mileycyrussunburnedparts-blog
mileycyrussunburnedparts-blog
Miley Cyrus
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Defining My Direction
Good morning, everyone.  Though it isn't morning as I write this, and chances are it isn't morning while you're reading, either.  "Good morning" just sounds welcoming.  So that's what I'm going with. As some of you may know, my new book, Metastatic Memories is out.  You can find it here, in both paperback and Kindle editions.  My six-month-old nephew reviewed the book (spoiler: it's adorable).  You can find his review here. It's been quite the week.  Metastatic Memories was released, I picked up leads on new freelance clients, I found out my chances of the cancer coming back are down to 15%, I had a mini-breakdown, I reflected a lot on friendship, and what it's like to be a young adult cancer survivor attempting to function as normal in the real world.  All of this happened conveniently during Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week, and they all deserve their own posts.  For the time being, I'll leave you with a small shred of wisdom, which is -- life is what you make it.  You can be all kinds of things, and have all kinds of things happen to you.  But it's how you respond to your circumstances and how you go about accomplishing the goals you set for yourself that define your direction.
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Metastatic Memories is Out! Read About my Young Adult Cancer Memoir Here!
Pick it up here! Wow.  It's been a long journey.  A very, very long journey.  But Metastatic Memories is finally published.  I hope you'll pick up a copy and share my story.  Because it isn't just my story; it's the story of 72,000 new young adults each year.  It's the story of untold millions worldwide.
Writing this book was easy.  The editing was the hard part.  I had to go over it again and again, making changes and rewriting passages until it reflected what I honestly believe to be a true account of my brush with untimely death.  And now it's done, and I hope that everyone will take something from the book.  I hope it will help. Recently, while my family was passing the review copy between them, my nephew, the Creature, somehow managed to get his hands on it...
I may have had to coax him into it.
The Creature was not impressed with my efforts to bribe him with tickles.
Eventually, he got into it.
The Creature likes it!  "Hey!" he might have said, had he been able to form sounds other than Glar Glue Glar Gwwaaaa, at the time. "My uncle tells a pretty good story!  This might just be my favorite book."
Why thank you Creature.  Your uncle is proud to have such a dedicated reader in the family.  Creature, you even make a short cameo at the end of the book -- it's possible that you're reading about yourself here.  Or it could be that I've made that up, just like I've staged this whole post to serve as promotional material for the book.  What a low thing to do, using such an adorable creature as a prop!  Well, the truth is that I'm kind of attached to you, Creature, and I'm glad you're my nephew, and that one day you'll grow up and read my books, and tell me how much you don't agree with my version of events, just like your mom.  I can't wait for that day. Until then, I'll just keep reading them to you, and pretending that your gurgles and smiles are rave reviews on content and sentence structure.  They're definitely more valuable to me than any other kind of review. Buy your copy of Metastatic Memories here.
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Take a Peek at the Review Copy of Metastatic Memories!
The review copy of Metastatic Memories is here, and I couldn't be more excited about it.  Feel all my excitement through your screen.  Feel it.  It's exciting.  Exciting!
I have to say, the book looks great.  I mean, really great.  It feels good, has a nice heft to it.  The formatting turned out well.  The cover is exceptional -- it was designed by my good friend John Langan at TheCatchMode. I'm in PA for my upcoming six-month checkup at UPMC's Hillman Cancer Center, and had the review copy shipped to my parents' townhouse.  My family has hijacked the book and have been hoarding it since it arrived yesterday afternoon.  Apparently it's good.
Check out a few pictures of the book in action. My mother raves, "Don't post those pictures of me in my bathrobe or I'll end you."
Metastatic Memories will be available for sale in the next week or two.  The paperback version will be up first (which looks great, by the way), followed shortly by the kindle version.  It'll be enrolled in the Amazon Matchbook program so that you can buy both and get a solid discount.
I can't thank everyone enough for all the support.  Writing this has been quite an adventure.  I can't wait for it to be out, and to share my story with the world.  See you all soon.
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Back Blurb for Metastatic Memories
I've been steadily at work on the back blurb for Metastatic Memories, and I think I've finally hit on something solid.  With the help of my dedicated editors and volunteer readers, I've come to a rough draft of what could become the finalized content.  Read it below.
Metastatic is a word that describes cancer that’s no longer contained to a single site, and has spread elsewhere.  Which is bad.  
