Keep Your Cures Off My Cancer

[Warpy]

3. New Age wooheads are some of the people I'd most like to strangle

No, I don't have cancer (that I know of), but I do have a painful, incurable chronic illness that is likely to kill me one of these days. I treat it with heavy drugs because I'd prefer to stay alive and out of a wheelchair for just a bit longer, thanks.

The worst wooheads are the philosophical/religious wooheads who tell me it's Karma for something I did in a past life. No, it isn't, Karma doesn't work that way and any sort of predestination is utter crap. It is a tribute to my strength of character that I haven't slapped them sillier than they already are.

The diet, herb and vitamin pill wooheads are a bit easier to take since they really want to help. I just nod sagely unless I'm in a bad mood and tell them BTDT, thanks, and it doesn't work like heavy drugs do.

That isn't to say that the cure isn't worse than the disease in many cases, aggressive cancers among them. Studies have shown that palliative care like pain control has extended average life expectancy and greatly increased the quality of remaining life with some of them. More oncologists need to discuss this option with their patients.

And yes, those are both very good reads and they apply to chronic illness as well as cancers.