YOUNG ADULT CANCER FACTS
1. Cancer incidence in young adults has doubled over the past 20 years
2. 70,000 people ages 15-39 are diagnosed with cancer each year
3. Young adults with cancer have lower survival rates with respect to the geriatric and pediatric populations
There are many reasons there has been no improvement in young adult survival rates:
* Doctors don’t take young adult patients seriously because they are not in the typical demographic for cancer, brain tumors, or some other life threatening disease leading to delayed diagnosis.
* Lack of research - Young adult patients often are not eligible for studies (too old for pediatric studies or to young for traditional studies) and there are few studies geared towards the 15-39 age group.
* Entry level jobs with poor healthcare - young people are just starting out so the costs of healthcare are not a priority. Early detection/education about warning signs is essential.
* “Superman” complex - Belief that nothing could ever happen to a young adult patient. They think they are invincible! Early detection/education about warning signs is essential.
"I accept what is to come, but I cannot rid myself of a deep mourning for all those experiences -- college, marriage, children, grandchildren -- that will probably never be mine to celebrate. What solace I do find is in the knowledge that I have done everything I can to transmute this terribleness into something positive by showing as many people as I can how to endure it with a smile.
I don't believe you can ask for any more, but if I could ask for something, it would be to be able to go outside into the glorious spring air, feeling healthy and blissfully clueless as to how lucky I was for it, if only just for an hour."
--- Miles Levin
Wow. Just wow. You just gotta read his story.
And of course, Randy Pausch's Last Lecture is required viewing.
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