The Avengers Forever: IMHO

	IMHO: 15 November 2003 Page 12 of 28

This editorial has nothing whatsoever to do with The Avengers. It is a plea to all of its readers.

Get regular health screenings.

This is not some kind of strange joke. This is, unfortunately, reality, as much as I might wish and pray it was all some kind of bad nightmare.

The love of my life. The most important person in my life, a woman whose life means more to me than my own, has just been diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, or breast cancer. It will require mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy. It makes the results of my own checkup earlier this month—high blood pressure—seem quite trivial (although high blood pressure should never be trivialized, and I am now on meds).

We learned of the cancer just yesterday. Although it will be some time before it all fully sinks in, it has still shaken us to the core. The only solace is that, even though cancer is still killing millions, many are now surviving it. She may well be one of the "lucky" ones and live a full (albeit "incomplete") life. I will do absolutely everything in my power to see to it that every modern medical option is pursued to its fullest. I believe that we may have caught it just in time—left unchecked much longer, and there would be far fewer options and infinitely more grief to face.

The point of my sharing this information is not to solicit pity. It is to serve as a message to those who have not had a physical lately. Yes, I'm certain I sound like a mother hen nagging her children to brush their teeth. Yes, I'm sure you feel just fine right now (the love of my life says she is feeling better than she has for decades). Yes, some cancer testing can be costly and unpleasant. But think of the alternative!

If you're like us—hovering around 50—it is time to start regular testing. Get your mammograms and pelvic sonograms. Get your prostate exams and your colonoscopies. Get your complete and regular physicals. If something is found, get multiple opinions. Ask around for recommendations. In network, out of network—wherever practical, pay no attention. Get the best care you can possibly afford. Take the pennies you've been saving for that dream vacation and invest them in your health. It would do no good to have enough for a trip around the world when you're in the hospital living on tubes.

Naturally this will mean still fewer updates at The Avengers Forever, as this website is, sorry to say, a very, very low priority in the grand scheme of things.

In the meantime, go get a checkup. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones.

And that's my humble opinion.

David K. Smith, 15 November 2003

P.S. You can follow our breast cancer odyssey at our respective Cancer Survivor websites: Nightscape and Kasha's Sunrise. Please consider paying these sites a visit and signing our guest books. Thank you.