Cancer is an epidemic that needs to be eradicated | Letter

Today I am talking to you about how cancer has torn families apart but has also brought families together. My father was diagnosed with kidney cancer five years ago.

October 31, 2016 9:30 am
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Letters to the editor can be submitted to editor@bothell-reporter.com.

Today I am talking to you about how cancer has torn families apart but has also brought families together. My father was diagnosed with kidney cancer five years ago. When my dad told my two brothers and me, I immediately thought this might be the last time I would be able to talk to him. I was frightened about this. Everything else I was thinking about just vanished. All I could think about is the good and the bad times that my father and I had gone through together. The doctors told my father that the tumor was just as big as his kidney. It had been growing for 10 years. My dad smoked cigarettes every day, but after he got cancer he stopped and hasn’t smoked since. Today my dad is healthier than the day I was born.

According to the World Cancer Report 2014, “It caused about 8.2 million deaths or 14.6 percent of human deaths.” This is a big problem because cancer is starting to grow throughout the world. It’s affecting more families everyday whether you have it or a family member has it. It causes some financial stress on some families.

The tools that already exists are radiation, chemotherapy, medication, surgery, and alternative medicine. According to the World Cancer Report 2014, “The financial costs of cancer were estimated at $1.16 trillion US dollars per year as of 2010.”

I need you to take precautions to avoid getting cancer. These are just a few things you can do to reduce the chances of getting cancer according to the Mayo Clinic,

  • Don’t use tobacco
  • Eat a healthy diet
  • Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active
  • Protect yourself from the sun
  • Get immunized
  • Avoid risky behavior
  • Get regular medical care

There is also a fund called the American Cancer Fund that you can donate to. They help to research for a cure for cancer.

This is important to all of us because cancer can affect anyone. Anyone in your family can have cancer right now and not even know it. The number of people getting cancer is rapidly growing and will continue to grow in the coming years. According to the World Cancer Report 2014, “In 2012, about 165,000 children under 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer.” It’s affecting a lot of the youth of America and is killing a lot of the to. It’s an epidemic that needs to be eradicated.

Anthony Saavedra, Bothell