Do you ever wonder......how did i get cancer?

You are far from the only one who has ever thought about this! Right now too little is known about what causes bc to come up with a cause and effect relationship. I personally believe that many factors come together to create a "perfect storm". Whatever you're thinking, don't blame yourself. Caryn

Hi Shayne,

No, you're definitely not the only one. Pretty normal to try to find the cause of something...especially of something bad. I have the BRCA2 Mutation....but, even so, I know something triggered my cancer...or I would have had it sooner. I got it at 52. I personally think that stress was the trigger for me. No doubt in my mind at all. I had a very stressful event and less then one year later, I had cancer.

shayne:  I have really loved reading Anti-Cancer a New Way of Life by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber.  He goes into both the scientific and alternative explanations for what can cause cancer cells to grow.  We all have cancer cells in our bodies, but not everyone's cells grow into what can be found to be a "cancer tumor!" 

You are not alone.  I think about it and wonder frequently.  Also my mother died of pancreatic cancer 2 years ago.  And my grandfather from stomach cancer back in 1966.  Why? Why? Why?  How can I best protect my nine-year-old son without keeping him in a glass bubble? (not in a plastic bubble -- too many petrochemical concerns!)

I think we all agonize over this. I was dx'd at age 62, and from what I've read the greatest risk of getting cancer is becoming older. So, there's that. Also, I went through the most stressful 5 years of my life right before my dx. Ironically, most of that stress had resolved when I was dx'd. Even though there's no proof I do believe that stress affects our health.

I'm curious about the emotional/energetic component to this disease.  I also had a very stressful event that occurred exactly a year before I was dx'd with bc.  And very stressful events that occurred 25-30 years prior.  So I don't think it's too esoteric to look for connections there.  

I do think there's more to it than the purely physical, but it will probably be many years before that avenue is seriously studied.

Just my opinion:  that maybe stress has a lot to do with getting cancer.  Maybe grief and stress.  Maybe grief and stress lower our immunity or mess up our hormones?  Some doctor said that most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer had some traumatic or stressful event or more than one event like that approximately two years before diagnosis.  I wish I could remember the doctor's name who said that.   Maybe other people don't get cancer, but get something else if they are under a lot of stress?

I sympathize with all, but, no, I never wonder, just like I never wonder, why did my Dad die when I was 5? Why did I go through what I did as a teen?  Why have I blessed with other things?  Why was I not born in a third world country? I have no genetic reason for having BC  Nope! Never wonder. Life is what it is.

I wonder thay every single day since I was diagnosed less than a month ago on 7-30. I am 23 years old, have NO family history of ANY cancers on either side or my family and do not have the BRCA gene mutation. I was lucky I caught my cancer so early (especially for someone my age). But then say, why now? What made this thing express itself now? But thinking too much like that only induces feelings of anxiety about my diet and my lifestyle (like what did I do to contribute to this mess).