5 ms·

Life causes cancer. Which causes death. Not living life also causes death. In short, don’t fret about it. Enjoy it while you have it.

wheelerof4te 3y ago
"Not living life also causes death." Well, if you sit around all day and don't move much, sure. You will shorten your lifespan by a lot. Or you'll live long, boring life anyways since you have good genes. Nothing in life is certain.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  There are two certain things in life: Death and taxes.
BoppreH 3y ago
And I can enjoy life for longer if I don't live in a house with lead paint or e̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶c̶r̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ forget my teflon pan on the stove. I dislike platitudes like these that don't acknowledge that life is about tradeoffs, and sometimes a little caution gives large rewards.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Or deal with flaking paint in an old house--which inevitably does have lead paint that has been painted over.
- mardifoufs 3y ago
  Yes but treating everything like possible lead paint is a sure way to live a miserable life. We need to be careful if there is proof of harm, not assume that everything is harmful.
  - BoppreH 3y ago
    That's a perfectly fine message, but the original post had none of the necessary subtlety. If your life advice could be used in a cigarette ad, you've diluted it too far.
    - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
      Immediately what I thought of was smoking cigarettes. Enjoy life but educate yourself about what can extend it and reduce it. Indulge (or not) with open eyes.
- postalrat 3y ago
  Are you enjoying life?
  - BoppreH 3y ago
    No joke, I'm writing this comment from a sunbed at the beach, watching the crystal clear water with loved ones around and a dog nestled at my feet. Yes, I'm enjoying life, thanks for asking :)
- culturestate 3y ago
  > eat scraps of Teflon from my pan I’m sure there’s a doctor or a chemist in here who can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always understood Teflon to be super-duper-ultra inert. They literally make arterial grafts out of Teflon.
  - CrimsonRain 3y ago
    I think it is the glue or chemicals used to bind teflon is the issue.
  - StackOverlord 3y ago
    > Birds are susceptible to a respiratory condition called "teflon toxicity" or "PTFE poisoning/toxicosis." Deaths can result from this condition, which is due to the noxious fumes emitted from overheated cookware coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
    - culturestate 3y ago
      Sure, but burning Teflon and inhaling the fumes is much different from eating pieces of Teflon that flake off in your pan. Plenty of otherwise-harmless things are suddenly not harmless when you burn and inhale them.
  - mallomarmeasle 3y ago
    Doctor-chemist here. You are correct. The carbon-fluorine bond is very inert to metabolism. Ingested Teflon would be almost entirely eliminated unchanged. Takes pretty harsh conditions to break Teflon, but interestingly it can react with explosive violence, as I have witnessed, when combined with small particle sized Mg.
    - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
      Why all the recent fuss about ingesting PFAS and “forever chemicals” then? I thought Teflon is a kind of PFAS?
      - deleted 3y ago
Wowfunhappy 3y ago
Sure, but you should also probably avoid asbestos.
navigate8310 3y ago
Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!
- jjgreen 3y ago
  A friend of mine used to tell a story of when he was young, and asked an elderly relative at a family do how old he was, "67" he replied; "I wouldn't want to live to 67!", "You would if you were 66".
- j4yav 3y ago
  Those lead paint chips aren't going to eat themselves, live a little!
- pluijzer 3y ago
  I think I will not lie on my death bed regretting not having lived in a lead painted house, not having smoked or having showed some common sense. Also I think I will not be alone because of it.
Balgair 3y ago
I've had a few close family members pass from cancer. I was a caretaker during these times for them. Talking with them, changing them (people are really heavy!), feeding them, medicating them, bathing them, etc. We had very good hospice support and paid a lot for it, but during the pandemic, everything kinda went to shit, so it was up to me and a few others most of that time. Dying of cancer is unique to every person and their cancer's progression. But, from my own experiences, dying of cancer is a fucking horrible way to go. The pain is quite bad as it colonizes various nerve bundles and organs. Morphine only does so much and wanes as the person gets addicted to it and requires more and more to get the numbing results. As such, your mind goes with the morphine intake, a welcome relief really. You can lose function in your limbs and bowels too, though not always. You stop eating and drinking, but you don't stop thirst and hunger. Death really does become a welcome relief after enough weeks/months of this. Then there is the just normal health hazards and pains of laying down and generating filth. The rashes and sores, the muscle loss, the boredom. It's quite horrible. And that's with loving family members helping you at a moment's notice. One pro-tip here, if you can get a death doula. Look, I get the sentiment here. Yes, live your life, don't worry so much about how it's going to end. There's likely nothing you could have done different anyway. Your end is going to really suck, no matter what. Better to have it be quick and as painless as possible. But, I do want to advocate for taking common sense measures about carcinogen avoidance. Those are absolutely worth the time and effort. Do not smoke, don't have lead paint in your house, don't be stupid or lazy about getting these things away from you. Your future self will be very thankful you did that. I know, I've helped dying people who didn't.
- meristohm 3y ago
  I've been reading So Much For That, by Lionel Shriver, and the description of a slow decline due to mesothelioma has much in common with your experiences. I've learned more in the last week about what it might be like to have some of the many forms of cancer than I ever knew before.
wizofaus 3y ago
Yes but some forms of death are a good deal worse than others. Many cancers in particular can be an awful way to go, especially when it's happening with your full knowledge of its inevitability and lack of ability to do anything about it. I'm not going to give up something I enjoy (or even the indirect benefits of using a particular substance) just to live a few extra years, but if doing so significantly reduces the chances of a drawn-out painful death, then there's surely an alternative worth looking for.

wheelerof4te 3y ago

"Not living life also causes death." Well, if you sit around all day and don't move much, sure. You will shorten your lifespan by a lot. Or you'll live long, boring life anyways since you have good genes. Nothing in life is certain.

