Working myself out of a job
By Jaime
March 17, 2010
Why does someone go into oncology? Aside from the reasons listed on my bio, there are more reasons I have found myself in this field that I could probably list. And when I feel discouraged or stressed or start to feel “compassion fatigue,” all I have to do is remind myself of these things.
I study it so that “slash, burn, poison” becomes a thing of the past. I chose oncology because I hate that chemo drugs are so toxic to a person’s body that they can cause heart damage and leukemia, among many, many other things. I want to do more than wear colored ribbons. I continue to advocate and educate because the cumulative budget of the NCI for the past three decades is equal to what we spend in Iraq in nine months.
I talk about cervical cancer because there is controversy over the vaccine for HPV. Oncology is everything to me because too many people lack support during and after their ordeal – not to mention family and friends, whose pain can get lost in the fray. Because young adults (those between the ages of 15 and 39) are the only demographic group in which there has not been a decrease in the incidence of cancer diagnoses and deaths. Because there’s a stigma still with so many cancers, and many people don’t know the warning signs of many cancers, because they’re not well-publicized.
I study cancer in the hopes that one day, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and M.D. Anderson will be out of business. So that no woman has to make the decision about whether to keep her breast/ovaries/uterus or not. I don’t want young people to have to bank sperm or freeze eggs ASAP because the treatment will render him/her sterile. So that 20-something women aren’t in premature menopause due to their chemo.
I study cancer because I’m fascinated at how many cancerous diseases manage to elude scientists and mutate so that they are unstoppable. I study cancer to temper my own feelings of helplessness, uselessness and fear. To try and find answers for the unending questions about an unending disease. I study it because of its intricacies, its beautiful but deadly chaos and its unrelenting siege on the body.
I study it so that I can be a better patient and a healthier woman. So that my loved ones have accurate information and the autonomy to make informed decisions. So that I have more control in an uncontrollable situation. I study it in the hopes that one day I will find myself in field that is no longer needed. And that will be the sweetest day of all.
Want to Share your Comments with our bloggers?
Leave a comment below!
Leave a Comment