It's World Cancer Day today. February 4th.
A day where the whole world should think about Cancer. Raise awareness. Because it's a leading cause of death worldwide.
This year alone, four of my friends lost a parent to cancer. My aunt lost her husband to lung cancer last month. My friend's 22 year-old brother is bravely fighting a rare form of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. My sister's best-friend is fighting Hodgkin's disease. And two days ago another friend lost her father to one of the hundreds of complications brought on by cancer treatments, that leave you weak and vulnerable. And Lebanon lost a great man. That's just this year. That's just people I personally know.
Immagine the millions. I know it's a statistic: 7.6 million deaths a year. It sounds like a lot, but in the end it's just a number. But when we take a look at the number of people we know who are affected by this disease right now, it feels a lot more real. And that's not counting how many other millions are living with the disease, dying of the disease.
I don't know why I feel compelled to write about this. Cancer is tied to my life, somehow. When I was 12 years old, I wrote a book. It was called "I Believe in Angels." It was the story of a 16-year-old girl who's best friend gets Cancer. A disease I knew nothing about back then. When I was 21, we published this book, some 5,000 copies, and all the proceeds went the St Jude Children Cancer Center in Lebanon. I knew nothing about Cancer back then, but now, people call me when someone they know has the disease, because they feel like I know how to deal with it. Nobody really does though.
The problem with Cancer is that it comes with no warning. When my mom was diagnosed, they said she had 2 weeks to live. Her lung-cancer had metastasized to her head and the tumor was pressing against her brain and it's only that pain (a massive headache) that took her to the hospital to check it out. We were lucky enough to get someone in Belgium to operate on the tumor and reduce it enough to give her another year. Sometimes Cancers go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for months, years even. It is important that everyone is aware of the danger and how common it is, and gets regular checkup, no matter what your age is.
Some people get screened early enough to really beat it. Others beat it against the odds. But we will all get a greater chance if we stay aware of the risks and take precautions.
Here is what the World Health Organization says about reducing cancer:
This is for my mom, Rima. This is for Judo Husni, Teta Farida, May Louise, and Joe. This is for Lara's father, Rana's mother, Fadi's father, Joumana's father. May they rest in Peace. This is for Jamal, and Claudine, and Bana and Nabil and Lara who fought and won. This is for Naim and Farid who are still fighting.
A day where the whole world should think about Cancer. Raise awareness. Because it's a leading cause of death worldwide.
This year alone, four of my friends lost a parent to cancer. My aunt lost her husband to lung cancer last month. My friend's 22 year-old brother is bravely fighting a rare form of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. My sister's best-friend is fighting Hodgkin's disease. And two days ago another friend lost her father to one of the hundreds of complications brought on by cancer treatments, that leave you weak and vulnerable. And Lebanon lost a great man. That's just this year. That's just people I personally know.
Immagine the millions. I know it's a statistic: 7.6 million deaths a year. It sounds like a lot, but in the end it's just a number. But when we take a look at the number of people we know who are affected by this disease right now, it feels a lot more real. And that's not counting how many other millions are living with the disease, dying of the disease.
I don't know why I feel compelled to write about this. Cancer is tied to my life, somehow. When I was 12 years old, I wrote a book. It was called "I Believe in Angels." It was the story of a 16-year-old girl who's best friend gets Cancer. A disease I knew nothing about back then. When I was 21, we published this book, some 5,000 copies, and all the proceeds went the St Jude Children Cancer Center in Lebanon. I knew nothing about Cancer back then, but now, people call me when someone they know has the disease, because they feel like I know how to deal with it. Nobody really does though.
The problem with Cancer is that it comes with no warning. When my mom was diagnosed, they said she had 2 weeks to live. Her lung-cancer had metastasized to her head and the tumor was pressing against her brain and it's only that pain (a massive headache) that took her to the hospital to check it out. We were lucky enough to get someone in Belgium to operate on the tumor and reduce it enough to give her another year. Sometimes Cancers go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for months, years even. It is important that everyone is aware of the danger and how common it is, and gets regular checkup, no matter what your age is.
Some people get screened early enough to really beat it. Others beat it against the odds. But we will all get a greater chance if we stay aware of the risks and take precautions.
Here is what the World Health Organization says about reducing cancer:
More than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by modifying or avoiding key risk factors, including:
- tobacco use
- being overweight or obese
- unhealthy diet with low fruit and vegetable intake
- lack of physical activity
- alcohol use
- sexually transmitted HPV-infection
- urban air pollution
- indoor smoke from household use of solid fuels.
Tobacco use is the single most important risk factor for cancer causing 22% of global cancer deaths and 71% of global lung cancer deaths. In many low-income countries, up to 20% of cancer deaths are due to infection by HBV and HPV.
So what am I gonna do today? I'm going to stop smoking. I've tried it before, I will try it again until it sticks.
Cancer doesn't just happen to the person who gets it. Of course, for that person, facing the possibility of death is worse than anything we can imagine. But everyone who loves that person gets it too. When you love someone who is diagnosed, who is going through treatment, it's like there's a tumor growing inside of you. It eats at you everyday. The fear, the sadness of being helpless in front os the one you love. The anxiety that you don't want to show them. The smile you put up to force away your tears. And the loneliness of not being able to share your feelings with them. I won't even start to talk about their loneliness, because I have no idea what it feels like and I wont pretend I do.
But I know this disease is real. More real than anything else I've known. The leading cause of death in people I know, that's for sure. So for that reason alone, I have to say something on World Cancer Day. For them. In their memory. For their fights. This isn't some far away disease on another corner of the planet. This is personal. So do something.
This is for my mom, Rima. This is for Judo Husni, Teta Farida, May Louise, and Joe. This is for Lara's father, Rana's mother, Fadi's father, Joumana's father. May they rest in Peace. This is for Jamal, and Claudine, and Bana and Nabil and Lara who fought and won. This is for Naim and Farid who are still fighting.
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