More Cancer Survivors
Posted 6/16/2012
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What a long way we have come since "cancer" was an unspoken word. If someone were fortunate enough to have survived "the Bid C", it was generally a secret. Many of us, when trying to compile an accurate famly history, are surprised to learn that a grandmother or a great uncle or a cousin had cancer. I work with many women, who are now dealing with cancer themselves, who have painful memories of a mother's illness and th words that could not be spoken.
Today's entry is from Medpage about the increasing numbers of cancer survivors. There are a lot of us, and our numbers have stimulated a lot of attention to our needs. We finish treatment and many of us, blessedly, go on to have long and healthy lives (as one of our beloved oncologists liked to say, "Cancer, schmancer--as long as you've got your health."). We do, however, live those lives with changed bodies, certainly evolved perspectives and world views, and often some vulnerabilities to later physical problems. Here is the beginning and then a link to read more:
Aging, Better Therapies Boost Cancer Survivor Numbers
At the start of this year, there were an estimated 13.7 million survivors of cancer living in the U.S., researchers reported.
And by Jan. 1, 2022, that number is expected to rise by 31% to some 18 million, according to Rebecca Siegel, MPH, of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues.
Despite the falling incidence of many cancers, the increases are expected largely because of the aging of the population and improvements in treatment that have increased survival rates, Siegel and colleagues reported online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/OtherCancers/33302
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