The local cancer shop in my town.
The article on the study states, "There was significant evidence suggesting a stigma against lung cancer
and a strong negative attitude about the disease. And it turns out this
finding was consistent across all the different types of participants,
including doctors and patients. Although we’ve known for some time that
lung cancer is not always caused by smoking, there are clearly biases
remaining from this association in most of us – a "mental residue" of
sorts."
Interesting.
Have you ever asked a lung cancer patient, "Did you smoke?" I've been asked that a few times when I discuss my Grand Father dying from lung cancer. (And yes, he was a smoker.) We would never ask a breast cancer patient if she did something to her boobies to cause cancer. We would never ask a brain cancer patient what he did to his brain to get him in this situation. Yes, there are certain habits that can lead to a cancer diagnosis--hello! my tanning days!--but that's not always the case.
Take my friend Erin for example. She wasn't a sun worshiper, and I don't think she ever used a tanning bed, but here she is battling stage IV Melanoma.
It isn't always our fault.
Shit just happens sometimes.
(And seriously, I beat myself up enough about it as it is! I don't want a doctor discriminating against me because of a stupid habit I had years ago.)
Let's hope this study causes folks to take a step back and treat everyone equally. It definitely opened my eyes to my own assumptions!
Anywho, we are preparing to go to bed early on this Friday evening. Engagement pictures tomorrow! Then I have a few days of resting before I head back to NYC on Wednesday for my next set of scans and treatment. Yep, scanxiety has already hit!
Have a wonderful sun safe weekend!