Metastatic is the kind of cancer Kevin Lankes was diagnosed with at the age of 25.  At only a quarter of a century long, Kevin’s life began spiraling out of control, ushering him helplessly toward the unknown.  
This is a heart-wrenching tale of pain, loss of innocence, and the will to go on.  It’s a candid recounting of the events following the collapse of a life barely lived.  By the time he was 25, Kevin had managed a city-wide project, hung with celebrities, joined a secret society, and otherwise made his mother proud.  He was a New York City transplant with a powerfully bright future.  This is the story of his most challenging obstacle yet.  In and out of several appointments, whirring machines, and emotional states, he describes just what it’s like to be a young man whose world was swept out from under him in the prime of life, and what it’s like to find the courage to press on.  
Does this make you want to read the book?  Let me know in the comments!  
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Miley Cyrus Shows Off Her Sunburned Parts
Miley Cyrus came out with revealing pictures recently (what's new?).  Only these pictures showcased a nasty sunburn she'd gotten during her latest tour stop in Florida.  All of the media attention is on her skin... but in the erotic sense, and not the healthcare sense.  All of the advice is focusing on aloe to cut some of the pain she'll be subjected to at present.  While no one is mentioning the likelihood of much great suffering in the future. I see this as a golden opportunity for her to make a positive impact by discussing the rising rates of melanoma in people in their 20's.  It's now the leading cancer in our age group, and kills one person every hour.  But, ya know, I guess we can just keep looking at her lady parts and making light of sunburns. The reason for posting these latest pics is clearly to bring further attention to her loose cannon marketing blitz.  We all like to look at the crazy hot girl, and watch what she does next.  It's not surprising that you can find practically sixty-five million articles on these pictures.  But what you won't find are stats on her now elevated risk of melanoma, or stats on her risks of basal and squamous cell carcinomas.  If she comes down with cancer later in her life, though, it may bring us closer to my tongue-in-cheek goal of making cancer the next celebrity trend. And here's an article from Huffpost about Miley's latest escapade.
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An Even Newer Cover! Could This be the One?
I'm getting even more excited about the cover for Metastatic Memories.  I didn't think that was possible, but my perception of what's possible has been completely shattered by this new version of the cover.  Here I am before you, a shattered man.  But, I digress.  This new version of the cover is pure awesome.  And I can't thank them enough over at TheCatchMode for continuing to outdo themselves.
Check out the new cover:  
I think this one really captures the feel of the book.  We'll see what they come up with next.  But for now, this one's my first choice.  
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Book Update: A Cover Story
The cover is coming along nicely.  My friend John Langan at TheCatchMode sent over a zillion versions for me to evaluate, and we worked through them all until settling on one.  It felt a little like a trip to the eye doctor -- better... or worse?  Better..... worse?  Is this one better?  Or worse?  And so on. Here's the updated cover:
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This Is What The Cover Of Over A Year Of Pain Looks Like
The cover for Metastatic Memories is done!  My very good friend, John Langan, designed it based on a drawing I did in Middle School.  John and I go way back -- all the way, like, a few years ago to college.  Okay, probably close to seven years.  Which can qualify as "way back" if you only have a span of 28 years to pull from. I'm ecstatic about the way the cover turned out.  It holds a great deal of symbolism and emotion.  Transfixing, is a good word to describe the finished product.  It's the perfect image to reflect the feel of the words inside.  John and his fiance' own a design firm catering to a variety of needs.  Check out their website, or like their Facebook page. Without further ado, here's the cover of Metastatic Memories:
And here's the drawing it's based on:
I'm happy to report that editing is going well.  You can expect the release of Metastatic Memories at the end of March.  Read more about the book here.