Dalewyn 3y ago
There are two certain things in life: Death and taxes.

BoppreH 3y ago

And I can enjoy life for longer if I don't live in a house with lead paint or e̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶c̶r̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ forget my teflon pan on the stove. I dislike platitudes like these that don't acknowledge that life is about tradeoffs, and sometimes a little caution gives large rewards.

ghaff 3y ago
Or deal with flaking paint in an old house--which inevitably does have lead paint that has been painted over.
mardifoufs 3y ago
Yes but treating everything like possible lead paint is a sure way to live a miserable life. We need to be careful if there is proof of harm, not assume that everything is harmful.
- BoppreH 3y ago
  That's a perfectly fine message, but the original post had none of the necessary subtlety. If your life advice could be used in a cigarette ad, you've diluted it too far.
  - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
    Immediately what I thought of was smoking cigarettes. Enjoy life but educate yourself about what can extend it and reduce it. Indulge (or not) with open eyes.
postalrat 3y ago
Are you enjoying life?
- BoppreH 3y ago
  No joke, I'm writing this comment from a sunbed at the beach, watching the crystal clear water with loved ones around and a dog nestled at my feet. Yes, I'm enjoying life, thanks for asking :)
culturestate 3y ago
> eat scraps of Teflon from my pan I’m sure there’s a doctor or a chemist in here who can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always understood Teflon to be super-duper-ultra inert. They literally make arterial grafts out of Teflon.
- CrimsonRain 3y ago
  I think it is the glue or chemicals used to bind teflon is the issue.
- StackOverlord 3y ago
  > Birds are susceptible to a respiratory condition called "teflon toxicity" or "PTFE poisoning/toxicosis." Deaths can result from this condition, which is due to the noxious fumes emitted from overheated cookware coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
  - culturestate 3y ago
    Sure, but burning Teflon and inhaling the fumes is much different from eating pieces of Teflon that flake off in your pan. Plenty of otherwise-harmless things are suddenly not harmless when you burn and inhale them.
- mallomarmeasle 3y ago
  Doctor-chemist here. You are correct. The carbon-fluorine bond is very inert to metabolism. Ingested Teflon would be almost entirely eliminated unchanged. Takes pretty harsh conditions to break Teflon, but interestingly it can react with explosive violence, as I have witnessed, when combined with small particle sized Mg.
  - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
    Why all the recent fuss about ingesting PFAS and “forever chemicals” then? I thought Teflon is a kind of PFAS?
    - deleted 3y ago

Wowfunhappy 3y ago

Sure, but you should also probably avoid asbestos.

navigate8310 3y ago

Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!

jjgreen 3y ago
A friend of mine used to tell a story of when he was young, and asked an elderly relative at a family do how old he was, "67" he replied; "I wouldn't want to live to 67!", "You would if you were 66".
j4yav 3y ago
Those lead paint chips aren't going to eat themselves, live a little!
pluijzer 3y ago
I think I will not lie on my death bed regretting not having lived in a lead painted house, not having smoked or having showed some common sense. Also I think I will not be alone because of it.

Balgair 3y ago

I've had a few close family members pass from cancer. I was a caretaker during these times for them. Talking with them, changing them (people are really heavy!), feeding them, medicating them, bathing them, etc. We had very good hospice support and paid a lot for it, but during the pandemic, everything kinda went to shit, so it was up to me and a few others most of that time. Dying of cancer is unique to every person and their cancer's progression. But, from my own experiences, dying of cancer is a fucking horrible way to go. The pain is quite bad as it colonizes various nerve bundles and organs. Morphine only does so much and wanes as the person gets addicted to it and requires more and more to get the numbing results. As such, your mind goes with the morphine intake, a welcome relief really. You can lose function in your limbs and bowels too, though not always. You stop eating and drinking, but you don't stop thirst and hunger. Death really does become a welcome relief after enough weeks/months of this. Then there is the just normal health hazards and pains of laying down and generating filth. The rashes and sores, the muscle loss, the boredom. It's quite horrible. And that's with loving family members helping you at a moment's notice. One pro-tip here, if you can get a death doula. Look, I get the sentiment here. Yes, live your life, don't worry so much about how it's going to end. There's likely nothing you could have done different anyway. Your end is going to really suck, no matter what. Better to have it be quick and as painless as possible. But, I do want to advocate for taking common sense measures about carcinogen avoidance. Those are absolutely worth the time and effort. Do not smoke, don't have lead paint in your house, don't be stupid or lazy about getting these things away from you. Your future self will be very thankful you did that. I know, I've helped dying people who didn't.

meristohm 3y ago
I've been reading So Much For That, by Lionel Shriver, and the description of a slow decline due to mesothelioma has much in common with your experiences. I've learned more in the last week about what it might be like to have some of the many forms of cancer than I ever knew before.

wizofaus 3y ago

Yes but some forms of death are a good deal worse than others. Many cancers in particular can be an awful way to go, especially when it's happening with your full knowledge of its inevitability and lack of ability to do anything about it. I'm not going to give up something I enjoy (or even the indirect benefits of using a particular substance) just to live a few extra years, but if doing so significantly reduces the chances of a drawn-out painful death, then there's surely an alternative worth looking for.