Cancer is Not Fun

It's a common misconception in our society that cancer is fun, a lifelong joyride of pleasure and happiness. This is why so many people are so eager to catch a case of the cancer. You see them everywhere, smoking cigarettes, sunning without sunscreen, and using microwaves. Cancer, however, is not fun. Almost everyone with cancer regrets catching it, and wishes it would just go away.

Everyone's familiar with the stereotype of 'Cancer Boy'. Cancer Boy is always smiling, always doted on, and he's skinny, too. He inspires the respect of others, some of whom shave their heads as a show of solidarity with Cancer Boy. Cancer Boy gets all the best gifts, from more people than regular people get gifts from. But having cancer is not really as glamorous as this.

Just about everyone with cancer suffers with extreme fatigue. None of them find this to be fun. Because cancer affects the defenses of the body's immune system, most people with cancer get fevers. These can also happen as a reaction to the cancer medication. As the cancer gets worse and worse, the fevers get worse and more common.

Cancer also affects the skin. Some cancer patients' skin turns yellow, or gets darker or redder. Cancer victims also sometimes grow hair, hair that you wouldn't normally suspect. Just imagine what the general public thinks when they see a yellowish person with strange tufts of hair. Nothing too pleasant, I can tell you, and this will be reflected in the way they treat the cancer patient.

On top of all of this is the pain. The pain hurts, and not in any of the ways that some people might consider fun. The pain is one of the least pleasant aspects of having cancer, and many cancer patients agree that it's so bad that they'd rather not have cancer even if the pain was their only symptom.

Once somebody decides they'd rather not have cancer anymore, they have to be subjected to cancer treatment, which is not fun at all. Doctors usually try to treat cancer with chemotherapy or surgery. Having a tumor cut out is far from fun, but maybe the worst part is never being sure that the cancer is totally gone. It might pop up again one day. Chemotherapy is even worse, with the expensive chemical treatments that leave a cancer patient weak, hairless, and severely nauseated.

Getting cancer really is a bad idea all the way around, and people would be well advised to not catch it. It might take some lifestyle adjustments, but cancer is not fun to such a significant degree that it's worth it.