Cancer is a major concern in the 21st century, responsible for 16.8% of overall deaths and 22.8% of deaths from noncommunicable—not contagious—diseases worldwide.
The top three types of cancer diagnosed worldwide are: lung, breast, colorectum.
The top three types of cancer which lead to death worldwide are: lung, colorectum, liver.
According to the World Health Organization's GLOBOCAN, in 2022 "approximately 20 million cancer cases were newly diagnosed and 9.7 million people died from the disease worldwide."
Almost one half of all 2022 cancer cases (49.2%) and the majority (56.1%) of cancer deaths occurred in Asia.
With such numbers, it's a good idea to know some of the warning signs and hear directly from those affected by cancer.
Reddit user Wise_Organization_78 asked:
"Cancer Survivors of Reddit, what was the symptom that convinced you to see the doctor?"
Parental Concern
"I was told I had an ovarian cyst at 32. My doc said he would do a needle aspiration to shrink it. Then he later said after that procedure it was the type to always come back so he did surgery to remove the cyst."
"A few months later he said the cyst was back and I needed to have the ovary removed so he did that surgery. Each time I was told it was not cancerous."
"A short while later the town I lived in had a news story on that featured a new doc they had hired who was a gyn oncologist. My dad insisted I go see him."
"I felt it was ridiculous since I had been told three times it was not cancer, but he was so worked up and worried I set up an appointment and was surprisingly told to come that week on a Friday and I would be his last appointment for the day."
"My mom went with me as she was also worried. He had me come inside his office and told me he would be performing a total hysterectomy on Monday morning and then samples from my abdomen would be collected many times when he 'washed the area w saline'."
"I was dumbfounded and asked him what he was talking about as I knew I didn’t have cancer."
"He said, 'Oh, no, you do for sure. I have wondered where you have been for months. I told your doc after I read the slide in the hospital you had a very rare form of ovarian cancer and because he did a needle aspiration he may have allowed cancer cells to escape'."
"I think my original doc messed up and keep trying to correct the problem without telling me he messed up."
"I am now 61 and have been cancer free for almost 30 years."
~ Proud_Pug
No Warning
"No symptoms, it was my first mammogram."
"When I got home after they confirmed it, I still couldn't feel the lump—it was too deep.
"Women, go for mammograms."
~ Quiltworthy
Weight Loss
"My wife was losing weight and then her lung collapsed (no pain, trouble breathing)."
"Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer."
"Diagnosed 2019, chemo, immuno and radiation, she’s been cancer free going on two years; it is possible."
~ Comfortable-Figure17
Flu-Like Symptoms
"When I was 6, I had cold/flu symptoms. Mom took me to the Dr. and they said that's what it was."
"My mom convinced them to do blood work because she felt it was something else."
"Ended up being leukemia and we were lucky to have caught it early."
"Still alive over 35 years later."
~ Jpalm4545
Blood In Urine
"One afternoon I finished peeing, and afterward, looking down, I noticed the water had a pink tint. No pain, nothing."
"Went to a local urologist who set up some simple tests."
"My left kidney was completely eaten up with cancer. Except for that pink water, no other symptoms."
"Had surgery, no more problems."
~ shadderjax
Night Sweats
"My little brother was having night sweats like soaking his bed bad and terrible pain in his pelvic area. The ER kept sending him home for like a month and thought he was a drug chaser due to his age(mid 20s)."
"His blood work was all jacked up and still wouldn't take him seriously until his wife, who was a nurse at the hospital, forced the issue, and then they found part of his pelvic bone eaten away due to acute lymphoblastic leukemia."
"He's now three and a half years post bone marrow transplant and traveling to Germany soon to meet his life-saving donor later this year."
~ Zanderson59
Lump
"I was putting on my bra one day and felt a lump the size of a golf ball. Freaked out and went to the ER."
"They did an ultrasound and said it was nothing, but would schedule another ultrasound in 2 days. Did that one, and they said it was nothing."
