Every Day, at Least One Cell Turns Cancerous

Last Updated on October 30, 2022 by ADMIN-TOM

All my life, sixty-seven years, cancer has been at the forefront of the world’s health dilemma. People I know, like my mother, an aunt, an uncle, school friends work colleagues and others, have contracted cancer and either lived or died from the experience.

My mother was one of the unlucky ones.

She had cancer of the mouth which spread to her stomach. She was too fearful of the growth, a massive growth, of cancerous cells in her mouth, so she endured intense pain, told nobody, and didn’t see a doctor. Had she sought medical help early on, she may have survived. Sadly, she succumbed and died after enduring a lot of pain from the cancer and from the intense radiotherapy she also had to endure when I eventually persuaded her to seek help.

The help was too late coming and didn’t cure her. It didn’t work, and in those days, survival was not an expected outcome. That was forty years ago. Today, things are quite different, and more people survive a giddying array of cancers.

I was surprised to learn that it’s estimated an average of three cells a day turn cancerous in your body. Your immune system is so efficient, it captures and destroys these cells, and you are none the wiser for it. Your body deals with it. But there are instances where a cancer will develop, and your immune system will fail to deal with it. That’s what has happened in my body.

I have a cancer called Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma. In my case the lymphoma cells are usually found in the bone marrow. People with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma sometimes bleed easily and they also have fatigue and weakness. Also, in my case I sometimes have drenching night sweats and have experienced unexplained weight loss.

The lymphoma cells make varying amounts of a protein called immunoglobulin M and a higher-than-normal amount of this protein in the blood can make it thick. When this occurs, the condition is called Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. This can lead to problems with circulation and less blood flow to the brain, the eyes, or other organs and this can cause the following problems:

dizziness
headache
blurred vision or loss of vision
shortness of breath
numbness and tingling of the fingers or toes, known as peripheral neuropathy
muscle weakness
confusion

In one way or another I have experienced these symptoms, especially the shortness of breath. Although I’m told my cancer is slow moving and isn’t (so far) life threatening, the doctor and her team got me into chemotherapy treatment as quickly as they could. It’s sometimes said, the cure is worse than the disease. In my case, it’s more a six of one and half a dozen of the other scenario. I receive an injection of the chemo into my stomach on a Tuesday morning. By Wednesday I feel good. By Thursday, my back, and joints ache and by the weekend I’m constipated and feeling a little grotty. By the time Tuesday comes along, I’m feeling fine… and so we go on.

My treatment should be finished in another couple of weeks and after that, blood tests will show if the cancer is on the retreat. At that point I either have bone marrow and bone removed for tests or I get an all-clear.

We wait and see.

Click the hashtag for more posts on the theme of cancer – #Cancer

You just can’t judge a book by its cover. So maybe you would like to read one of my books as well as admire the cover.

Download a FREE copy of The Brittle Sea.

Historical fiction

Book One: The Brittle Sea – FREE eBook on most readers
Book Two: The Brittle Land – $1.99 on most eReaders
Book Three: The Brittle Sky – $1.99 on most eReaders

Get Your eBook now from any of the retailers below.
Just click on the blue button.

Synopsis

A young Magda Asparov travels alone from her home in Ukraine to America, to marry Matthew Turner, an unscrupulous American businessman. It’s an arranged marriage and part of the dowry is land in America the Asparovs own. But this parcel of land holds a secret only Turner is aware of. It has a huge reservoir of oil beneath it.
Magda’s journey is cut-short when her ship, the Titanic, hits an iceberg & sinks.
Magda is rescued by another ship, captained by Richard Blackmore.

In the ship’s sickbay, it’s discovered the survivor has lost her memory. The crew of the rescue ship give the survivor a name, Maggie, to use until her memory returns. But as the ship sails to New York a new personality in Maggie takes hold, stifling Magda in the process.
On reaching New York, Maggie accepts Captain Blackmore’s offer of help and occupies Blackmore’s guest room in his apartment. But over time, the couple fall in love.

Meanwhile, Matthew Turner feels Magda is still alive and has unleashed his henchman, William Harker, a crook, con artist, money shark and murderer. Turner hates to feel his investment has slipped through his fingers and is keen to track Magda down and keep alive his hopes of cashing in on her oil field. Harker is told to find any trace of Magda among the survivors arriving in New York.

Harker discovers Magda is alive but is unaware of who she is. Harker makes his plans to snatch Magda away from Blackmore. Leaving Blackmore as collateral damage and his life in ruins.

Reviews

“This one has it all – mystery, corruption, murder, kidnapping, love, revenge. Don’t plan to read it as a stand alone. You’ll definitely want the next books in the trilogy because the ending of book one is a cliff hanger. I couldn’t put this book down although I became so worried about the fate of Blackmore I had to regroup myself. Tom Kane did one helluva job writing this set.”

“This book has everything Romance, Murder, Mystery which automatically hooks you to the story.”

“Set against the backdrop of early 20th century America, an incredible story of love, loss, injustice, perseverance, mental illness & heartbreak.”

“A fictional romp through history, full of well-written twists & turns.
An arranged marriage, tragic love story & a bad guy you’ll love to hate.”