Closing one Chapter, and a note on cancer.

So as I mentioned before things have been insanely busy and well, not the best of fortunes in some ways. I'm going to close up most of that chapter in this blog and go with a more light-hearted outlook as I move forward, but I want to share an important PSA of sorts. Please bare with me for a bit.

I mentioned that we moved from Korea to Florida to be closer and help with my Mother. She passed away May 4 of Cancer. Its still seems really unreal, I keep feeling like its just another one of her trips, but its not. And I can't call her every time I find something neat or need to talk to her. Its difficult to really accept. She was only 45, just shy of her 46th birthday. Right before Mothers day, her anniversary and her first grandson's birthday.

A couple years ago, while caring for my Grandfather who also had Cancer (lung), my Mother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She'd been having problems for a long while, and she herself had a history of cancer, not just a family history. But not much of any symptoms specifically tied to colon cancer, mostly feminine related issues. For a long time, she got the brush off from doctors about it being anything serious. And of course she was "too young" to bother screening for Cancer. A huge, huge medical lie. The problems got to the point that she had to have uterine surgery, for a problem with an unknown cause. In the course of the surgery, they found the cause. Cancer. Samples were sent off for confirmation. It was confirmed and it was advanced.

I later learned that at the time of diagnosis, she was told she potentially had 8 weeks to live without treatment. Fortunately, a Doctor she knew from working as a physical therapist recommended her to the oncologist that treated him... This Doctor and the Surgeon that treated her (and later me), turned out to be a blessing and its through their care she managed to have two extra years with us. There are some amazing doctors out there...

There are also some shamefully negligent ones.

Upon my Mother's diagnosis and with the history of cancer in my family, her Doctors made it explicitly clear that my siblings and I needed to get tested.

I spent the following couple years trying to get referrals to do so, but most of the doctors were dismissive. You're under 50 and you don't have symptoms of colon cancer. Granted, I had during this time also developed odd symptoms unrelated to colon cancer and, like my mother, related to feminine issues instead.

So by chance, I eventually managed to put up enough of a huff that I at least got sent to a women's health specialist. This Doctor LISTENED and did not dismiss my family history. She was concerned and not only did she have me screened & tested thoroughly for things in her specialty that could cause the issues, but she pushed to see to it that I got screened for colon cancer as well. She is the one that not only got me the referral I needed, but the operation appointment too, so that the referral didn't result in another dismissal because of my age. And it probably would have, as the surgeon initially seemed annoyed like it was a waste of her time when she realized I was a young woman of 29 in for a colonoscopy. It was only after I pointed out: My Mother is 45 and slowly dying of colon cancer and is in a hospital as we speak, that her general attitude changed more to a "Yeah, I guess its worth the look".

And it was. I had a pre-cancerous tumor and multiple polyps. At 29. My younger sister's screening turned up multiple polyps as well, as did my 20 year old brother. The biopsy showed the tumor was pre-cancerous, but no signs of cancer yet. But the rest needed to be removed to prevent it from getting to that point and to ensure none of the remaining tissue already had.

So within the month, I was admitted for surgery, fortunately with the same surgeon that had been treating my Mother. I was fortunate, it was removed, the biopsy of the removed portions showed no cancer and visual inspection showed nothing as well. And I didn't end up with a colostomy. Just a nifty, big ole scar. Not long after, while I was still recovering from my own surgery, we lost my Mother.

My Mother, My Gynecologist and my Mother's Doctors, saved my life. After multiple doctors dismissive attitudes led to my Mother's advanced condition that resulted in her eventual death... And after that same dismissive attitude that could have eventually led to me facing the same future.

The point of sharing this is this: You are NEVER too young to get cancer. The cancer forums are FILLED with patients under 50, many of them terminal or already having gone through multiple rounds with cancer. And there isn't always symptoms and sometimes the symptoms aren't normal for the condition. If you have a family history of cancer, get screened. If you have symptoms or any concerns what so ever, get screened. If a Doctor is dismissive and pulls the age crap... Put your foot down and call them on it. If you don't have symptoms and they won't screen without symptoms being present (stupidity at its finest for a doctor), well then... To quote my Surgeon's advise for insisting upon future follow ups:

"If you don't have symptoms, you HAVE SYMPTOMS."

You have a right to pursue *preventive* care. And that is what early screening is. The earlier you catch a problem like cancer, the better your odds are. It is wrong for a doctor to be dismissive of that.

So, I'm going to tie things up here. I promise to try and keep things more cheery around here, but this is something I needed to put out there for some of my peers below 50.

To lighten the atmosphere and sweep away the awkward silence if you read all the way through... The next few posts will be shopping haul reviews. Huge change of topic, right? I know, its random. It happens. Please look forward to some shopping hauls from Koreadepart, MemeBox, Missha and Jolse in the coming weeks. As well as periodic product reviews. If you have any product review requests, please feel free to ask and I will try to accommodate the requests.