Cancer-versary

[Guest guest]

Dear Ceil,

By the time you read this, it will already be your Cancer-versary and I want

to wish you the best. You have done well on only 400 mg. Gleevec and you are

fortunate that it has worked for you. Thank you for the compliment, the feeling

is mutual. There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't hear from Ceil

telling me how grateful she is for everything. Life would be dull if we only

discussed CML Not only does she have cancer, but her husband does also. She

takes care of him and gets up and goes to work. She gives me the same advice

she just gave all of you to, to be positive because there is something coming

down the pipeline shortly. I never have to pick her up, she's the one who pulls

me out of the doldrums as does Bobby. As we have all learned, Bobby is the

philosopher of the group. She is so much fun to be with and her personality

comes through cyberspace if you haven't met her in person. Bobby makes me laugh,

too, especially when she says things like: " I figure , if you don't have them,

(x-rays) something really bad may happen, and if you do have them something

really bad might happen, is that what they call Catch 22? " It sure is, Bobby.

I shared the article because I know we are all exposed to many x-rays and

other tests, and how about the nuclear tests when they inject the dye and after

a few hours, they can look inside and disect you and look at you in 3-D. Some

last as long as 2 hours. We see multiple doctors and they all order one of the

many tests available, so we are all exposed time and again. I know it has

crossed everyone's mind wondering if we really need so many. I think one reason

is that doctors are overly cautious. Suppose they didn't x-ray you and later it

was found that they could have detected something and no x-ray was taken.

Litigation.

Yes Tracey, I know what you mean about the dental x-rays. There was a time

when I refused to take them and the dentist and the hygenist would get so

exasperated with me, but I just told they to do what they had to do without

them. Now I allow them because every six months, they find new cavaties and I

know it is because the drugs cause dry mouth and I have no cavity fighting

bacteria because of a lack of saliva. Read this, I found that in a Q & A cyber

session:

" Dental x-rays are an important tool for assessing oral health. They allow

dentists to diagnose gum, bone, and endodontic (inside the tooth) diseases, as

well as see cavities that may be between your teeth, hidden from view. Without

the help of dental x-rays, these problems could be overlooked, leading to

discomfort, bad breath, chewing difficulty, loss of teeth, and other

complications associated with poor dental health. To help put things in

perspective, a full set of dental x-rays is equivalent to about one day's

typical exposure to the sun and other environmental rays. Considering that

people are constantly surrounded by these rays, which can even travel through

windows and buildings, exposure through dental x-rays is comparably minimal.

Therefore, the benefits definitely outweigh the dangers " .

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1393.html

Sorry, I was interrupted before I got to " send " this to you. I hope you had

a happy cancer-versary.

Blessings and peace,

xoxoxoxox

Lottie