A friend asked what Olivia Newton-John's death meant to me, having recently had a lumpectomy for breast cancer. I said that aside from the dismay and compassion for the pain and discomfort she suffered, my take-away is that someone can live 30 years after an initial, aggressive cancer and have a life of continuing value! That is not the breast cancer experience I heard about growing up and is already a game-changer.

On the darker side, my PCP mentioned that when he was in medical school, 30 years ago, the risk for breast cancer was less than half of what it is today. Some of that can be explained by the fact that many more cases of breast cancer are identified by advanced screening and a higher percentage of women having mammograms. But the actual per capita numbers for breast cancer are increasing too. Women's bodies are sometimes thought of as the canaries in the coal mine as early responders to pollutants, contaminated food, et al. I don't what it will take to unite everyone to demand environmental responsibility and de-throne corporate control of the food chain but I suspect women will be the major force behind ant meaningful change, if only to protect children. Clearly cancer cells are finding opportunities to exist and we haven't closed that vector yet.

Jump to this post