Its been a long day at the hospital today, I was out all morning. It was just one delay after another, starting with a 45min delay for the radio. Still, myself and the other waiting zappees (yes I know that's not a word) managed to have a long chat - not sure why that happens sometimes, often I'm rather self conscious of my speech and don't join in these things but today I did. Mostly, as I'd often the case, the others waiting treatment were older with a high percentage of pensioners. It often surprises me how much they have to go through, quite often more than I am, and they manage to remain upbeat. "Mustn't complain" is an off heard phrase when you enquire about how they are getting on.
One gent surprised me by echoing my thoughts on just how _primitive_ cancer treatment really is, the treatments are more about slowly killing you - and any cancer - in such a controlled way that they hope to damage the cancer more than the rest of you. Where is the actual cure in that? Its often struck me as being as nonsensical as using leeches or blood letting in the middle ages. Well, OK that's harsh, but you get my point. Most treatment you get for an illness is about curing it - virus infections not withstanding - fighting off what is doing harm whilst protecting the rest.
I guess this is just something that you have to live with these days - cancer is not really responsive to normal treatments I guess. Its not bacteria or viruses (well, not always) which cause it, so what can a drug attack? Cancer is about _your_ body going wrong, so I guess the treatments reflect this. Don't get me wrong, the doctors are amazing, but you can't help but feel that medicine has left you behind here.
This is until, as I pointed out, you consider how far the recovery rates have come over the last twenty years. Yes, know that the figures for a percentage of people to have cancer are now starting to average one in two people over their lifetime, but you look toward an aging population and massively improved detection rates (poor dentistry care notwithstanding) and that rather explains the increase.
So get out there and support the cancer research, you are probably going to need it!
