Cancer " The Killer" Part 3

Posted by Arshelle Johnson in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 3:05 pm

This is the last blog that I will be doing with the “ You in the World Project.” This is the post for change. This project has really opened my eyes to the struggle that people go through with cancer. Not only do they struggle with the sickness its self they have to worry if their health care will cover them. Cancer tears families apart not only in America but the whole world. In my past 2 blogs I talked about how the environment is affecting our health. I also talked a little about the things we do effect our health. In my 2^nd blog I talked about how health coverage is in America and how we have to fight so that everyone has equal health care if anything was every to happen to them.

My Grand- Father was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 67. He had been a heavy smoker all his life, and was diagnosed with lung cancer, which soon spread to his brain and bones. Months before the doctors diagnosed him he was showing signs of some kind of sickness. He wasn’t himself and he became weak quickly when he would be doing any kind of physical activity. The doctors said that the cancer was forming quickly and it was spreading to other parts of his body. My family was trying to understand why doctors couldn’t see any symptoms of cancer before. Cancer forms over time not in a one-week span. Over the next 2 weeks he seemed to be getting a little better, he was taking so many medicines that doped him up it became very hard to talk to him. We wanted to spend as much time as we had left with him. He soon became very sick again and was admitted back into the hospital. That same day he died.

I tell this story of my grand-pa to say that you have to be screened, for any early signs of cancer. You have to have annual cancer screens. Also you have to make sure that no matter what that you have proper health coverage if you every need it. Also there are so many things you can do to prevent cancer such a lung cancer by not smoking, even second-hand smoking is very bad (when you are constantly around someone who smokes.) Not having my Grand- Pa still with me tares me up inside. Thinking that if he stopped smoking or took care of him- self a little better he could have been with us for a little longer. If he had went to screenings or the doctor when he didn’t feel good they could have caught the cancer in time so that he could beat it.

For my change I want to give back to the cancer community, cause even though my Grand-Pa didn’t really have the chance to fight. I want to make sure that other people have that chance. I am going to volunteer at different cancer events in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. For my change I am going to get a team together and we are going to volunteer to help out for the American Cancer Society 40^th annual Bike-a-thon. The date for the bike-a-thon is July 8,2012.

This is a link to my resources.

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1xudY75BgLg1jWMxGISU4dtFSyZfTiu2QMbMkhTFk8RE/edit

This is a link to my last two blogs.
https://www.scienceleadership.org/users/ajohnson2

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