What To Do When Cancer Fear Strikes

40% of us will get cancer before death is nigh yet fatalities are down 26% for most common types aka breast, prostate, lung & colorectal. Yet aren't such stats little consolation for the losers?

Fox News’ medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel thinks it doesn't always have to be so & advises those with suspicions or diagnoses of cancer on “What to do when fear gets ahead of facts.” He says: “I have always called cancer the personal terrorist, meaning that our fears of cancer go beyond the actual risk, which is, of course, not to say that the risks of the number two killer in the US (over 600K deaths per year) aren’t quite real. Cancer is the most feared of all diseases, which is not to say that cancer & our approach to it hasn’t changed. Cancer is no longer the universal death sentence that it once was” due to “earlier diagnoses, nimble robotic surgeries, advances in genetic & immunotherapies. On the horizon there is much more.”

Dr. Siegel suggests this perspective: “Whenever a celebrity has cancer, the public eye turns in that direction. It can either cause us to over-personalize our own risk, or it can teach us how to approach cancer with courage & resolve. I am impressed with how the royals, Princess Kate & King Charles, have handled their cancers, even if we still don’t know the exact etiology in either case. They have both handled their unexpected diagnoses with aplomb & have [soldiered] on. A lesson in class for everyone who is watching them.”

Davd Soul