Its a curly dilemma. Thankfully, most people with first hand experience of BC realise that there is no way of keeping yourself safe. That even those who lead the most exemplary lives can fall foul of this disease.
I'm far from a paragon but learned a long time ago that if I make some effort to look after myself I feel better. Which hasn't stopped me oscillating from health nut to drug wrecked and back again in a pretty much perpetual cycle. In the last thirty years my weight has yoyoed with variants of up to 30kg. None of this is good, but it's also not easy to maintain any constant. Many, many things come into play, and not all of them are obvious to even the closest observer.
What isn't helpful is anything that creeps into the victim blaming space. 'If only you'd taken better care of yourself.' Gee. Thanks. When, precisely? And when, precisely, did those who have done everything ''right' fuck up so badly they got the booby prize too?
Having had a recurrence after ten years, I'm pretty much resolved to the idea this shit will never go away. That it will get me eventually, unless one of my other high risk activities gets me first. I try hard to manage the damage that treatment has done, not in the hope of putting the brakes on the cancer, but more with the idea I'd rather be functional for as long as possible.
Over the years I have seen people soooo bitterly disappointed when they have pulled out all the stops and tried really, really hard to diet, exercise, pray and supplement their way to cancer free status. It is heartbreaking. One of the advantages of being a pessimist is you are rarely disappointed.
Just do your best, try as hard as your will permits and understand there is no magic bullet. Common sense should prevail. Mxxx