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Reworking A Memoir About Cancer: The Journey of Documenting Tragedy
It's been a long while since I finished the first draft of the book I wrote detailing the events following my diagnosis with stage 3 melanoma.  Recently, I've opened up the file folder, "dusted" it off (regular internal dusting of your computer files is highly recommended by the Department of Dusty Computer Innards, a Pentagon affiliate), and started rewriting.  There was some kind of road block in the way of this for several months, and, if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that there still is.  I don't really know how I wrote it in the first place, not to mention, while I was undergoing immunotherapy.  It remains a mystery to me, because any time I think about working on it now, I feel the motivation spilling from my body like I've been wrung like a sponge. The past few days I've been able to push through.  But I still get easily put off and sidetracked.  I'm going to finish it though, complete with a new title, new Foreward and new internals.  I'm not changing all of it -- just the parts that I now realize are mostly unreadable.  This book, while representing a terrible time in my life history, has to be authentic, yet also entertaining.  That balance is crucial.  While I think it has great potential to reach many people and increase awareness for young adult cancer, it still has a short hop, jump, and skip to go before it crosses the finish line.  And I'm the one who has to usher it along.  There's no one else.  Writing is a very solitary profession to begin with, even more so when you're writing a book about an experience that made you feel isolated and alone. New title ideas are in the works, but right now I have these in mind: Metastatic Memories (the title of my first post, and the reason we're all here) Zen of Metastasis (after the blog -- though I have an idea for a better use of this title) Battlefield Me (though I'm not too keen on the war metaphors, the battle in this case would refer to the internal battle with myself throughout treatment) Cancer Kid (former title -- feels gritty, but trite to me now) Please leave your thoughts on the title change, along with any encouragement you'd be kind enough to impart. Until next time (at which point I will hopefully have a finished product for you to read!)
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Cancer Prevention From The Asbestos Cancer Victims' Rights Campaign
I received an email recently from the Asbestos Cancer Victims' Rights Campaign, asking if I wouldn't join them in spreading the word for National Cancer Prevention Month.  The Campaign is run by Susan Vento, an advocate for mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure.  Her husband, former U.S. congressman Bruce Vento, died of the disease. The article I've been asked to share is a great piece, highlighting prevention and early detection as the key methods of avoiding a cancer diagnosis.  I couldn't agree more, and I'm happy to aid in Susan's message any way I can.  Because it's not only Susan's message, it's all of ours.  Here story belongs to many of us.  We've all had a husband, a father, a daughter, a sister struggle with or fall victim to cancer.  And it's about time we dealt with the problem head-on. Take a look at the article here.  And please think about ways you can engage in cancer prevention too.
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Happy Valentines Day!
A warm hello to everyone on this, the day of the celebration of love.  Whether you agree with the consumer culture associated with the holiday or not, it's still a great time to refocus on positive energy and modes of thinking.  Today is the celebration of love.  
I especially wish all of my cancer survivor friends a Happy Valentines Day, because I know how difficult it is to be inspired by a celebration of something you no longer think you deserve, or can ever find again.  I hope that you are all as lucky as I am, having found that love again, and feeling all of the associated emotions along with it, like for instance, sometimes she's a huge (censored: most beautiful lady ever!).  Just remember that there are a lot of people out there, and you have something to offer all of them.  
And that about wraps it up.  Find your loved ones and have some fun.  
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You Wish You Had What Kind of Cancer??
Recently, an ad campaign from Pancreatic Cancer Action has come under fire.  The ads showcase pancreatic cancer patients actively wishing they had other types of cancer with better survival outcomes.  The campaign has been widely criticized for being insensitive and disrespectful to survivors of the showcased cancers, and survivors of other cancers in general.  It's true that the issue seems pretty straightforwardly douchey, and calls into question the current sobriety of whomever green-lighted the ads. The reasons for the uproar are probably more complex than a simple debate on political correctness, however.  Yes, it's completely unreasonable that Pancreatic Cancer Action chose to say something so insensitive, but the issue does highlight the ongoing need to reengage in a communal conversation about cancer. It seems to me that people were upset for two reasons: 1.) Survivors were upset because their suffering was belittled, and 2.) Non-survivors were upset because something upsetting was said about an already upsetting topic.  I'd like to briefly address both of those, as well as discuss the underlying issue it exposes. 1.) Survivors, like myself, were disturbed by the ads' chosen content.  Making it seem like there are "better" cancers to have is unacceptable.  There are no good cancers.  Cancer is a terrible disease that causes unimaginable pain and suffering to individuals, families, and whole communities.  It's like a giant, tumorous Godzilla.  In fact, Godzilla was spawned from the larger cultural fear of the atomic age and its health effects surrounding post-WWII Japan, and is part of a whole sub-genre of film called Hibakusha Cinema.  Hibakusha is a Japanese word that translates to "Atomic Bomb Victim."
Anybody wanna play frisbee? No?
