Curse

Mistical miss · May 30, 2007, 05:19 PM // 17:19

I think I know what u are getting to soticoto, as I had a conversation with you ingame some time ago that was in a way similair to this one.

However real cancer, can not be beaten by placebo. Its different than depressions or normal illness. Its more likely the doctors made a mistake in calling it cancer than that the cancer had gone away because he didn't worry about it. Its cells replicating faster than they should, and no way to stop them from doing so. I don't believe its possible to cure it without treatment at all. (Thats what I know from learning about cancer for my biology test though, I may perhaps be wrong there)

And unlike you, there are people who do want to know if they are likely to get cancer, just because when they are treated on time, they may be cured, and live for many more years.

Dragonlord Tony · May 30, 2007, 09:49 PM // 21:49

You make a good Point Soti, mental health does play a big role in ones health overall. However there's a difference between living a worried life and a cautious one. We're not trying to freak everyone off the face of the planet and force them to live in a plastic bubble. The purpose of awareness events like this is to...well...become aware. Simple 5 min checks every month or so isn't much of a big deal. In the case of Breast cancer, women are constantly reminded of their chances of getting it anyway from doctors and television and such. Don't you think a simple check offers peace of mind for the majority of women who won't get breast cancer?

About you not wanting to know if you have cancer or not, you said yourself Soti, that because your father and grandfather suffered from some sort of cancer that you have a good chance of getting cancer yourself. So deep in the back of your mind you're already questioning the state of your health. You didn't need a doctor to tell you that your chances of getting cancer are higher than the average person. Now, picture someone in your situation only her mother and grandmother suffered from breast cancer. She will know that she has a good chance of getting it too and to me, not taking any initiative to find out if you have it or not will cause far more worrying. Maybe because she knows her chances of getting breast cancer are almost 100%, if she finds it early enough, theres a great chance of her surviving. The question then changes from "if" to "when." Cancer is not a death sentence, like you have proved with you stepgrandfather. There are many factors that come into play as to how a person defeats cancer. We are just trying to get people to make sure they protect themselves with the easiest and most reliable way possible.

You also have to notice that I've been specifically addressing ONLY breast cancer because there are many forms of cancer and what I'm saying isn't necessarily true in all cases. On that note, what you're saying isn't necessarily true in all cases either Soti. In a disease so diverse you cannot possibly generalize them all.

The difference between Breast cancer and most other cancers is that early detection can mean the difference between life and death. If being cautious and finding it early saves your life, don't you think you'd want to know instead of finding out from the doctor when its too late? Again theres a difference between cautious and worrying. On top of that, wouldn't the death of a loved one cause more pain and stress to his/her family and friends than taking a simple precaution and overcome cancer? You said yourself mental health is very important and be aware that just because you have accepted your own fate doesnt mean your loved ones have.

I really don't see how events like this cause more worrying. They're warning people about threats that are very real. If what you say is true, do you think people who live in areas where there are poisonous animals present are just going to lock themselves in their house and never leave? No, they arent going to live in fear, they are just going to live cautiously and perfectly contempt.

To sum it all up, yes I see your point Soti. In cases where the cancer is going to almost certainly result in death, I wouldnt want to know either. But you cannot assume everyone feels the same way. Some people want to know how much time they have left because they can tell their health is fading. That way they can savor and cherish their last few moments of their life which will make it that much better. I lost my best friend, my great grandfather, about 6 years ago to lung cancer because when he was young he used to smoke. His last year with us, he knew he was about to go. We were informed that he had lung cancer about 8 months before he died but we didn't tell him because like you said, we didnt want him to worry. So one day he finally asked us to give him the truth, so we told him and he was glad that he could go in peace instead of wondering why his health was deteriorating.

In the case of breast cancer, since it is preventable, think of it this way. I would rather have a sign on a door, warning me that within the building there are radioactive chemicals present, instead of blindingly walking into the building and possibly getting contaminated only to die of radiation later. The sign provides you with an option, the people who want to read it will read it and the people who would rather not know won't. We arent forcing anyone to do anything, simply giving them an option.

billy brute · May 31, 2007, 10:37 AM // 10:37

I will try to attend, if you can PM me with a time relative to GMT?

God Apprentice · May 31, 2007, 12:16 PM // 12:16

Hope to be there <3

MasterSaji · May 31, 2007, 08:47 PM // 20:47

As was pointed out to me in an email, when I said the event will begin around noon EST, I mean US EST, or UTC -4.

Kalee Leilani · Jun 01, 2007, 06:12 AM // 06:12

I am 32 and have just finished treatment (mastectomy, chemo & radiation) for stage 3b breast cancer. For those of you that don't know there are only 4 stages, so mine was not caught early. As mentioned above it was a misdiagnosis because I was pregnant at the time I asked about it.

I will be there to celebrate that I am still alive!

Patrick Smit · Jun 01, 2007, 07:27 AM // 07:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistical miss

Good news

In Rotterdam (The Netherlands) the researchers made progress on breastcancer research, they found 5 gens that make it more likely for that person to have breastcancer, this way its easier to find out who can get breastcancer because of the inherited gens. Now those persons can be warned for the risk and perhap pay a yearly visit to the doctor if they are very likely to fall to breastcancer.

