Long, bit-of-a-downer content
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My 80-something-year-old grandma was recently diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. This is notable for a few reasons, mostly because she hasn't had ovaries since the 60s. In discussing this with family members, it turns out a great aunt was also diagnosed with this when she was 100. My mom is understandably concerned about what this means for her, so she got a blood test to see if she has indicators already, which it turns out she does. She went in for an ultrasound and they found tumors. Donno if they're cancerous, but they're tumors. She's going in for a hysterectomy in a few days.
So this presents me with some issues: Worst case scenario, my mom has cancer and they'll have removed the tumors. But as my grandma's case shows, that doesn't mean it's over. It's common for cancers to metastasize as a result of treatment. So maybe it does spread some day, and then in a few years she has to have chemo. And then best-case scenario, she lives a nice long life till she's 80-100. Or maybe she dies when she's 60 from the chemo.
The question is this: do I remain blissfully ignorant and hope for the case like my grandma or aunt to live a long, healthy, active life, or do I take a test every year for the rest of my life in hopes of fending off this potential disease? What would you do, and why?
Yoga, you should come down.