And that's what cancer is like -- having a giant, terrible monster stomp through everything you've ever loved and hold dear to your heart.  And sometimes, all the way to the end of your pain-stricken, chemo-addled life.  Occassionally, people survive their ordeal and go into remission.  At this point in our medical technological capabilities, the achievement of remission is still mostly random.  Though, yes, there are certain cancers that are easier to maintain than others these days.  This is another sore point these ads have decided to intentionally focus on. Survivors are lucky.  Some of us know we're lucky.  And there's such a thing as survivor's guilt.  Maybe we don't want to be walking around as if nothing happened, while others are fading away in a hospital bed.  On some level, I think all survivors understand that cancer can kill any of us at any time.  The ones who survive are still just as upset about having gone through it.  Pancreatic Cancer Action's ads make it seem like we're better off, and no one is better off for having cancer. 2.) The public is upset BECAUSE CANCER!  Period.
Whenever the subject of cancer comes up in the media, there's a general sense of tiptoeing over glass while on thin ice next to a sleeping family of hungry bears with eczema.  When it's a good news story, anchors make sure to wear their biggest phony smiles, because they think it's what you want to see.  When it's a bad news story, they scrunch up their faces into a stony resolve, and throw on their biggest sympathy smiles.  It's human nature to not know what to do with someone else's suffering. But we've spent too much time tiptoeing around the issue.  It's way past the point where we should have had an open conversation about it.  The biggest obstacle to discussing cancer is that people die from it -- a lot of people.  And death anxiety is probably the most influential force in people's lives.  They don't want to talk about, or deal with anything revolving around their own mortality -- the slightest suggestion or whisper that someday they too will cease to exist.  Until cancer deaths lower significantly, it's going to be hard for most people to address the issue head-on. There's some overlap in this category, because survivors are not immune to death anxiety, and are, of course, in many cases much more susceptible to its effects.  We've already had a very real brush with death, and many of us retreat into a state a mind where it can never happen again.  Denial is the most powerful defense around.  Overall, it's an extremely complicated emotional response, and each individual achieves a different level of openness and self-introspection at different stages of their lives (if ever).  In terms of cancer, the level of public introspection is still relatively low, and so whenever the topic is breached in a negative light, there will be an immediate and forceful negative response. The key is education, and communication.  Through communicating openly about cancer we'll all, slowly and steadily, crawl tooth and nail onto the same page.  It'll be a long process, and it starts with a few loud-mouthed advocates.  Those advocates are here, and I have complete faith that someday we'll be able to not only rid the world of completely irresponsible advertising, but also, not become completely grab-a-torch-and-burn-down-Frankenstein's-Monster enraged by it either. Image credits: Top -- Lung Cancer Cells by Wellcome Images via Flickr; Middle -- Godzilla Cosplay by Telindra via deviantArt
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A Tale Of Two Kellers
I've been following Lisa Bonchek Adams for quite some time.  She's a patient advocate and cancer truth-teller, discussing the details of her ongoing ordeal with stage 4 breast cancer in an open and honest way.  I found her shortly after my own diagnosis, when I was confused and disoriented, having stumbled into a world that no longer made sense to me.  People like Lisa are important for several reasons.  Let's make a list. 1.) They point the way for cancer patients.  According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 1,660,290 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2013, roughly 72,000 of them were young adults, or people aged 15-39.  I was diagnosed at 25.  I had no idea what to do.  Immediately, I switched into handler mode, but quickly lost momentum and crashed into a sea of depression.  There isn't a lot you can do, lost and alone, to help yourself in the midst of a crisis.  Part of a healthy recovery includes a strong support network.  People like Lisa provided that for me, as I took to social media to commiserate and learn from those who had gone before me. 2.) They point the way for the rest of us.  Having cancer is awful.  But it teaches you things.  If you listen long enough to someone who has the disease, they might just convince you of what's really important in life, and you might just become a happier, healthier individual for it. 3.) These stories must be heard.  They contain hard truths.  Death, suffering, grief, depression, and the macabre are all realities in this life.  To ignore the truth means to become less adjusted and more easily taken in by falsehoods.  There are a lot of falsehoods when it comes to cancer.  Most everyone gets it wrong.  It's hardly ever represented truthfully, because the truth is too painful for the culture of ignorance we've created.  In one of my first posts, I discuss this idea in detail.  You can read it here. In a recent twist on Lisa's story, two op-eds were published by Emma and Bill Keller.  Emma's ran in the Guardian (since pulled), and Bill's ran in the New York Times.  Emma suggested that Lisa's approach to disseminating information revolving her struggle was offensive.  Bill backed her up when the public outcry delivered a swift backlash.  There's a great piece summarizing the whole incident making the rounds.  It was written by Megan Garber and ran in the Atlantic.  You can read that here, complete with featured tweets from Jeopardy record-holder Ken Jennings and cancer patient advocates. The question here is how we, as a society, would like to operate.  We can certainly choose to waltz through life peeking out from the wool over our eyes in some misguided attempt to preserve innocence.  That's the route the Kellers have chosen.  They're very adamant about the terminally ill keeping quiet, not ruining it for the rest of us.  Because the rest of us will surely never die.  Suffering will never touch anyone but Lisa Bonchek Adams, so let her do her suffering somewhere soundproof.  It's my firm belief that looking away never helped anyone, and the only way to move forward on an issue is to have an open and honest conversation about it.  And that's exactly what Lisa has been doing all along.  If cancer ever kills me, you can be sure I won't go quietly.
