3 ms·
Important moral of story: If you notice progressive changes in your body that last more than a week or two, don't ignore them. This goes double if you're over
by cstross 16y ago
Important moral of story:
If you notice progressive changes in your body that last more than a week or two, don't ignore them. This goes double if you're over 40 and triple if you're over 60.
(My dad, who is in his eighties, was diagnosed with colon cancer three weeks ago. What's really annoying is that it turned out afterwards that the troublesome symptoms -- altered bowel habits -- had been troubling him for 3-6 months before he mentioned them to anyone. Remember: the later it's caught, the harder it is to do anything about it!)
- jgrahamc 16y agoTotally agree. I worked with a great guy called Steve Holtzman (http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/199903/msg00017.html http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-peopl...) who had been having bowel trouble for a while (and some weight loss) without dealing with it. When he did it was too late. He had stage IV colon cancer and was dead in under a year. It was utterly tragic to see.
- eapen 16y agoSo true... my dad had some stomach pain years back and went into surgery and during surgery they realized he had a cancerous growth. He went through chemo and got through it after 6 months and managed to fully recover. We thought we were through hell but last year, he had some pains in his shoulder and always felt like there was gas in his stomach. We didn't think the cancer would return since he had already suffered a lifetime's worth. But sadly enough, it was a relapse of the cancer in a different area and since it was his second time they recommended a stem cell transplant. This time he took a trip to hell and back and he is recovered for now and I hope he manages to live peacefully. But once you go through something like this, even a small symptom can really scare you.