One of the many things I learned while I was dying is that the greatest part of any conversation might just be "what if." "Where would we be today if the thinkers and doers of our world would have just continued to wander aimlessly through life without challenging the world with what if"? I will try to stick to my rule of thumb regarding writing and try to stick to what I know, but more and more lately I find myself questioning things and challenging the things I thought I knew. Even the most outrageous of thoughts can open the mind to a dozen different questions and possibly out of that dozen questions one of them turns out to be the right question asked at the right time to the right person who takes it and changes the world.
So grab a drink, pop some corn, put on your 3-D glasses and open your mind to some questions.
What if the tobacco companies were actually the Lee Harvey Oswald of our Economy? I'll get back to that in a moment.
I have written before regarding the question of which comes first the COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or Lung Cancer. I am starting to firmly believe that it is the breaking down of the lung caused by a COPD that creates a great canvas for cancer to paint upon. No scientific back round to what I am saying, just a nagging thought, no actually more of a memory turned into a theory that won't go away. My father, years before lung cancer took his life, was told that he might have tuberculosis. I was young so the memory is faint but has always stuck with me. I think it stuck for two reasons, one, I had no idea what it was only it was bad and two, because it went unresolved, the doctors told him it wasn't TB and that was the last I ever heard of it. Knowing what I think I know now, I believe that my father had what we would refer to today as a COPD. Many years later my father was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. I too have found myself in the same boat, degeneration of lung tissue leading to Lung Cancer. Yes, another broken branch on the family tree.
What if my father had been treated for COPD all those years ago? Would that have helped him avoid cancers number one killer? There is so much great research happening out there for instance, Dr. Young from New Zealand, there might be others in the field who I am neglecting to mention, but it's his work that I have read and am familiar with. Anyway, there is very interesting research that shows that statins, a treatment thought to be for the sole benefit of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease) may also be effective in treating and reducing the mortality rate among COPD patients. COPD is significantly under diagnosed and predicted to be the third leading cause of death in developed countries in the years to come.
What if statin treatments not only slowed the progression of COPD in the lung but actually helped to repair and strengthen lung tissue as well as increase the capacity of the remaining lung tissue? What if by properly diagnosing COPD and treating it with a thought to stopping and reversing the tissue degeneration not just slowing it down, helped to close the door on the activation of lung cancer cells?
Back to the original what if.
What if it is true that smoking is the main cause of COPD but not the main activating force in Lung Cancer? What if the true culprit lay wait in something even more sinister like lets say fast food, or poorly regulated food sold to us by one of a few major food producers in conjunction with a government willing to turn it's head because of the amount of lobbyist funds available. What if for years the air we breath, the food we eat the things we put on, around and in our bodies were actually the activating force behind all cancers? What if the "chosen few" of our Nation, Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, food producing conglomerates and energy producing networks, banks and government officials all got together in a back room thirty years ago after realizing that they could not stop the systematic poisoning of the United States both people and economy and came up with the ultimate fall guy. The Tobacco Company. What if the meeting led to this discussion with Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man, "Ok, In the years to come we are going to need you to fall on the sword and help the rest of us cover up our roles in killing America." "You are going to take the rap for most illnesses that we have caused." "In return, if you act now you can increase the amount of crap that you are adding to the tobacco to ensure that we can keep the public hooked, that way when we jack the taxes sky high you'll still keep a very dedicated as well as highly addicted following." "Oh yes the additional tax money will be divided equally like the NFL's revenue sharing agreements so you actually could be making much more in the years to come meanwhile doing your ‘Friends' as well as a grateful government a huge service." "What do you say? Will you be a team player? Will you fall on the sword to cover the rest of us?"
Too far fetched for you? Ok we'll blame that last segment on "chemo head" or one too many radiation treatments to the brain.
Try this one out.
What if? What if controlling the activation of cancer cells was as simple as keeping a correct amount of the proper vitamins let's say like vitamin D, (sunshine) in our system?
What if everything we needed could be found naturally and cost us little to nothing monetarily? What if it were a matter of keeping your bodies acidic levels in check?
What if the super teeth whitening toothpaste you pay $4.00 for could be replaced with a box of baking soda which will do the job with no side effects for mere pennies?
What if every natural remedy you have ever heard about from flax seed to coral calcium or good ol' sunshine combined with a proper diet made from foods not contaminated with chemicals or injected with growth hormones were the true key to good health all the way around? If it were that simple, wouldn't that take a large bite out of the revenues of industries such as pharmaceutical companies or insurance companies?
Would the health insurance issues that plague our country fall into place as a healthier nation was less reliant on overcharging health providers and the hundreds of dollars the average person now pays for questionable medications with worse side effects then the original symptoms they were created to treat?
What if a better diet including supplements, freed our legal system by reducing the amount of court time being taken up by the countless lawsuits and class action suites brought about by the side effects from our latest must have pills?
What if everything that was done and is done for our "benefit" was looked upon not to create revenue for the already over compensated leaders of big business but was actually done just to benefit society? Would there be more cures for our health issues instead of treatments for the effects?
What if I told you that there are people who spend every day of their life searching tirelessly for the breakthrough that cures cancer? Would you support them?
What if you truly could limit your exposure to cancer by eating a proper diet and taking vitamins and supplements? Would you change your diet?
What if I told you that a walk in the sun instead of a day on the couch would benefit you tremendously? Would you shut off the television? Would you ask your children to put down the video game controller and join you?
What if I suggested to you that we might just be our own worse enemy when it comes to our own health and the health of our children?
What if we weren't working ourselves to death and riddling our bodies with stress to make a payment on an overvalued house or purchase the latest thing that will make us feel successful and valuable as Americans?
What if we changed that life style, we gave it up, we stopped teaching it to our children by our example?
What if these things helped prevent the major illnesses of your life by strengthening you inside and out, making you less vulnerable to every disease that comes your way.
What if no one pulled into a BP gas station until they solved the oil spill disaster they've created in the gulf? Do you think that maybe they would be more willing to do the right thing?
What if I told you that I have no answers for you? The truth of the matter is that I'm just a guy trying to open your mind a little to changing some things in your life that I truly feel would benefit you even to the point of maybe not having to face lung cancer as I have.
What if I told you that I'm not sure why I am currently a lung cancer survivor while so many others don't make it this far? What if it were because I simply altered my lifestyle enough after I was diagnosed to make the difference mixed with great treatment, luck, prayer and attitude?
What if my survival were luck of the draw or a lucky seven rolled in the cosmic crap shoot?
What if I made the alterations in my lifestyle prior to being diagnosed with small cell lung cancer? Could I have avoided it altogether?
What if the best way we have right now to beat lung cancer is to avoid it?
What if it all were as simple as sunshine?
What if…….. Two simple words that can open your mind, alter your future, change the world. Where would we be without questioning life?
