Optimizing your physicality, prolonging the inevitable

Iwas talking to my co-worker about Kings's ongoing medical issues and she told me her 17 year old neice attempted to get an abortion and was diagnosed with cervical cancer She apparently had an undiagnosed and untreated venerel disease that caused her current condition. So once she graduates from high school her parents will be sending her to NY to undergo treatment for cervical cancer. I asked my co-worker prior to getting the abortion, when was the last time her niece went to the gynocologist. That question stumped her. I'm not trying to compound insult to injury, however at 17 years old, she's facing some radical treatment that could leave her sterile because she neglected her uterine health. My co-worker spoke enough about the situation for me to infer that the niece had been engaging in some risky sexual behavior and at the end of that conversation I said well she should be lucky she didn't get AIDS.

My biggest issue with this is this was completely avoidable. This is yet another reason why I strongly advocate a thorough safe sex age appropriate curriculum for students. I remember losing my virginity and running to the doctor at every hiccup. It seriously became a running joke. This girl on the other hand made the decision to have sex and neglected her health. If you're going to make the decision to engage in adult practices, you ought to behave accordingly and that includes maintaining the health of your sex organs. There is no reason why she ought to be facing something so extreme at such a young age and had she not been reckless enough to get pregnant who knows how long she would have remained untreated and the implications of that is more than scary, its fatal.

Rewind back to 1997 where my grandmother lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. I didn't know it then but this may have been an avoidable situation. First, she was an extremely giving woman. She always thought of other people, often putting them before herself. I never really remembered her going to the doctor unless it was for a stronger eyeglass prescription until the end of her life. I suspect this is the reason her doctors found an IUD implanted in her uterus that was found to be over 20 years old. The 2nd thing that led to her untimely passage was the quality of care she receieved. She had been misdiagnosed and when she received the proper diagnosis it was too late.

Remember Michelle Thomas? Better known as Myra Boutrous-Boutrouse Monkhouse or Theo's Justine Philips on the Cosby Show. She was diagnosed in August of 1997 with a rare stomach cancer and refused treatment for fear of sterlility. She passed away in December of 1998 at 29 years old.


I highlight all of the above situations to just say we have to take care of and listen to our bodies. We aren't immortal and it's naiive to think we'll go on forever, but optimize the time you have. If it hurts, tend to it, if you broke it, get it fixed. I know co-payments are a pain in the anus but look at the alternative. Use your sick time, it is what it's there for. Take a mental health day.

Be good to yourself