In fact there are billions every day who find out they have it, are being treated for it, are being told it’s in remission, or they know someone who is finding out they have it, are being treated for it, or are in remission.
That is how every day Cancer has become as a disease.
Every day people have or are experiencing every single kind of Cancer.
My mother had a melanoma removed from her arm when I was ten. At 17 I had my first three moles removed and was told that one of them had changing cells so he was glad he’d gotten that early.
Back on the 22nd of October I went to the skin cancer clinic and had myself checked. They decided to remove two moles and one would be removed from my arm that day.
On the 5th of November I was told it was skin cancer.
Mind you, the doctor confused me just a bit. He kept telling me I had skin cancer but it was not a melanoma. So I told him I was confused and he explained how there are three different kinds of skin cancer.
1 – Basal Cell Carcinoma or BCC
2 – Squamous Cell carcinoma or SCC
3 – Melanoma
And then little old harmless moles are called Seborrhoeic Keratoses
So basically there are small, medium and large skin cancers and I had the small. Meh, no big deal. I learned at 17 there would always be the chance I would get skin cancer and so it is no big deal to me. And yes, I developed this cancer two years ago even though I use sunscreen on days I have short sleeve or sleeveless tops on. So clearly that should tell you that skin cancer will develop regardless of what one does to prevent it. I watched it grow, I watched it blister, bleed, itch, hurt. Two years ago it didn’t exist, until it started growing.
The other thing that I have found is that with the confusion people tend to think unless you are sick, bald or dying from cancer then you don’t have cancer. This is not true.
ALL cancer goes through stages like everything else. You catch the lump, mole, gland early and it can be removed, biopsied, treated and you’re fine, like me, they took enough for them to not take any more. Then there are those who don’t find it until it’s developed and they need to have a larger piece removed, will need some treatment. Then there are those who catch it too late due to the refusal of preventative treatment and end up sick for years and essentially on their death bed until they die.
I believe this is where people are confused as to who actually has cancer and it is only the very sick who can say they have it. Millions of people catch their cancer early, need no treatment and can still say they had cancer. Because we did. It may have been small, but it was caught in the early stages and we are fine. Just because we are not sick or don’t need treatment doesn’t mean we didn’t have cancer.
On the 5th of November I also had a mole removed from my left hip which required 15 stitches and was about 3 inches long. It itched and hurt and ached, even after two weeks.
On the 18th of November I went back to the doctor to have the stitches removed (he yanked them out like he was unripping a hem on a pair of pants) and was told it had abnormal cells and was a melanoma. I’d had that mole for decades. It too had itched and dried out and I thought that was simply due to dry skin. But no. It was a melanoma.
On the 22nd of November Hugh Jackman sent a picture out via Instagram of his nose covered in bandages looking all sorry for himself. He too had a BCC cut off but he looked like a sad sack. I barely blinked at having mine removed.
Skin cancer is no big deal to get all upset over unless you have allowed your fear of going to the doctor prevent you from actually seeking treatment. Only then, when it is too late because you were too stupid to go, will you die from it. Very rarely do people die from BCCs as they are the most common skin cancers in people.
Had you have stopped wasting time and energy on fear of what “might be” and got yourself to the doctor (just as with all cancers), all will be lost. So for the love of God people, get to the bloody doctor! Needing a mole removed is not the end of the world.