"A couple day's later, my doc called me because she saw that I had them done. She didn't trust the results and sent me to a breast assessment center."
"They did a mammogram and said that they would schedule a biopsy. Did the biopsy a week later. It was cancer."
"Within a month, it was the size of a softball and in my lymph nodes. Aggressive chemo, a double mastectomy, and a years worth of maintenance chemo later, I'm good."
"February 2, I was 6 years cancer free."
"I was already resigned to getting cancer at some point. Growing up it was me, my mom and my older sister."
"My sister got leukemia at age 3 and beat it, and my mom died from lung cancer 3 months before I found my lump. I knew what I was going into, so it wasn't that bad."
"Also, I didn't get the breast reconstruction, and I was rather well endowed, so I'm enjoying being able to wear tank tops with no bra showing. Sucks trying to find a pretty dress or top that doesn't show the surgery scars though."
~ Fribblous
Hernia
"I went in for a hernia operation. When I woke up, there were a bunch of doctors standing around me looking concerned. They said there was a complication."
"When they went in they noticed my appendix about to explode so they took that out instead. I thought that was a good idea and asked when they could fix the hernia."
"They looked at each other and said the appendix looked a little weird so they sent it to the lab and they'd get back to me."
"Turns out it was appendix cancer."
~ o_MrBombastic_o
Back Pain
"My back pain was so severe that I couldn't even sleep, so I went to Urgent Care. The x-rays found a kidney stone in one kidney and noticed my other kidney was enlarged."
"It was enlarged due to a tumor in my ureter."
~ BillyJayJersey505
Fever
"A fever of 102 to 103 for four days straight, extreme exhaustion, and then I started having terrible night sweats."
"I've already had 2 heart transplants so I'm pretty used to toughing it out when I'm sick. I waited for four weeks to go to the doctor. The first doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me and said to take Tylenol for the fever."
"I had a weird feeling so I booked an appointment with my old pediatrician, even though I was 19. After 5 minutes of looking at me, he felt my lymph nodes and down my spine and told me to go immediately to the ER."
"When I asked him why, he said just go."
"Turned out I had tumors in my lymph nodes, on my heart, and it had spread to my spine. Stage 4 Hodgkins lymphoma. My pediatrician saved my life."
~ Hopeful-Fortune-7689
Voice Change
"My speaking voice dropped over an octave over a period of a few months. My ear hurt all the time. No matter what I drank, I constantly felt like there was something stuck in my throat."
"I was eating Benadryl every few hours convinced it was allergies. Eventually, I was so hoarse that I could hardly do my job."
"Vocal cord cancer. Laryngeal."
"Two years cancer free!"
"I did come out with a very 1940s Hollywood leading lady voice meets Janice Joplin. I actually kind of like it."
"And I very much like being alive."
~ sadbirdfox
Routine Screening
"About 25 years ago my parents best friend was in her 40's and dying of leukemia (they had caught it pretty late)."
"My parents were both pack a day smokers at the time. They decided that they should make some changes in their life (quit smoking) and get some general screenings just in case."
"It turned out that my dad (also in his 40's at the time) had a pretty aggressive form of prostate cancer. He was lucky that he got checked when he did, because he probably wouldn't have lived to see 50 if he ignored it."
"They did surgery and followed up with radiation and chemo. He's been cancer free for over 20 years now."
So, there were no specific symptoms for him, just an introspective urge to not be in the same boat as his friend."
~ PoisonWaffle3
Back Pain And Cough
"During COVID in 2021, I was digging in my backyard to build a new patio. Since I was using a shovel, I would have aches and pains after a whole day of digging.
"I kept getting a lot of back pain, so I assumed it was from digging, and the pain kept getting worse. So took a week off from working around the house and the pain wouldn’t go away, eventually it led to a cough as well along with the back pain."
"So I felt I caught a chest infection or COVID, so decided to test for COVID and results were negative. Then decided to call my family doctor and they asked me to do an X-ray and they believed I might have TB, so they gave me antibiotics and medication for it."
