I am one of many people who are here today because of early cancer detection. I am, so far, a Stage 3 two-year colon cancer survivor who had many issues related to that cancer.
But I am here because it was caught early enough for me to survive the cancer surgery, the chemo treatment and the splenectomy that followed. Other people, I know, are not as fortunate.
So it was with deep consternation that I read the article "The 'Overdiagnosis' of Cancer" in Monday night's online edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Trust me. You cannot diagnose cancer too early. It is like saying that someone is slightly pregnant.
There are so many people who wish their cancer was diagnosed early, don't you think? In so many cases, it was too late because the cancer, when it was finally discovered, was so aggressive that the victim had but just weeks to live. It happened to my friend's wife in 1979, when she was diagnosed on April 12 and we were burying her on Memorial Day weekend. And she was never sick before that.
I go every three months now to see my oncologist and have a regularly scheduled petscan to make sure I am still clear. I had an issue earlier this summer, but because my oncologist was persistent, we were able to resolve the discrepancy.
So, to me, there is no way it can be said we overdiagnose cancer. Instead, I believe a petscan should be one of those medical tests which should be automatic in a well-visit. It probably would be less costly than all the panoply of tests performed like colonoscopies, endoscopies, mammograms, prostate digital tests, etc, and is less invasive. In addition, no anesthesia is necessary, either.
If only we had the Enterprise Sick Bay diagnostic bed....
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