100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (37 page)

Association).

Perk #37: Cancer Allowed Me To Keep Better Tabs On My Teens

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Metal detecting.
Here is a relaxing hobby that doesn’t require any social-

ization and you can actually make money doing it! A metal detector is a

handheld machine that is waved across the ground in order to find metal

objects under the ground like coins, jewelry, and antique artifacts. Metal

detectors range in price from $50 to $5,000, depending on how many bells

and whistles you want it to have, or you can also get very good deals on

used detectors on some of the Internet “garage sale” sites. Metal detecting

has many advantages.

●
It requires lots of focus—one might say “meditation”—

on the sounds of the detector in order to find objects.

Hobbies are more than

Meditation in any form relieves stress.

just ways to pass the

time. They can improve

●
You are exposed to a healthy outdoor environment either

your health too!

in a field, at the beach, or just in your own backyard.

●
This hobby is usually done in solitude, allowing yourself time to “tune

everyone and everything out,” which can be very relaxing.

●
There is a chance that you may find good stuff and it’s fun when you do!

For more information about metal detecting and to get started visit

www.gometaldetecting.com.

Perk #38

Bank Account Recovery

I
was not the type of person who concerned myself with having lots of sav-

ings in the bank. Truth be told, my bank account was more often “in the

red” than I would care to admit. After my chemo started, however, I expe-

rienced a phenomenon that I like to call “Bank Account Recovery.” In other

words, I stopped shopping so often. Each chemo treat-

ment would knock me down for at least a week to ten

Being on chemo is like an

days—days that I was rendered unable to shop. I was

investment: on those days

pleasantly surprised at the reduction in my banking trans-

that you are not well

actions and the resulting bottom line. Folks, I’m not kid-

enough to shop, consider

ding you: by the time chemo ended, I had saved literally

it money in the bank.

hundreds of dollars!

HEALTH TIP #38

Invest in Cancer Screening

I
know it’s a “pain in the orifice,” but routine screening for cancer is still

the best way to catch it early. A routine mammogram caught my stage-3

breast cancer at age forty-one. Make it a point to check yourself and get

checked by a health professional for the major cancers like colon, breast,

prostate, skin, and cervical. The following are the guidelines to follow.

Skin Cancer Screening

Skin cancer is easy to screen because you do it in the privacy of your own

bathroom. You should be checking your skin for anything new or unusual

once or twice a year, but become familiar with your skin now, to notice areas

that might pop up later. Remember your ABCDEs. If you see a mole that

has any of the following characteristics have a health professional check it

out to see if you need further assessment:

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Perk #38: Bank Account Recovery

149

●
A
symmetrical

●
B
orders are blurred or not defined

●
C
olor is not uniform, but has dark or light patches

●
D
iameter is larger than a pencil eraser

●
E
volving shape, color, or size of a mole

Those with any of the following risk factors should see a dermatologist

for surveillance and further medical screening suggestions as you are con-

sidered a higher risk than the general population.

●
a family history of melanoma

●
the presence of atypical moles (moles that have ABCD or Es)

●
previous melanoma

●
skin that is fair, burns easily, and fails to tan

●
numerous frecklings and common moles

●
blue eyes or red hair

●
a history of blistering sunburns

A partner or someone else (who is very close to you) should check the

“hard to check” places like the back of your neck, your scalp, backs of your

legs, and any other areas you can’t see well in the mirror.

Colon Cancer Screening

The following tests should begin at age fifty.

●
Fecal occult blood testing yearly. Samples of stool are placed on special

cards and sent to the doctor’s office to see if there is any blood hiding in

the stool. You can also get these online and do the testing. If positive,

you should see a health professional for further recommendations.

●
Flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years. A flexible light with a camera is

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

shoved up your butt gently inserted into the anus to allow the doctor to

check for abnormalities in the rectum and lower part of the colon. This

test is usually done in the doctor’s office, and, as it’s not particularly

painful, you don’t need to be put to sleep.

●
Colonoscopy every ten years or at the doctor’s recommendation. You are

given a sedative while the doctor examines your whole colon and rectum

with a lighted camera and takes pictures (8-x-10 glossies are available

upon request). Polyps, which are small growths, can be removed and

biopsies can be taken during the test. After age seventy, the risk of this

test might outweigh the benefits and is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Prostate Cancer Screening

A blood test called a PSA (prostate specific antigen) can determine if further

testing needs to be done. The right screening for you should be discussed

with your healthcare provider.

●
PSA should be done at age forty in men with more than one family mem-

ber diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of sixty-five.

●
PSA should be done at age forty-five in men who are black and also those

with one immediate family member diagnosed with prostate cancer

before age sixty-five.

●
PSA should be done at age fifty for most other men.

Breast Cancer Screening

In the future, I think screenings will involve more efficient methods that

give more information, but for now these are the recommendations:

●
At age twenty, start self-breast exams monthly. Go to www.breastcancer.org

to see how. You may see some recent literature that says there is no benefit

to self-exams. To that I say, “Tell that to all the women who found their

breast cancer through self-exams.” There is no downside to knowing your

body and being able to find changes in it. There is no “risk” associated

with self-breast exams no matter what nonsense you happen to read.

Perk #38: Bank Account Recovery

151

●
A clinical breast exam, meaning a manual exam done by a healthcare pro-

fessional, should be started in your twenties and be done every three years

until age forty and yearly after that.

●
At age forty, start yearly mammograms and continue for as long as you

are in good health.

●
Women at high risk either because of family history or genetic factors

should be screened with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in addition

to mammograms.

Cervical Cancer Screening

A routine pap test with an exam is recommended. A small swab of cells

from the cervix is examined in a lab for abnormalities.

●
From age twenty-one to age twenty-nine a Pap test should be done every

three years.

●
From age thirty to age sixty-five a Pap test should be done as well as the

new HPV test (Human papillomavirus) yearly. The presence of HPV can

put you at risk for cervical cancer. The HPV test is preferred, but optional.

●
Testing is not recommended for women over sixty-five who have had neg-

ative results until then. For serious cervical precancerous condition, test-

ing should continue for twenty years even if those tests are past the age

of sixty-five.

●
For women who have had hysterectomies with their cervix removed, test-

ing is not needed; however, they should still be seen yearly for routine

GYN exams to examine all the parts that are still intact. Yes, you can get

cancer anywhere.

Lung Cancer Screening

For those who are at high risk for lung cancer, there is a new test that can

detect lung cancer up to five years before a tumor is visible. High-risk includes:

●
anyone who was or is a smoker

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

●
those who grew up in a smoking household

●
family history of lung cancer

●
exposure to radon or asbestos

This blood test—EarlyCDT-Lung tests—tests for the pres-

Screening may seem

ence of autoantibodies to lung cancer proteins that form at

like a waste of time,

the earliest stages of this disease. It’s a simple blood test that

but it isn’t if cancer

is covered by most insurance. For more information go to

is caught early.

www.HelloHaveYouHeard.com.