I promise that I'll write about Web stuff and social media again... soon. But I need to get this cancer info out there as I continue to learn more about the disease. And specifically the one that clobbered me...
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer -Adenocarcinoma. Stage 1b with a breech or spread of the pleura.
I've learned that it can take years even decades for the initial affected cell to do its thing and mutate to become a tumor. This information is interesting because it could help pinpoint how I may have gotten lung cancer as a non-smoker.
Cells becomes tumors through several steps. The first step is "Initiation" which is the disturbance that affected and modified the cells to begin with. This could be chemicals, radiation, virus... and in my case, probably second hand smoke. The next steps are "Promotion" and "Progression". This process can take up to 40 years. During this time it's not yet cancer. The bunch of modified cells begin to band together to maybe start to do something dastardly upon an organ. These are not detectable. Lung cancer is one of those that may stick around in the progression stage for decades. After progression, detectable cancer appears in the form of a primary tumor(s). Then there's metastasis. That's when it spreads to other organs in the form of secondary tumors. There's nothing after that. Nothing.
Here's the scary thing for you... You may have modified cells in the promotion and progression stages working away in one of your organs right now. Again these are not detectable. But it's very possible.
So what do you do?
A major thing is to eat foods that fight cancer. Change your diet. There are several studies that say a proper diet can keep the already existing modified cells at bay so that they never form a tumor.
Here are the books that I've found that are really cool and do a great job explaining how and why certain foods reduce the formation of cancer.
Foods to Fight Cancer by Richard Beliveau, PhD. and Denis Gingrass, PhD.
Great illustrations and photography in this too. The first chapters are about "knowing your enemy" so it goes into some nice biological detail about what cancer is and how it works. Basically start eating lots of fruits and vegetables and you might want to take an Indian cooking class. Tumeric... it's all about tumeric! :)
What to Eat if You Have Cancer by Maureen Keane and Daniella Chase
I just got this one, but it seems to have a great reputation. It's mostly about eating during the disease, but it's good advice no matter what. Plus it has recipes.
Anticancer - by David Servan-Schreiber
I mentioned this one before, but I thought I'd bring it up again. He really goes into the science of the diet and how it fights and prevents cancer. It's told as a personal story so it's not to nerdy. I haven't finished this one either, but trust me, it's good.
Just after my surgery, I had to stop reading about cancer. I couldn't pick up anything non-fiction in fact without getting depressed, so I started reading all fiction to help escape. I've read some awesome stuff during this time. A bunch by Sherman Alexie, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett (Good Omens), The Princess Bride, and lately the Octavian Nothing books by M.T. Anderson. Oh and my favorite of the bunch has been Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradely... So if you get tired or overwhelmed by cancer books, I don't blame you. Pick up something fun to read. Then go eat anticancer foods!