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Upcoming Interview With CRI
I had an interview recently with the Cancer Research Institute, the leading advocacy group for immunotherapy research, about my experience with the treatment and my life since.  I won't spoil anything, but in my completely objective and unbiased opinion, I think it may be the greatest interview since Frost/Nixon.
When a cancer survivor does it, it's not a crime!
I kid.  But it's still a worthwhile read.  In it, I talk about my approach to life after cancer, my relationships with those important to me, and what I'm trying to do with my life now that it's been given back to me.  It's not a bad little tale, mine.  And it reminds me every day to try my best to realize all of the lofty goals that popped into my head immediately after I was diagnosed.  Most of them were common sense, but things that still seemed so impossible to take action toward.  That is, until the threat of impending death forces your hand.  When you realize you have a very concrete deadline to accomplish whatever it is you believe you're here for, you start working a little harder to get it done.  In my case, spending time with those closest to me, helping out as much as I can to make the world a little better than it was when I got here, and living life on my own terms are what's important.  There are many specifics involved in each of those, but we'll save that for another post. The interview will run in print to subscribers.  And anyone can see the extended interview and extra pictures from the shoot on CRI's website.  I'll let everyone know when it's up.  Happy reading.
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Flu Vaccine Myths: A Young Adult Cancer Survivor Dispels The Misconceptions
It's that time of year again, when people crawl out of the woodwork shouting the failures of hundreds of years of technological advancements to the heavens.  The bandwagon of mistrust in big government, big pharma, big bad doctors, and misplaced faith in big unsubstantiated opinions is about to grow three-fold like the Grinch's heart on Christmas morning.  This is, after all, flu season. The Facebook posts are running rampant: "Flu vaccine kills one boy in Texas;" "Six grandmothers in Detroit;" "Three hundred groundhogs in Montana;" "One hundred and one Arabian Nights;" and, "Twelve dancers dancing during a popular holiday sing-a-long before horrified onlookers." Sometimes, they're framed in the form of questions designed to incite sensational reactions from the public: "Is the flu vaccine useful?"  "Does it work?"  "Should we stop getting the flu shot?"  "Should we stop waiting for traffic lights and wearing seat belts?"  "Is eating raccoon poop really going to kill us anymore?  I sprinkled some on my oatmeal this morning and I feel just fine."  "Are grizzly bears suddenly the best holiday gifts for teens?" Some of these headlines are disturbing.  But make no mistake, they are all completely and unquestionably real, aside from the ones that are not. I'm going to talk about the most common misconceptions regarding the flu vaccine, and why it's still essential that every living human do their duty to the species and get jabbed in the arm with a needle this holiday season.  I will be using my unique perspective as a cancer survivor to talk about some of the immunological aspects of vaccination science.  Try to relax, you may feel a little pinch. 1.)  The Flu Vaccine Causes The Flu This is completely impossible.  The virus has been modified so that it's unable to proliferate and give you the flu.  This is not new science, and it's been used every day for over a century.  The shot form of the flu vaccine specifically doesn't even include the actual virus.  It's called a subunit vaccine -- a vaccine that only contains certain parts or proteins of a virus in order to solicit an immune response to them.  The nasal spray variety includes a strain of flu that's been forcibly evolved by passing it through hundreds of chick eggs in order to create a version of the disease that can't infect humans. 2.)  I Always Get The Flu After Getting The Flu Vaccine You don't (See number 1), but I can explain the reason why you might think that.  Your immune system causes most symptoms you experience when you get sick -- headaches, chills, fever, nausea, aches and pains.  Your body does all of that stuff to itself.  A vaccine is designed to mimic a real infection, thus soliciting a real immune response.  In recent years, vaccines have gotten better at diminishing side effects.  