Until I saw it on Facebook, I didn’t know that today was World Cancer Day.  Over the years, our family has dealt with several types of cancer and I have friends that have had cancers of their own.  I think that most every family has been touched by cancer in some way.

In my family:

Colon cancer

• My dad had it twice and died after his second surgery
• My aunt had it twice and died after her second surgery.  She was lucky – she never had any symptoms except looking like she was pregnant.
• My mom had it twice and she’s still alive at 93.  Hooray!  It can be beat with the right attitude.

Kidney Cancer

• Me.  I shouldn’t have had this cancer.  From another blog post –

According to my “risk factors”, I “should” have had colon cancer because both parents and an aunt had it twice each.  Of course, there’s no guarantee that I won’t get that, too.

And the risk factors for kidney cancer aka renal cell carcinoma?  The majority of kidney cancers are renal cell carcinomas.

Risk factors for renal cell carcinoma include:

• Age. Your risk of renal cell carcinoma increases as you age. Renal cell carcinoma occurs most commonly in people 60 and older.

I was younger than this.

• Sex. Men are more likely to develop renal cell carcinoma than women are.

I am female

• Smoking. Smokers have a greater risk of renal cell carcinoma than nonsmokers do. The risk increases the longer you smoke and decreases after you quit.

Not me!

• Obesity. People who are obese have a higher risk of renal cell carcinoma than do people who are considered average weight.

A Cushing’s gift

• High blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure increases your risk of renal cell carcinoma, but it isn’t clear why. Some research in animals has linked high blood pressure medications to an increased risk of kidney cancer, but studies in people have had conflicting results.

Never had this until the kidney cancer.  It went away immediately post-op.

• Chemicals in your workplace. Workers who are exposed to certain chemicals on the job may have a higher risk of renal cell carcinoma. People who work with chemicals such as asbestos, cadmium and trichloroethylene may have an increased risk of kidney cancer.

What?  Me work?.

• Treatment for kidney failure. People who receive long-term dialysis to treat chronic kidney failure have a greater risk of developing kidney cancer. People who have a kidney transplant and receive immunosuppressant drugs also are more likely to develop kidney cancer.

Nope.  Some sites also list polycystic  kidney disease.  I don’t have that but half my husband’s family does.  Hmmm – wonder if that’s contagious

• Von Hippel-Lindau disease. People with this inherited disorder are likely to develop several kinds of tumors, including, in some cases, renal cell carcinoma.

I’ve wondered about this but, you know, it’s too “rare”.

• Hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma. Having this inherited condition makes it more likely you’ll develop one or more renal cell carcinomas.

Not that I know of. 

Pretty close to zero on the risk factors. No signs, no symptoms. I was diagnosed in the ER of my local hospital in 2006.

Skin Cancer

• My husband has had a variety of melanomas and other skin cancers removed

Breast Cancer

• Sister-in-Law

Among my friends, there have been many cancers – breast cancers, lung cancers (including people who have never smoked), multiple myelomas,  neuroendocrine cancers (this one is supposed to be really rare.  I have 3 friends with this.), probably some I don’t know about yet – and maybe it is unknown to the person.

Some ideas how to protect yourself and others from cancer.  It could save your life!