

Next time you go to the doctor tell them about your concerns. Note your family history.

At that point they may make a not in your medical record and give you advice on what sorts of things to avoid or to do preventatively.

Another option, may be a genetic screen. This would probably be more important if you were to plan on having children. They'll take some blood and talk about any odd things they see.

Everybody in my family gets cancer, but that's because of heavy tobacco use and excessive factory exposure.

Well, really any material which causes chronic inflammation can cause cancer - hence why you'll see vegans occasionally saying meat causes cancer (as lots of red meat will irritate your stomach... if you eat a lot of red meat for a long time you will increase your cancer risk due to chronic inflammation). Etc etc.. Weed, I would think, wouldn't bring the higher risk of pancreatic cancer - as that's caused by nicotine. Smoking in general will still leave you open to lung cancer etc - but really that's all gambling nobody knows definitively how much or how little will actually exacerbate cancer.

My aunt died. She's been dead for over 2 weeks now.

She didn't want a funeral, she wanted us to party. So my entire family got together with 100s of people have never met, drank excessive amounts of alcohol, and ate food like her death meant nothing.

I can't help but look at the door to see her come in, but she never does. I feel like I'm the only one missing her, having loved her... or maybe these people get over loss easier than I do, I digress.

All I do is work, sleep, and get high these days.