Is CANCER The New Silent Killer?

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Hardly have few words caused a chill run down the spine of the person hearing them than these ‘ You have cancer’. ‘You have to do this test to determine if you have so and so kind of cancer’. I have been there too at one point and I was like ‘Whey papa God I don’t need this one too on my plate na!’

Those words sound like the carpenter’s last nail on a coffin, the dead knell hammering ceaselessly with an insistent bang on the heart beat of the recipient. Plans get suspended and the race for survival takes front stage.

Many win the race, many more lose it.

The month of October always take me down memory lane. And what a dark lane it always is. As the Month heightens the awareness on Cancer especially breast cancer, so too does the period bring to mind bittersweet memories of people I knew who lost the fight to Cancer. Three of my friends died from breast cancer. The youngest was just 20. Last week, a friend was laid to rest bringing the number of those close to me who died from leukemia to 5. Many of them died in the prime of their lives with so much to live for.

As I write this, two other friends are battling cancer. One is fighting breast cancer. This has made me wondered a lot. Why the increased rise in cancer especially breast cancer? While growing up, we were made to believe this was a ‘white man’s disease’. However, the rate at which people especially young ones are dying from cancer is truly alarming. Some have attributed this surge to changing lifestyles and eating habits.

With inadequate health care providers and facilities in Cameroon and other African countries; where there is a marked rise in the incidences of cancer, there is cause for concern as survival rate is minimal. Since I am not a medic, I can’t say much.  Like everyone else affected directly or indirectly, I can only think out loud if Cancer is the new silent killer?

October is breast cancer awareness month. I found this link useful which I have decided to share here. I hope someone else may find it useful. Awareness is our best defense now. Let’s spread the word and get young women and girls screened for breast cancer and by extension, everyone for that matter should be decisive in making regular annual health checkups. Early detection can well mean the difference between surviving or not.

Here is a support to all those battling one form of cancer or the other.
PINK FOR A CAUSE.
Keep reading, keep sharing and Keep Commenting. They all inspire Me.

ARREY E. AGBOR-NDAKAW.

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