Some say there shouldn't be any at all with the new rounds of flu vaccines. Here's an anecdote.  When I was going through immunotherapy, I was injecting obscene amounts of a protein called Interferon.  Interferon is one of the proteins your body produces to make you feel so crappy when you get sick, and I definitely felt like I was sick all the time.  That was coincidentally the year my boosters were up, and I ended up getting the flu shot, pneumonia vaccine, and the tetanus shot all at the same time.  I ended up in the hospital, and after they pumped a bag of fluids into my arm, I felt a little better.  Though I'm informed enough to know that the reason for this was my body's immune response to the vaccines, on top of my already overwhelmed immune system.  My case was a fluke, but, subsequently, if you're currently undergoing treatment for cancer, you should consult your PCP and your oncologist to find out about side effects. The American Cancer Society recommends that all patients get the flu shot.  Read a summary of their recommendations here. 3.)  Vaccines Don't Work This is false.  Edward Jenner was born in 1749.  He developed an hypothesis that contracting cowpox would prevent a person from coming down with deadly smallpox.  This is actually where the word vaccine originates -- from the Latin vaccinus, or, "pertaining to cows."  Smallpox was eradicated from the planet in 1980.  Notice how long it took to eradicate the disease from the time a solution was discovered.  The reasons for this are, 1.) this was the first major step and represents the early days of vaccination science, and 2.) viruses are effing complicated.  They're persistent, fast-evolving, complex organisms.  Scientists have to scramble to figure out the best ways to deal with them.  The flu is one of the most complicated viruses around.  Seriously, look up the science, the flu is a tricky mistress.  Start your research here with an article from BBC Science about the complexity of viruses and why they're so hard to beat.  In the case of the flu, it's still difficult to predict which strains will run rampant each flu season with 100% accuracy, but getting the shot will offer some measure of protection regardless.  And, to be fair to smallpox research, a campaign to globally eliminate the disease wasn't undertaken until 1959.  If you're interested, you can read more about the history of the disease and its eradication here. And here's a nifty bulletin from the WHO providing stats and figures for the successful use of vaccines, including the fact that in the U.S., incidence of infection from the nine diseases recommended for vaccination has decreased by 99%. 4.)  Vaccines Contain Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Ingredients The most commonly-cited ingredients of the flu vaccine are mercury and formaldehyde.  Okay, let's talk a little about chemistry for a moment.  Mercury is an element.  It can be found in different chemicals and substances, just like any other element.  The ingredient in question is called thimerosal, which breaks down into ethylmercury.  Ethylmercury is a substance that metabolizes quickly and exits the body without causing a toxic build-up of mercury.  Again, this is the type found in vaccines in the form of the preservative, thimerosal.  The dangerous sort, methylmercury, bio-accumulates through the food chain and can build up in the body through dietary intake, and create all sorts of risk factors to an individual's health.  This is why women aren't supposed to eat certain fish while pregnant -- the kind like shark and swordfish that are at the top of the food chain, because they'll have high concentrations of mercury coursing through them due to all the lower inhabitants of the food chain also consuming methylmercury.  Environmental contamination of mercury is also a factor in choosing your fish.  If you don't care much for facts and still like the idea of having mercury in your shot regardless, you can ask to have one without thimerosal in it. Formaldehyde is an organic chemical that occurs naturally in the body.  But, like most everything else, too much of it can be a bad thing.  It's produced internally, and we ingest it daily through our diet and other means, like breathing.  Formaldehyde is everywhere.  Though, it also metabolizes quickly, and doesn't easily accumulate.  The fact is, you get more formaldehyde by eating a pear than you do from the flu vaccine.  Here's a convenient guide.  