Cancer & the environment

[GraytonBound]

Thanks for the links Paula, I can't wait to play around on the websites.

As far as your comment about people with family history getting regular check-ups, I keep getting frustrated around here with the dr's who say I don't need any tests run just because of family history. NO, I don't need a mammogram just because my aunt had breast cancer. NO, I don't need colon screening even though my dad died at 46. Apparently it's hard to convince the insurance company to pay for anything if you're under 50.

I LOVE your comment about your mom's table, what a great way to look at life. And I'm also convinced that being an optimist does a lot for health & happiness....just wish I were one....I'm working on it

 

[Paula]

My doctor is very good. She has agreed to the different tests I was convinced I needed, even before I was 50 (I'm 51). Now, I think I've been tested for just about everything so I'm going to just get my annual physicals and not think too much about it other than take care of myself and keep an eye out for signs of anything that's not quite right -- and exercise more. It can drive a person crazy to worry about all the genetic things a family could have. How about trying a different doctor or insurance plan?

Also, perhaps if you found a website or research that said people who have a history of colon cancer in the family should be tested before age 30 (and brought the article in -- ideally several articles), the physican would agree to a test. They really don't know everything and they're busy and worried about saving money. But it would be hard to argue with the research.

Hope you get the tests you want and should get...

 

[Smiling JOe]

My doctor is very good. She has agreed to the different tests I was convinced I needed, even before I was 50 (I'm 51). Now, I think I've been tested for just about everything so I'm going to just get my annual physicals and not think too much about it other than take care of myself and keep an eye out for signs of anything that's not quite right -- and exercise more. It can drive a person crazy to worry about all the genetic things a family could have. How about trying a different doctor or insurance plan?

Also, perhaps if you found a website or research that said people who have a history of colon cancer in the family should be tested before age 30 (and brought the article in -- ideally several articles), the physican would agree to a test. They really don't know everything and they're busy and worried about saving money. But it would be hard to argue with the research.

Hope you get the tests you want and should get...

I would fire my doctor and find one who will listen to my needs and concerns.

 

[BeachDreamer]

We have done all the kids' shots that the dr's told us to, but have since met a family who didn't do the shots. I thought you had to do it to get into kindergarden.

They do everything they can to make people think that vaccinations are required, but you can get a waiver. Depending on the state, they may or may not totally harrass you about it. We homeschool so it's not so much an issue for us.

But since the internet has provided so many common folks with research and information, more and more people are coming to question the safety of vaccinations. Mostly the MMR and Polio. Chickenpox shots are untried and no one knows what the long-term effects or protection may or may not be. Hep B shots for newborns? We've found a lot of doctors who are more conservative about vaccinations, but none that are on our HMO.

 

[Paula]

By the way, I made a typo in my earlier message. I think the medical research says that the average man and woman with no history of colon cancer should have a screening at age 50. People with a family history should have it before age 50 (I said "before age 30").

 

[shakennotstirred]

As far as your comment about people with family history getting regular check-ups, I keep getting frustrated around here with the dr's who say I don't need any tests run just because of family history. NO, I don't need a mammogram just because my aunt had breast cancer.)

Perhaps you should shop around for another doctor. It is my understanding that you should have at least a baseline mammogram before the age of 40. I have a friend who was diagnosed at 36 and did not have any family history. IMO - better safe than sorry. They can do so much for breast cancer these days if it is caught in the early stages.

 

[GraytonBound]

Yep, my aunt's was caught very early on a routine mammogram & she is fine, after surgery & chemo of course. I'll be 40 next year & the doc told me to wait til then, which I'm sure is fine, but I swear EVERY complaint I've ever taken to a doc they say it's "just stress". That seems to be a catch-all that the insurance co's want them to use, IMHO.

 

[Bob]

My wife grew up in the shadow of the biggest chemical plant in the south, Kingsport, TN. Owned by then Eastmann Kodak. Her father was 33 years an engineer for Eastmann. Had asthma as a child, then in her mid thirties, colon cancer. The surgeon said " you are too young for this". I guarantee you if she had stayed where she was born, on the Ga. side of Lookout Mt. as a child she would have had neither ailment as an adult. I feel it's the air we breath and the food we eat that's the culprit. No one in her family tree has had cancer.

 

[GraytonBound]

Yep, I bet the air is great on the GA side of Lookout, unless all the St.Elmo pollution rises up to it (Chattem is down there).


Sorry about your wife's history & hope everything is ok now. There was a lady in our neighborhood that died a couple of years ago, story has it her dad worked in a plant & she did all his laundry growing up, something about the chemicals on his clothes


Anyhow, does anyone have an opinon of organic foods? Is there a good store down there? We have one in our neighborhood & use it quite a bit but it certainly kills the food budget.

 

[phdphay]

They do everything they can to make people think that vaccinations are required, but you can get a waiver. Depending on the state, they may or may not totally harrass you about it. We homeschool so it's not so much an issue for us.

But since the internet has provided so many common folks with research and information, more and more people are coming to question the safety of vaccinations. Mostly the MMR and Polio. Chickenpox shots are untried and no one knows what the long-term effects or protection may or may not be. Hep B shots for newborns? We've found a lot of doctors who are more conservative about vaccinations, but none that are on our HMO.

I think you have a point about vaccinations. I have a new standard poodle puppy, and the standard poodle world is convinced that over-vaccinating dogs is a primary cause of disease. Standard poodles are afflicted with a long list of illnesses such as Addison's, squamous cell carcinoma, etc., and many people are convinced that this is due to over-vaccination. UC-Davis is studying this very issue. To keep our puppy from getting diseased as so many SPs are, we plan to follow the Dr. Dodds vaccination protocol to minimize her exposure to unnecessary vaccinations.