Cancer is not beyond us. It might seem like it is sometimes.
But it is not.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 589,430 people in the United States — about 8 million around the world — will be killed by cancer in 2015.
But … cancer is not beyond us. At the beginning of 2014, according to the ACS, there were 14.5 million cancer survivors alive in the U.S.
One more number from the ACS — 1,658,370 cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2015.
It is an unacceptably large number. But it is not beyond us.
This is the message. A diagnosis is not a death sentence for everyone. If it gets us, we live on in the face of cancer. We live.
Healthy living is not beyond us.
Early detection is not beyond us.
Effective treatment is not beyond us.
An acceptable quality of life is not beyond us.
Cancer is not beyond us.
Wednesday is designated World Cancer Day by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in Switzerland.
The theme this year is #NotBeyondUs. You’ll see that hashtag, along with #WorldCancerDay, today and Wednesday and — we hope — on into the future.
Here at Dads4Change, cancer looms. We have been fortunate to feature the words of blogging friends Jim Higley (Camp Kesem) and Oren Miller (lung cancer awareness), in addition to a message about the Florida-based 1Voice Foundation’s fight against childhood cancer.
On World Cancer Day, take a few minutes to pause and reflect on the battle that so many millions of people and their families are waging right now, even as you read these words. Think of them, and think of how you might be able to help. The World Cancer Day website has many great suggestions, as does the ACS site, where a noon ET webcast on Wednesday will explore the current fight against the world’s most insidious scourge.
Cancer is big. Cancer is scary. Cancer is a tough, evil son of a bitch.
But cancer is not beyond us. Not now. Not ever.
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