Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2009. Mattie was home from the hospital and got a visit from our resident Jack Russell Terrier, JJ. JJ and Mattie were buddies and practically grew up together. Though it may look like Mattie was agile and could get around. He couldn't. Mattie couldn't walk, but found a way to move around if he was sitting on the floor. Of course, because Mattie couldn't really move and had tubes coming out his chest, he was anxious about being around JJ, who had a lot of energy. Mattie never felt this way before cancer.
Quote of the day: Few childhood cancers are attributed to genetics or environmental factors. ~ Dr. Janine Vetsch
I came across an article today, entitled, What is to blame for childhood cancer? We often misunderstand the reality. The title alone caught my attention, because I know ALL TOO WELL that families of children with cancer know the reality and the non-cancer community believes the myths. Perhaps they believe the myths because it quells their fears and placates them into thinking.... this can't happen to my family.
In any case, the study in question was conducted in South Wales. Dr. Vetsch decided to investigate the perceptions on the causes of childhood cancer with two different groups. One group was comprised of families who had a child diagnosed with cancer and the other group did not have a child diagnosed with cancer.
She investigated the beliefs of more than 600 participants – parents and childhood cancer survivors – about the causes of childhood cancer, and compared them with beliefs of 510 members of the general population.
She found that more than seven out of 10 childhood cancer survivors and survivors' parents believed that chance or bad luck caused the child's cancer, so most parents and survivors seem to understand that there is nothing they could have done to prevent the cancer.
Members of the general community, that is, without a child with cancer, more frequently endorsed that genetics (75.3%) and environmental factors (65.3%) played a major role in childhood cancer, and less often attributed bad luck/chance to the diagnosis. These sorts of views can lead to stigma, and I can attest to hurtful comments that were directed to Peter and me. I absolutely agree with this researcher, that it is really important to increase community knowledge of childhood cancer causes in general, because perpetuating this myth serves no purpose, other than it being a misguided attempt at self protection for the well community.
What is to blame for childhood cancer? We often misunderstand the reality:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-blame-childhood-cancer-reality.html
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