My mother bumped into a neighbor at the hospital the other day

[conuly]

And she volunteered me to help out if they needed urgent, uh, help. Which... geez. I like our neighbors just fine, but my plate is full! SOOOOOOO full, and things are falling off.

So, yeah, this is a small street, and yet... my mother's right, there is a heck of a lot of cancer on our block, particularly among the people who have lived here a decade or more. Our neighbor on this side, our neighbor down the block, our neighbor down the block and across the street, her next door neighbor.... Or, at least, it seems like a lot, but I have no idea how to evaluate the numbers to see if it's probably just a statistical fluke after all. (If nothing else, most of the people who have lived here a decade or more are getting on in years. The older you get, the more likely you are to eventually develop cancer, right? I don't know of any children on our block with cancer, anyway, and I'm sure I would've heard about it if there were any.)

Comments

[pauraque]

The older you get, the more likely you are to eventually develop cancer, right?

Yes, very much so. This is a large part of the reason cancer seems so common nowadays — people are living longer overall, so more of us are reaching the years when cancer becomes much more likely.

[conuly]

Of course, you can never convince people that the reason America has more cancer than, say, Somalia is because we're not dying of conflict, cholera, and childbirth.

[sitonmyinterface]

Something in the water?

[conuly]

I feel like then we'd have more childhood cancers as well.

[wendelah1]

Maybe this will help? Cancer Clusters.

The older you get, the more likely you are to eventually develop cancer, right?

In general, and for particular types of cancer, that is correct: Risk Factors: Age.

[conuly]

That first link is not a link.

[wendelah1]

Let me try again: Cancer Clusters

[conuly]

Thanks.

(Your icon is a little overstating! It's just a typo! I do it all the time. I bet you forgot the URL, right?)

[wendelah1]

That could well be.

I have a seed account so there's lots of icons to use! How about this one?

[conuly]

Yay!

[zesty_pinto]

I'm kind of curious if it's a particular type of cancer that is going around the block? Not sure how old your neighborhood is, but after one too many listenings on forgotten asbestos and forgotten lead pipe/paint/what-have-you, I'm a bit inclined to think that certain trends may occur.

[conuly]

I don't think so. After checking the statistics, I'm pretty sure that this is just a fluke caused by having a lot of people in the cancer years.

[nicki]

We've had 3 women at my school diagnosed with breast cancer in the last year. It makes me a bit concerned.

[conuly]

I'll bet!

[stardreamer]

Your mother means well, but it's rude as hell for her to volunteer YOUR time and effort for other people when you're already struggling to maintain your current commitments. Can you discuss this with her?

[conuly]

I have in the past. She tends to forget. And we've been a bit... strained these past few weeks, so I'm not having a new convo with her on this subject until after her radiation is done.

[smile_n_cuddle]

Yikes, that is a lot of cancer, or so it seems. :(

Always fun when the fam volunteers you! Ha!