It just allows a more expensive analysis then the one everyone can use today. Two tips, ask your parents about cancers in the family, occurence might make you prone to it, and then it is indeed good to be aware as many suggest here. Second tip, touch yourself. Inspect your breasts on a regular basis, if u feel any hardened tissue go and seek advice with the doctor. It might be as innocent as an inflamed gland or a cyst, can be a benign growth, but can also be a malign tumor. They will just take it out and perform an analyses.

Genes can be helpfull in screening for this cancer, but remember even breast cancer is not one single disease. The best indicator you are at risk is just to check the family history, and touch yourself regularly to ensure early diagnosis ^^. More expensive means don't provide a better resolution.

Genetic analyses can be good especially if it allows assesment of early in life disease. But for something that affects quite some people late in life I would say it is a too expensive method that doesnt really help. Besides that, it also gives rise to discussion on the "gene pasport". We should embrace genetic analyses as a viable tool, but we should not resort to blind screening of every individual in a zealous attempt to stop cancer, we won't. Currently the technique is still quite expensive, especially when compared to simple self hands on analysis, we better use the money in another, more effective manner.

(FYI I am a molecular biologist, feel free to ask anything concerning genes and cancer, i'm willing to look at your questions or discussion in a constructive manner and explain it in layman's terms)

Some remarks on this piece of text:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistical miss

...However real cancer, can not be beaten by placebo. Its different than depressions or normal illness. Its more likely the doctors made a mistake in calling it cancer than that the cancer had gone away because he didn't worry about it. Its cells replicating faster than they should, and no way to stop them from doing so. I don't believe its possible to cure it without treatment at all. (Thats what I know from learning about cancer for my biology test though, I may perhaps be wrong there) ...

Well the state of mind can help fighting diseases, a placebo can therfore be affective, how then? Well the immune system, which fights out of control cellular systems or attacking ones (ie virusses or other organisms), is affected by the state of mind. How this exactly achieved is unvclear at the moment, but healthy, happy people are more resilient then ones that are not happy. The immune system is often much more reactive in persons with a good state of mind.

Though fighting cancer by the body itself is difficult as the cancer has the ultimate disguise, it is part of you, and therefor is like a terrorist cell in todays society. each cell is being monitored for activities and if they present activities (i.e. proteins) that should not be present they get killed. Now some cancers have very little protein abnormalities and therefore go undetected by the immune system and therefore are able to grow and spread through the body. True medicine for it will be very hard to design, as a singl;e cancer like breast cancer may have many different causes in different individuals. So currently we take shotgun approaches like drugs that kill quickly dividing cells and removing affected tissue (including some healthy tissue). The best would be ofcourse if we could discriminate cancer from normal cells, but if nature has already so much trouble with it, why would we be able to improve on it? Many scientists have this uber feeling that we can improve on nature, but reflecting from the past we will have to draw the conclusion that in many cases we are unable to do so. Yes there are some succes stories like antibiotics, but nature is catching up very quickly and u might have heared from those MRSA bacteria that are resistant to almost all antibiotics we can produce.

BassVII · Jun 01, 2007, 02:12 PM // 14:12

I'm going to try to make it, I lost my dad to breast cancer, so I know how it can mess up a family.

So everyone get ready to see a pink and purple necro!

Maria Moon · Jun 01, 2007, 04:15 PM // 16:15

ok ty for the update, righting it down right now

XvArchonvX · Jun 01, 2007, 09:10 PM // 21:10

Count me in for sure. I just need to decide which character to pinkitize...

Mistical miss · Jun 02, 2007, 08:05 AM // 08:05

Thank you patrick smith, for clearing this up

StarrTheInsane · Jun 04, 2007, 12:49 AM // 00:49

I actually have a male ritualist wearing pink (red+white) armor and I wish I could take him to the event, but I'm going to be on the other side of the state that weekend.

My father's mother had a double mastectomy last month and my mother's grandmother also had a mastectomy...so it's coming at me from both sides.

Stalker Haras · Jun 04, 2007, 02:52 AM // 02:52

another image reminder.

MasterSaji · Jun 04, 2007, 04:53 AM // 04:53

Wow, very nicely done, Stalker

And that's right, only 12 more days till Pink Day in LA!

Stupid Shizno · Jun 04, 2007, 09:15 AM // 09:15

red+silver to make pink? i want to make dye to participate =[

MasterSaji · Jun 04, 2007, 01:16 PM // 13:16

Well it's different for most armors (gotta love Anet's dye formula lol) But yeah, try purple+red or silver+red first.

MasterSaji · Jun 04, 2007, 01:19 PM // 13:19

Well it's different for most armors (gotta love Anet's dye formula lol) But yeah, try purple+red or silver+red first.

MerQry · Jun 05, 2007, 08:38 AM // 08:38

I posted about your action on Polish community forum.
Just let us know specific time coz I think it will be in the middle of our night.
I will come with my monk.

EDIT: I used time converter - GTM-4 is about 6 pm in Europe

Tom Stone · Jun 05, 2007, 08:55 AM // 08:55

my mother died for breast cancer... you may count on me any time...

Abedeus · Jun 05, 2007, 11:59 AM // 11:59

Merqry indeed posted it (hehe), and even if it was few hours ago, there are many people wanting to help and join you in this action. I already posted a message on my guild's forum, so there will be at least 10 people more. All people should do same.