Highlights to keep in mind: the most formaldehyde you'll probably get from vaccines will come when you're a baby, at the six-month checkup, and the amount will be 160 times less than the amount naturally produced by your body every single day. There are other ingredients cited, and they all have equally reasonable and mundane chemical explanations.  Why not do some reading? 5.)  My Decision To Abstain From Getting Vaccinated Doesn't Hurt You This is a reasonable thing to think.  Because, what you do is your business, right?  Well, not in the case of public health.  It turns out, there's a thing called Community Immunity, or (an even sillier though less poetic name) Herd Immunity.  Herd Immunity is a state or condition that's met when a sufficient amount of the population is immunized against a given disease, cited around 75-95%, though it varies for specific diseases.  Herd Immunity provides a safety net for society, and allows us to successfully contain a virus.  If you don't get vaccinated, you're running a cost-benefit analysis and playing a fun casino home-game.  Only when you lose, the risks may be a little higher than you bargained for, and include the extermination of the human race.  By not getting inoculated, you're providing a medium for the flu to evolve and become even harder to beat.  Herd Immunity is a complex science, and you can read more about it here. There you have it.  Those are the top flu myths around, and, conveniently, my own personal favorites.  There are many other false claims and misconceptions about the flu vaccine, such as, they cause autism, asthma, allergies, Alzheimer's, narcolepsy, blood disorders, the starving of puppies, your parents' divorce, and that they're descended directly from an intimate meeting between Satan and all those Hugo Weaving characters from Cloud Atlas.  I won't go into these, because there is absolutely no clinical research to show that there is merit to any of them, and a whole lot of research that says they're bunk. Parting tip: Always be wary of claims suggesting the rise in a certain disease or condition is dependent on any man-made means -- the rise of rates is proportional to the rise in population (i.e. there are more people, so there will be more cases of X).  Make sure to do your own research and be your own advocate, but, at the same time, pay attention to the actual research.  Facts are important. There are other flu vaccine guides out there on the interwebs, including this one from Gizmodo, which is extremely thorough and comprehensive.
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My Cancer Brings All the Crazies to the Yard
In today's day and age, it's important for the patient to be his or her own advocate.  It's an unfortunate reality, but as soon as something happens to you, you've unwittingly opened yourself to an entirely new world that you may not be prepared to successfully navigate.  And, while doing your best to focus on the issue at hand, it's easy to be taken in by snake oil and pseudoscience.  There's nothing worse than a cancer opportunist -- someone who uses your illness to his or her advantage, pushing ineffective and sometimes dangerous products and treatments.  I talk about some of my favorite fake treatments in another post, The Dangers of Alternative Health: 3 Treatments That Can Cause Some Serious Damage. The thing about cancer is that it's a biological process -- several, in fact, occurring simultaneously.  Cancer is a series of genetic and epigenetic malfunctions.  It isn't caused by any solitary force.  And it certainly isn't caused by mysterious "toxins" with no names or identities.  It isn't caused by your attitude either, or your karma (by the way, the western definition of karma is not even entirely accurate), or even when your room mate peed in the mini fridge in your dorm room the night he was really drunk.
The process looks like this.
Having cancer is a desperate situation for many people.  And it brings out the best and worst of the human race.  There are several reasons to be wary of anyone who tries to sell you something when you need it most.  The sad fact is that many people fall prey to these villains, foregoing entry into legitimate treatment programs and significantly decreasing their odds of survival. The first and most important line of defense is to do your research.  In today's culture, fact-checking has become a long-forgotten practice.  Claims are made, and whoever yells the loudest is always declared the most honest.  That's not how science works, unfortunately.  In the real world, experts propose hypotheses and test them until they can be fully evaluated and verified.  And, as Neil deGrasse Tyson put it, "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."
