The Great Fight

It is estimated that 11,958,000 men and women have been diagnosed with cancer.  More specifically, 32,000 have cancer to the liver- 22,000 of which are male and 10,000 female.  (Cancer...)  Two years ago my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer to the liver.  Since then the tumors on the liver grew but have been stabilized for the past six months to a year.  The upside is that the tumors on his liver have not grown, however he has been in an immense amount of pain because the cancer has spread.  It spread to his bones, a very rare incident but most certainly possible, and has formed a few more tumors intertwined in his spinal muscles and area. 

“The liver is the largest internal organ.  It lies under your right ribs just beneath your right lung.  It is shaped like a pyramid and divided into right and left lobes.  The lobes are further divided into segments.  The liver is made up of several different types of cells.  This is why several types of malignant (cancerous) and benign (non-cancerous) tumors can form in the liver.”(Liver Cancer) 

My grandfather has always been a man of pride.  He has never allowed anyone to know he is ever in pain and most certainly never misses work for any illness-maybe this is where I have adopted my stubbornness from.  I think these traits are hereditary and we have some strong blood coursing through us.  His mother, my great-grandmother, was diagnosed with cancer and wasn’t expected to make it past the night but lived for another twenty years.  Like many other decisions in his life, my granddad shows many of the same characteristics that my great-grandmother did during her fight for cancer.

The news is tear-jerking for me and leaves me wondering, what can I do to help?  The fact that where or how it originated is unknown, too is angering.  My grandfather was apart of the Air Force, and flew in the Vietnam War.  During that time, a chemical popularly known as "Agent Orange" was in high exposure.  Because the chemical is known to have caused a multitude of health issues, doctors theorize that he may have contracted the cancer way back then and it took time for it to mastecize in the liver.  In case you were wondering, the cancer did not originate in the liver and thus is not from drinking although he did do his share of drinking in his ripe years. 

I wish that it was me that had the disease instead of him, because I feel that being the ripe age of eighteen I’d be able to fight it better than he can at sixty-five.  However, the thing is that there really isn’t much that I can do and I feel as if I am rendered useless.  My entire family is very close-knit; I was raised by my mom and grandparents- her parents.  With that said, I have always been very close to my grandfather and it angers me to see him literally wither away.  I know the only thing I can do is to remain positive, and hope for the best.  Encouragement, positivity, and comfort have been shown to help cancer patients fight the disease.  I plan to do all of those things and anything and everything else to help my grandfather.

Click here for more information on liver cancer: what it is, how it develops, how to prevent it, and possible treatments of.  Also the site offers information on a multitude of other forms of cancer.



My granddad and I on my eighth birthday- 08/24/2001

Cancer Prevalence: How Many People Have Cancer? (2011, October 18). Retrieved February 20, 2012, from http://www.cancer.org
Liver Cancer. (2012, January 23). Retrieved February 20, 2012, from http://www.cancer.org