How has it affected you?

[-Beautifully Beaten-]

I thank God everyday now that Cancer hasn't reared its ugly head back into the family but it's always scary when we go to the doctor so often for my mom. She always suspects it's one type of Cancer or another. I can't really blame her for it. It's so scary but it's funny at the same time. When we thought she had Heart Cancer it was only a heart-attack, when we thought it was Ovarian it was only a sist. It's terrible. There are so many other instances like this in her life.

And thank you all for actually opening up and telling your personal story. It means worlds to me and just shows us how un-alone we really are. (: heart

 

[Ramiele]

Cancer first affected me when my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer when I was almost 16 years old. She put up a good fight, and has been cancer free for almost five years.

It hit again back on Election Day 2008. Did you know that it's possible for someone to vote for president from a hospital bed? My fiance was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia in early April 2007, went through treatment and into remission, and then relapsed again in November 2008, but they told us that he was progressing into AML. Aplastic anemia and Acute Myeloid Leukemia mirror one another, they're treated basically the same way, so this was almost a welcome change.

The last few years have been really hard, but he's a great fighter. I hope when this is all said and done, we'll have many happy years together.  

[StressSnake12]

Where do I start?
My older sister found out she had ovarian cancer on her birthday(not joking). It was a shocker because she was around 20. She was young. They told her that she wouldn't be able to have kids. So she tried to have kids and a miracle happen. She got a healthy baby. Now today she is fighting cancer. Im hoping for the best for her.  

[-Beautifully Beaten-]

Dorei: You're story reminded me of what I'm actually doing tomorrow. My mother is taking me to the local health department to get the vaccine. After your sister was diagnosed, did your parents/spouse really start pushing for you to get it?

 

[Nicolai Vorona]

I had a kind of hit-and-run cancer experience; it struck me at random last year and a kidney removal left me cancer free. I got lucky, but it's not comforting to your psyche any.

Questions always linger; how, why? Is it going to come back somehow?

Blaming may feel natural... but it isn't right. The rarity of my cancer made it hard to come to terms with why and how, but you can't ever let blaming things get in the way of moving on.

Learning to live anyway is the hard part... and I commend anyone who has made that decision. Those are the people who achieve true happiness in the end.

 

[Aurairah]

I currently have an Aunt that has cancer, although I don't know what kind, I do know its serious. Its a fast spreading cancer and it has spread to her liver and her bones. I keep trying to reassure myself that she is a strong lady, which she is. It was surprising to hear that she had cancer to me...  

[Hibernating Goldfish]

In summer of 2005, we decided to go up and see family in Ohio. At the time, my great aunt was close to dying but we didn't know when. I went to visit her one day in the hospital thinking she would be happy to see us all. Actually, she didn't know who I was or my sister. That's when we figured out she had a brain tumor as well as the kidney cancer. Days passed and we went home about a week later. I think about the next night on the 4th of July, we got the call from my great grandparents that she had died. We had to go back up to Ohio again but not for a fun trip like before. It was my first funeral and I was in so much shock and horror from still trying to grasp the fact that she had passed. The funeral was open casket and I could't even look at her without feeling a twinge of guilt. I also had some anger too because she had passed at 45. When we came back home, I was not the same; I wouldn't eat, sleep, be active, nothing. I would just sit somewhere in a dark room in a daze still trying to grasp that she had passed. She was my favorite great aunt. She understood me a lot of times and it was really hard to move on. For about a week after she passed, it felt like I could still feel her pressance in the house. I would hear stuff and sometimes I would think I was just crazy, but then sometimes I think I could feel her touch my back when I was turned the opposite way. After about a week, that all stopped. It has been over 4 years almost since she passed and I still have my moments when I wonder why she had to be taken. Independence Day has never been the same ever since then too. I pretty much have accpeted that fact that she is gone and one day I will hopefully join her when my time is up.

As for my family line, cancer does run in the family along with heart failure and blood clots so I will be tested later when I get older for Breast Cancer.  

