The Importance of Yearly Physical Exams

Good morning everyone. Today I want to talk to all of our readers about a very important topic.

Recently my 30 year old niece was diagnosed with end stage ovarian and intestinal cancer. Yes, she is 30 years old. It started 2 months ago with abdominal pain which lead to the removal of her appendix. While in there, the surgeon noticed some tumors. About 3 weeks after that, they operated again and removed the tumors. They immediately started chemotherapy & radiation. That did not work and she got sicker.

She has been in the hospital now for several weeks and we just learned that she is going onto Hospice care and will be released from the hospital. Her prognosis? Well, they have given her 1 week up to 2 months to live.

She is married with an 18 month old little boy. This hit her fast and hard. The entire family is devastated by this news.

The reason I am sharing this news here on the TCC blog is this.

It is VERY important that we all get yearly physical exams!!! If you are female it is equally important to get into the gynecologist’s office and get your yearly exam, a pap test and a mammogram. I can NOT stress this enough!!! You NEED to be checked out yearly and more frequently if your family has a history of cancer!!!

I understand that not everyone has medical insurance or the funds to do this. However, you MUST find a way to make this POSSIBLE. There are programs out there to help fund yearly exams & free mammograms for those who can’t afford them. Call around, they are out there. If you have none in your town, it is WORTH the drive to a big city to obtain these services!!!

If her cancer was caught earlier, she would have a better prognosis than what she does. Early detection and treatment is the key (at this time) to beating this awful disease.

I am getting off my soapbox now but please…get your yearly exams!!!