For whatever reason, the age of information has had the opposite effect of informing the public.  It could be that with all of this information at hand, it makes it easier for people to believe that they know much more about a particular issue than they really do.  It still takes years of schooling to become an expert in a given field, like oncology.  The danger arises among those who falsely profess a knowledge of healthcare and push miracle cures on the public that only they have uncovered through collecting pee from public parks, or shooting coffee into your rectum.  It's not easy to determine whether or not modern snake oil salesmen peddle their wares with the intention of making money from their faulty products, or if they genuinely think what they're doing will provide some benefit.  I tend to believe the former in most cases.  The current state of healthcare in America reminds me of my favorite quote by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov: "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" All of these alternative therapies will bankrupt you, because they're obscenely expensive and your insurance won't pay for them, because they aren't medicine.  Mainstream healthcare is also extremely expensive, to be fair, and the U.S. is by far the most expensive nation in which to get sick.  But there is a mechanism in place to at least ensure that a patient can find treatment backed by real medical science.  If you aren't sure how to find out whether or not a treatment is bogus, just look for the clinical research.  Real treatments are published, peer-reviewed, and independently verified over a number of years in order to ensure their safety and effectiveness.  Cancer is tricky, because we can't at this point cure it, and that scares many people into thinking that's because traditional treatments don't work, when really it's just the best we can do at this point.  With the advent of new immunotherapy research, results and patient outcomes are looking even more promising these days, and we can expect a new wave of even more effective treatments very soon.  Human innovation is a process.  Yes, people are greedy, and things still cost money.  But the most villainous and greedy among us are the opportunists who take advantage of the desperation of others.
0 notes
Text
My Cancer Brings All the Crazies to the Yard
In today's day and age, it's important for the patient to be his or her own advocate.  It's an unfortunate reality, but as soon as something happens to you, you've unwittingly opened yourself to an entirely new world that you may not be prepared to successfully navigate.  And, while doing your best to focus on the issue at hand, it's easy to be taken in by snake oil and pseudoscience.  There's nothing worse than a cancer opportunist -- someone who uses your illness to his or her advantage, pushing ineffective and sometimes dangerous products and treatments.  I talk about some of my favorite fake treatments in another post, The Dangers of Alternative Health: 3 Treatments That Can Cause Some Serious Damage. The thing about cancer is that it's a biological process -- several, in fact, occurring simultaneously.  Cancer is a series of genetic and epigenetic malfunctions.  It isn't caused by any solitary force.  And it certainly isn't caused by mysterious "toxins" with no names or identities.  It isn't caused by your attitude either, or your karma (by the way, the western definition of karma is not even entirely accurate), or even when your room mate peed in the mini fridge in your dorm room the night he was really drunk.
The process looks like this.
Having cancer is a desperate situation for many people.  And it brings out the best and worst of the human race.  There are several reasons to be wary of anyone who tries to sell you something when you need it most.  The sad fact is that many people fall prey to these villains, foregoing entry into legitimate treatment programs and significantly decreasing their odds of survival. The first and most important line of defense is to do your research.  In today's culture, fact-checking has become a long-forgotten practice.  Claims are made, and whoever yells the loudest is always declared the most honest.  That's not how science works, unfortunately.  In the real world, experts propose hypotheses and test them until they can be fully evaluated and verified.  And, as Neil deGrasse Tyson put it, "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."
For whatever reason, the age of information has had the opposite effect of informing the public.  It could be that with all of this information at hand, it makes it easier for people to believe that they know much more about a particular issue than they really do.  It still takes years of schooling to become an expert in a given field, like oncology.  The danger arises among those who falsely profess a knowledge of healthcare and push miracle cures on the public that only they have uncovered through collecting pee from public parks, or shooting coffee into your rectum.  It's not easy to determine whether or not modern snake oil salesmen peddle their wares with the intention of making money from their faulty products, or if they genuinely think what they're doing will provide some benefit.  I tend to believe the former in most cases.  The current state of healthcare in America reminds me of my favorite quote by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov: "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" All of these alternative therapies will bankrupt you, because they're obscenely expensive and your insurance won't pay for them, because they aren't medicine.  Mainstream healthcare is also extremely expensive, to be fair, and the U.S. is by far the most expensive nation in which to get sick.  But there is a mechanism in place to at least ensure that a patient can find treatment backed by real medical science.  If you aren't sure how to find out whether or not a treatment is bogus, just look for the clinical research.  Real treatments are published, peer-reviewed, and independently verified over a number of years in order to ensure their safety and effectiveness.  Cancer is tricky, because we can't at this point cure it, and that scares many people into thinking that's because traditional treatments don't work, when really it's just the best we can do at this point.  With the advent of new immunotherapy research, results and patient outcomes are looking even more promising these days, and we can expect a new wave of even more effective treatments very soon.  Human innovation is a process.  Yes, people are greedy, and things still cost money.  But the most villainous and greedy among us are the opportunists who take advantage of the desperation of others.
0 notes