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Radical Chemo
Six psychological and moral cancers (you may not know you have) and what to do about them
Thomas E. Mahon
Copyright © 2012 Thomas E. Mahon
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.
Cover artwork by Christian Klein
Various Design Concepts by Stephany Nezo
The Publisher makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any commercial damages.
2012-05-29
Dedication
To Virgil H. Bird Sr. (Grandaddy Bird) and John J. Mahon (Uncle Jack)
Two men who bravely fought their cancers.
A New Look at Cancer
“An individual doesn’t get cancer, a family does.” -Terry Tempest Williams
My friend, Carlos, just lost his mother to cancer. It started in a kidney and then went everywhere. What a loss. She was 83 and as vibrant and energetic as any 40-year-old out there. A few days after the funeral, I told him, “Sometimes I just think that life is about waiting around for your cancer diagnosis.” Believe me, and I don’t say this lightly, I really hope I’m wrong about that one.
Cancer used to be an automatic death sentence. Those of us who are old enough still remember those days. Fortunately, that’s not the case anymore. Courageous men and women everywhere are learning of their cancers, grabbing their swords and fighting back against those stubborn cells that just love to reproduce at such an abnormally high rate. I saw a buddy of mine, Butch, do this back in the 1980s. He was diagnosed with leukemia, promptly rolled up his sleeves and went to work. He beat the disease and got on with his life. A student of mine, Taylor, did exactly the same thing about ten years after Butch. She’s now a teacher.
Of course, there are many factors that play into how successful a person’s cancer treatment will be, such as how soon the disease is caught, the cancer’s location, the accuracy of the diagnosis, the quality of treatment, a person’s can-do or fatalistic attitude and so many more. I want to stress attitude. It’s so important. As Winston Churchill once said, and we all know how tenaciously he fought against the cancer of Nazism and kept a stiff upper lip during the bombing of London, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put cancer as the second leading cause of death among Americans, second only to heart disease. Of course, you’ve heard this before. Here’s one more: the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) estimates that 12 million Americans have cancer— breast, colon, rectal and prostate being some of the most common cancers out there. It’s estimated that cancer costs Americans $125 billion each year.
There’s no mystery as to what makes cancer so unique. We all know that it’s the nature of cells to divide by mitosis. This process has a purpose, primarily to replace old cells, or to repair injuries. It’s a rather orderly process. But when cells divide and divide for no apparent reason, that’s a problem. When these rapidly-dividing cells invade healthy tissue, form lumps we know as tumors or even metastasize, which is to say enter the blood stream or lymphatic system to form additional tumors, this represents a severe disruption in the orderly process of normal cell division. Something must be done to stop it.
When we look to life’s bullpen for relief, we see three prirmary pitchers in the rotation: chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. I’ve chosen to stress chemo, because just over half of all cancer victims are given this particular treatment to fight their cancer. Chemo impairs mitosis, which, as we’ve seen, is the process by which cells reproduce rapidly. The trouble is that chemo can’t always tell the difference between healthy cells and cancerous ones. As such, chemo is considered myelosuppressive, since it may even kill off white blood cells, which is something that we don’t want. Very often, chemo side effects are seen in a person’s bone marrow, digestive tract and even hair follicles. But there is some good news. Cancer treatments are becoming more and more specific, and that’s something we very much need if we intend to turn the corner in this fight.
As you’ve guessed by now, I’m not a doctor. I’m no scientist, either. And this is certainly not your typical cancer book. For the next few chapters, I’m going to set aside physical cancer and concentrate on what I call mental cancer. Psychological cancer. Moral cancer. This is not, for a moment, to minimize, marginalize or trivialize those who are suffering from or who have suffered from physical cancer. I admire and applaud their incredible bravery, and continue to pledge my prayers and support where and when I can give it. You’re looking at someone who may be a future cancer victim. Who can say? I just feel that it’s time to take a new approach to many of our social ills—namely, by likening them to cancer and then suggesting a course of treatment. The analogy, in my opinion, is more than appropriate.
So let’s take a look at where we’ll be going. The Age of Enlightenment is as good a place to start as any. It was an intellectual movement that had its roots in Europe during the 18th Century, and turned out many great thinkers: Locke, Spinoza, Bayle and Newton. The era saw a great awakening and a new-found confidence in man’s abilities, most especially when it came to explaining the universe and solving some of the world’s greatest mysteries. It was a great time in the history of our world, but one that was not without its carcinogenic side effects. Nowhere is this more clearly evident than the thinking of Voltaire (1694-1778). He is widely credited with the statement, “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.” It’s an interesting quote that places quite a bit of confidence in man’s ability to think, to reason and to analyze. Predictably, that kind of thinking diminishes the importance of God and faith. Voltaire’s words are brash and cocky—symptomatic of the awakening hubris of that era. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that we see several cancers spinning off from The Enlightenment, most notably Individualism (my mind is the measure of all things), Relativism (moral absolutes outside of my own, personal ego are not to be trusted) and Secularism (man is the measure of all things here on Earth, and not necessarily some god). It’s dangerous, dangerous thinking, and thinking that spread (just like a cancer) from Europe to North America and beyond.
Bad ideas can spread quickly. Dangerous thinking can metastasize in a hurry. And whacky philosophy, benign at the start, can turn malignant overnight. The cost of these types of cancers is virtually incalculable; how do we put a price tag on issues like lawlessness, war, terrorism, divorce or even selfishness and narcissism? It would be tough, but I’ll tell you this: the cost would far exceed the $125 billion it costs us each year to battle physical cancers.
We’ve all heard of a professional athlete, at one time or another, referred to by a coach, players or fans as “a cancer on the team”. This cancer usually starts with a guy who has a lousy attitude or thinks only of himself (Individualism). When corrected at practice or during a game, this athlete may see no reason to listen to the coach; after
