Insight on Cancer

Before taking this course, I only had a broad understanding of what cancer was and how cancer works. I knew that it could appear at any time and any place regardless of who the person may be. I was only aware of it because I had three family members pass away from it. My grandpa and my aunt were smokers and they both passed away from lung cancer. My grandmother was a smoker as well, but developed breast cancer. I found out she had it during the summer when I was in middle school. My siblings and I stayed with her during the day throughout this time period and at the time we didn’t really understand how serious it was because we were so young. She had to go to chemotherapy and even had to get one of her breasts removed, then one day she told us that it was gone. Everyone was happy, but the celebration was shortly lived when we learned that the cancer returned. She was still a fighter and she definitely didn’t let it run her life, but the summer after my sophomore year in high school she and her sister, my aunt that I mentioned earlier, were both emitted to the emergency room. Their rooms were right around the corners from each other, which made it easier for the family to see them both. It seemed as though my grandmother was doing fine and that she’d be leaving soon, but I ended up getting a phone call from my cousin crying hysterically repeated yelling “I thought you said she was going to be okay!” It felt like someone stole my heart. The cancer, along with pneumonia took my grandmother’s life. My aunt wasn’t doing too well and we all knew that we didn’t have too much time left with her. Two days later she passed away.

What I learned in this course is that the choices that we make today can have an affect on us tomorrow. That's why its important to make the right choices now, like not smoking, avoiding UV rays, and doing our best to stay healthy overall. This course was very influential to me because I now know what everyday habits to steer clear from that could put my family, peers, and myself at risk of having cancer and explain to them what causes the risks and how the cancer can be formed. I know that if I knew what I know now, I would've been able to help reduce the risks of cancer for my lost loved ones, but I am grateful that I have the knowledge now to help those who are still with us so that we can all live healthy lives.