Caryl Hall - Speaknup
Who's really in charge of your health?

YOU are! Let's get right to the heart of the topic. Are you a survivor? How much do you really value your life? If you're one of those people who will not see a doctor because you don't want to know if something is wrong... well, I just don't have any patience for you (no pun intended).

Yes, this is a hot topic for me (can you tell?) based on my own experience. Many years ago, I lost a relative to breast cancer. Should not have happened. The married couple was in denial and had the all too familiar attitude of "let's wait and see if it goes away". It didn't go away and when a doctor was finally consulted, it was too late.

I'm a cancer survivor myself. The key word here is "survivor". The definition is "somebody who shows a great will to live or a great determination to overcome difficulties and carry on."

Being very in tuned with my body, at the first sign of something not right, I found a thorough doctor and didn't hesitate to have her cut that sucker out. Chemo was not difficult for me until the last few treatments, and my oncologist commented quizzically, "but you're a nice person."

Historically, it's the "nice" people who have the roughest time and often succumb. Good thing there's a bit of bitch in me to counter my nice! And yes, attitude plays a huge part. No poor me here. Didn't have time for that nonsense.

Time after time I keep encountering friends or hearing of their relatives who have become ill in some way. The stories are so similar I feel I could scream if I hear it again.

If you're feeling weak and tired and achy, you're body needs rest. The excuse of having too much to do, I can't go home to bed is pathetic. Okay, then stay sick.

If you have digestive problems every time you eat green peppers, stop eating green peppers! If you have a family history of certain health problems, get checked by a physician on a regular basis. Sheesh! It's not rocket science.

A friend of mine has decided to go through holistic treatment for her recurring breast cancer. While I am a true believer of natural healing, there are times when common sense is called for when making a life and death decision. (Oh yeah, there's that common sense thing again!).

If your body could not fight off the tumor before, and it's [body] now in a very weakened, compromised condition… by the time you break down your system's cells to build it back up again with all the homeopathic foods and processes you have to go through, do you think the tumor is sitting around waiting for the battle? No, it's still growing.

Many times I've heard stories about relatives of friends who know they're very ill but won't see a doctor. Despite pleas from everyone, they don't want to know if something is wrong. They're afraid it might be the "C" word. Okay, die. Life can't be that important to you.

It's true, I am angry. I'm pissed off, in fact. At the beginning of 2007 I lost my youngest brother to pancreatic cancer. He was in denial to the end. So was his girlfriend, and evidently his doctor.

When he first informed me of his diagnosis, I was skeptical of his claim that he could live with it for another 10 years (per his doctor). But despite our pressing him to have a sense of urgency and go to a specialized clinic, he continued to express his confidence in his doctor because "she's nice." Very deliberately we told him "nice will kill you." It did.

He was misdiagnosed, it took 2 months before he started any kind of treatment, and his doctor continued to tell him he would live. Two tips to New York from California to visit him showed me his continual denial and defense of his doctor. It was too damn late when she admitted his condition changed and he didn't have 6 months. Shit, he didn't have 1 month.

If you don't get it by now, you won't. Doctors can't read your mind. They cannot feel the pain you feel. They don't know your body as you do.

Yes, the flu will go away with time, a cold will run its course, and bruises will heal eventually. But you can't see inside you. There's no mirror. If something unusual is occurring, only you know about it; get it checked.

Maybe it's nothing. But just maybe, it's the first sign of something serious. Something that can be cured if caught immediately. But it will kill you if you dismiss it.

Yeah, it's your body. Don't you want to keep it around for a while? I cherish mine.

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