Just Diagnosed with Cancer? Tell the World!

I’ve never been diagnosed with cancer. Not yet, but the most recent statistics don’t give me much comfort. According to the American Cancer Society, as a male I have a 44% chance of developing cancer and a 25% chance of dying from cancer.[1] The statistics don’t tell me at what age. That hand raised in the image you see could some day, not necessarily far off, be mine. Stating, “I’ve just been diagnosed.”

Beyond the statistics, what really makes me uneasy is hearing more frequently about family and friends who have been diagnosed with cancer. In just the last year my brother, uncle and cousin were diagnosed with head and neck, bladder and thyroid cancer, respectively. Perhaps I’m just entering an age group in which people are more prone to fall ill. However, I have yet to receive a “yes” when I ask older generations if there was so much cancer when they were younger. Maybe cancer is more present with today’s technology and ease of communication. Perhaps people are just more open to talking about cancer. I really don’t know. What I do know is that after Nixon’s 1971 declaration of war on cancer with the National Cancer Act, and hundreds of millions of dollars in research, cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and the world.

What if you were the one to be diagnosed? Can you even begin to fathom the feeling? I remember asking my brother, who was diagnosed with head and neck cancer, what it was like and he said, “It really sucks, but at least I’m in the U.S.”

How true.  A lot of the world is not so lucky. We tend to think of cancer as a problem of western society, a rich country’s dilemma. We don’t hear about cancer in developing countries, which are still dealing with scourges like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. Additionally, cancer is a very complex disease requiring substantial knowledge, resources and training to treat it effectively. Without the resources there is no political will, and without the will it’s not a “relevant” problem.

But it is a problem in the developing world. A big problem…

• In 2008, 70% of the world’s 7.6 million cancer deaths occurred in developing countries, which were also home to 56% of the 12.7 million new cancer cases worldwide.[2]
• By 2050 it is expected that low-income countries will declare 12 million cancer deaths annually.
• Cancer mortality already exceeds infectious disease deaths in China.
• Only 5% of children diagnosed with cancer in poorer countries are cured, compared to 80% in the developed world.[3]

Currently, developing countries account for 85% of the world’s population, but only 20% of the world’s GDP.[4] The dearth of resources to effectively address cancer will increasingly move front and center in the developing world as its population grows, ages, consumes more tobacco and adopts a more westernized diet.

In short, cancer is a worldwide problem, our problem.

At Vencer, we have an idea to combine today’s technology, social media and activism to bring more awareness to the cancer struggle, both in the developed and developing world. We have set up a Twitter account called JustDiagnosed at Twitter.com/JustDiagnosed. It’s quite simple. Any person who recently has been diagnosed with cancer from any location in the world, whether a single mother-of -three in Río de Janeiro or a young boy in Melbourne, Australia, can tweet us (@JustDiagnosed) and we’ll post his or her message for the world to see.

As best as I can understand it, the moment of cancer diagnosis is a tremendous moment, charged with intense emotions, when a person’s life is abruptly thrust into a state of uncertainty, when future plans are derailed and life’s transience becomes more real. The reaction is an urge to yell, scream, kick and gouge at the new reality.

We don’t view JustDiagnosed as a statement of “I’m proud to have cancer”, but as a way for those recently diagnosed with cancer to voice how they feel. To show the world that cancer continues to affect real people, of all walks of life, every day. That cancer does not discriminate. To join their voice with those of others going through this to say, “Enough is enough!”

We hope that JustDiagnosed will also become a way for people all over the world to show their support 24/7 for those diagnosed with cancer by following us at Twitter.com/JustDiagnosed and/or sending us messages of solidarity for the just-diagnosed.

Some people may choose to participate in JustDiagnosed, others no. Cultural and/or generational prejudice still instructs many to feel shame about their diagnosis, which may lead some to tweet us their message anonymously. At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice. If it helps five people to express how they feel and accept the fact of cancer in their life, great. If it helps five million, greater still.

JustDiagnosed is a place to scream, serenade or whisper to the world, “I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer.” In any case, one way or another we need to hear your voice.

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[1] American Cancer Society. US National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Database, using incidence and mortality data for the US population from 2005 through 2007.

[2] Medicalnewstoday.com. Reuters. Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

[3] Medicalnewstoday.com. Reuters. Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

[4] International Network for Cancer Research and Treatment

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