"A month goes by and symptoms kept getting worse and worse, and eventually I go to the emergency room where they did a CT scan, and from the results they discovered a mass and cancer in my chest."
"Brutal 3 years of treatment but I’m in remission officially!"
~ ChickenZomBie1
Lymph Nodes
"I got sick one weekend. Fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes in my neck. By Monday I felt fine. The lymph node on the left side of my neck remained slightly swollen. Didn't think much about it until months later when I had a persistent sore throat. it didn't hurt much, just like when you wake up after snoring all night. You get a drink of water and the pain goes away."
"Except it didn't."
"So I went to an Ear, Nose and Throat guy, who scoped me and said there was something going on there, so he sent me for a scan. Then he sent me for a scan with contrast. Then he sent me for a biopsy, and I had throat cancer."
"A few months of daily radiation treatments and every other week chemo, and one last scan, and I was told the throat cancer was in remission."
"Yay!"
"But, I was told, there is something in your lower abdomen that bears looking into. A couple colonoscopies and a biopsy later, and I had colon cancer. The throat cancer hadn't spread, it was just an independent development. The colon cancer was resolved with surgery. No radiation or chemo needed."
"Had several years of clean follow up testing and all was well."
"Until...."
"My yearly phyical showed a dramatic increase in my PSA (Prostate Specific Anti-gens, iirc). Went from 0.3 last year to 13.5 this year. That's a pretty dramatic increase and prompted a visit to the urologist. He found such a dramatic increase to be somewhat suspicious, and ordered a re-test. He also checked my prostate and found nothing unusual."
"The new test came back at 0.5 so there was nothing to worry about, this time. But now it's one more thing I have to worry about."
"So, if you've got some symptoms that can't be explained, check it out. It isn't always something to worry about, but sometimes it very much is."
"Moral of the Story: GET IT CHECKED!!!"
"If the doctor pooh-poohs it, get it checked by a different doctor. Ultimately what you do is up to you, but if you want to see you children's graduations, and walk your little girl down the aisle and hold your grandchildren in your arms someday...."
"Just get it checked."
~ Adddicus
Changes In A Mole
"i was 15. i noticed an article for how to spot skin cancer in Seventeen magazine, and one of the example photos resembled a beauty mark on my right shoulder. i brought it up to my mom and she brushed it off and told me i was fine."
"At the time, my family doctor was someone i had seen often due to other chronic mystery health stuff (which i later figured out in my 20s). We went to him as a follow up for that chronic issue, and at the end of the appointment, i asked him about the mole."
"He told me verbatim 'You are ok, that's nothing to worry about. Your mom is right, go home and put some lotion on it, and you'll be fine."
"I was 20, and i began having a weird itch on my shoulder. i thought maybe it was my new clothing detergent because i have sensitive skin, but after a week or two of trial and error, i didnt see any changes."
"i saw my mole was inflamed, i assumed from the itching, and decided to keep an eye on it. every day for a week, the shape changed slightly. at first i thought i was crazy but i took photos to keep track."
"On the last day, i stepped out of my shower, and i looked in the mirror to see blood. It had started to bleed, without much reason to. That night i made an appointment with a dermatologist, and within another 7 days i was admitted to oncology. it was 3 weeks before my 21st birthday."
"Turns out i had stage 4 melanoma. It took the top doctors in my state 4 years, 3 surgeries, a 2 year long experimental infusion treatment, regular radioactive PET body scans, and every ounce of hope i had, in order to come out on the other side."
"I'm very lucky to say i am just under 6 years in remission and counting. Had my doctors caught this earlier, the cancer would not have migrated, and it could have been one surgery to be done. The treatment for removing skin cancer early on is fairly simple and regularly successful."
"Listen to your children. Listen to your patients. Listen to your gut."
~ WorryStoner
As one survivor stated, getting it checked is the main point.
Get your routine cancer screenings, pay attention to changes in your body, and keep pushing for answers.
@themanfromvulcan/Reddit
@buffysmanycoats/Reddit
@jadelikethestone/Reddit