[Estonia Nerd]

sad I don't mourn my father's death... I can't cry for him... I hardly know him... But it feels as if something has been torn from me, leaving me with only half my heart. I can't even cry for him... That is the greatest pain I have ever felt... And it is ongoing. To know that I can't cry for the person who's blood runs through my veins. Who's genes are half of mine. I cant even seek to learn more about him. The more I know, the more I hurt... My heart is scarred by this pain.  

[euphorya]

*big BIG hugs for everyone*

my mothers exgirlfriend who helped raised me died of liver cancer. i cannot remember what cancer my great grandmother died of...i didn't know her very well
my grandmother battled stomach cancer, grandfather battled colon cancer. and i was close to cervical cancer. they caught it early enough to prevent it from happening. but i can still get it at any time. it saddens me because of my surgery having kids is going to be difficult. but my mother is right just because i cannot carry doesn't mean i cannot be a mother. there are plenty of kids out there who need to be adopted.

as blame i cannot point fingers at anyone or anything. there will always be something taking lives. do not get me wrong though, i have cried as many tears as my body would let me about cancer....the lives it takes, the people who fight it and the people it awaits. death is inevitable. though without death, we wouldn't know just how truly precious life is. i am just really sorry for how much pain it has caused all of you.  

[Jao Feng]

my...my best friend died recently of cancer and i really really miss him and both my grandparents died of cancer cuz they smoked and i really miss them and the pain is....is.....is too much. every time i open a door or comb my hair, I know he will never do any of those things again, but i know hes in a better place. but id known him since he was little and he was always in pain or suffering, and he was never really happy. but he never complained about the unbearable pain, and he was brave and strong and never thought of himself. he was always thinking of others before him and the pain hurts like....boiling water or having ones heart torn out and crushed and there is nobody out there like or even comes close to being like him. because he was truly brave, until the cancer finally killed him..god it hurts to talk about him..  

[dormant lime]

I'm not going to fail as soon as you close your eyes- and you know it.
→

♥
---
═════════

Cancer runs through my family like wildfire.
My father had cancerous spots in his liver, my mother had to have early stages of cancerous lumps removed from her breasts multiple times, my dad's brother died of Sarcoma, my cousin died of what STARTED as lung cancer that spread to her brain and other areas...There's a few others as well, however they were members of the family who died from it before I was born.

It isn't just in my family though- when I was 13, one of my younger friends (12) had to have patches of skin cancer removed. My dad's girlfriend also had to have skin cancer spots removed from her face.

Needless to say it has effected my life greatly. I'm definitely going to want to have annual checks for it at the very least...

═════════
---
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

←
And every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back, I hope you feel it.

 

[OC_Crystal_Summer]

both my grandmothers died of it and at the moment my uncly has it it hit pretty deep especialy it since it were the only family members along with mom and dad who loved/love me  

[sleeplessdreams21]

It's always sad to hear how cancer has affected everyones lives and here is hoping there will be a cure sometime soon. As for blame there's no point, many people who do all the right things get cancer anyways. I however dont understand those who choose to do things to increase there risk and that of those around them.
For me cancer took my great aunt when I was 11. I dont remember what kind of cancer it was. However it went on for a long time. We all know she must have been in extreme pain but never complained even when the cancer spread into her bones. Her motto was cancer is going to take my life but it doesnt have to take my todays.
MY grandmother has had breast cancer twice and has both of her breasts removed. She is cancerfree.
Recently my grandfather who I am very close to was diagnosed with cancer and it will likely take is life.
My thoughts are with all of you who have lost a loved one and all those who are fighting it.  

[sleeplessdreams21]

oops. and it affects me in that I am better at not taking life for granted. I realize how easily it can be taken away.  

[lucifer eats pizza]

My opa (grandpa in dutch) died of cancer. It started that he had lung cancer from smoking cigarettes all his life, and then it spread to his brain. By the time the doctors found anything, which didn't help because they live in the middle of no-where so the doctors don't have many advanced machines, the cancer was terminal. It was very sad. My mom wouldn't let me and my sister see him when he was really bad because she didn't want us to have a memory of him as sick and dying. It was really sad because my mom really loved him, and when he died she was really sad. Plus my oma was sad, and it's just generally sad when people die. I miss him.