Healthy Living

When I opened up the mail recently, there was a postcard from one of my patients who was enjoying a trip in Jamaica.

At the end, it said: “Miss you. Not really.”

Those were the best words I could have read. This cancer survivor was enjoying life, appreciating every day of it, and had moved well beyond the fear and anxiety that comes when you are first diagnosed.

This is a common theme. There are more cancer survivors in our midst now than ever before. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of cancer survivors is on the upswing, with nearly 12 million survivors in the United States as of 2007, up from 9.8 million in 2001 and only 3 million back in 1971.

As Backus Hospital’s latest television commercial says, cancer can now just be a chapter in someone’s life, not the whole story. People can live long and productive lives after being diagnosed with cancer.

This lesson was driven home when I attended Backus Hospital’s Survivors in Fashion on Thursday night at the Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

This was much more than just a fund-raising fashion show. An audience of 900 strong was inspired by 19 breast cancer survivors who served as models – and role models.

Ranging from the newly diagnosed to decades of survivorship, they showed firsthand that there is much to live for after diagnosis. As they modeled clothing, tap danced and basked in the applause and loving sentiments from the audience, I could not have been more proud. No matter what issues anyone might have been facing in life before arriving at this show, they were quickly forgotten as we watched this magical performance.

There have been many advances in treatment, technology and programs. We know so much more about cancer now than we did just a few years ago. This all helps increase the number of survivors.

But, as these models showed us — just like my patient in Jamaica — attitude is everything.

Dinesh Kapur, MD, is Medical Director of the Backus Cancer Center and an oncologist with Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology (ECHO) in Norwich. This column should not replace advice or instruction from your personal physician. If you want to comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs or e-mail Dr. Kapur or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org