Hope in The War on Cancer

I actually hesitated for a few minutes before going through with this post. I’ll tell you why in a minute.

The American Cancer Society has released data showing that, for the second year in a row, cancer deaths are declining.  An AP article summed it up with these encouraging words, “Cancer deaths in the United States have dropped for a second straight year, confirming that a corner has been turned in the war on cancer.”

So why hesitate to post about such great news? 

I guess I don’t want people to let their guard down or “let up.”  Have you ever exercised, cut calories, and lost a significant amount of weight - only to chant, “No more salads, no more teas…. only place I’m running is to Mickey D’s.”

Been there.  Un-Done that.

People have a tendency to get comfortable in success.  College athletic programs do it, politicians do it, performers do it, you do it, I do it.  It’s like we figure that we’ve won this particular battle, so we leave this battle field and go on to the next one.  Result?  We’re usually ambushed, blindsided, and back where we were.

I don’t know why, but it seems to be human nature.  Anyway, it’s why I was hesitant to post any of this.  The numbers are down because:

1. Earlier screenings
2. Decline in smoking
3. Better care

However, if people stop funding research, stop giving up smoking, and stop going for early screenings - the numbers will creep back up.  That’s why, sometimes when I read stories like this article I think, “No! Don’t tell people we’re winning - they’ll play harder if they think we’re behind.”  Sports teams certainly do!  If it’s a blow out, they generally get sloppy with the ball and lose their focus.

But we’re not going to let that happen, are we?!  We’ll look at this as encouragement and keep on keeping on.  The people who’s lives depend on this keeping on philosophy - the men, women, boys, and girls who live with cancer under the same roof are the reasons I went ahead with this post and the reason that, in the end, I hope to see more articles written about the decline.

It all comes down to one word:  Hope.  People who had forgotten what hope even looked like can return to a first name basis with it.  It doesn’t mean that cancer isn’t still a very, very, very formidable enemy.  It is.  We’re just learning how to fight it on its own terms. 

If we keep up the fight, one day it’ll be fighting us on our terms.

Click HERE to read the AP article in it’s entirety.