Just STFU!

I make no apologies for the content of this post or my complete and utter dislike for conspiracy theorists.

If you don't like it, don't read it's that simple.  

Walk away now and no one will get hurt.

Every day...  every single day, on my Facebook  I see one person after another post these stupid conspiracy theories...

Like Aspartame is responsible for an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and lupus and kill you...

Like Red Bull is a secret weapon devised by the US government to kill you... 

Like drinking soda/soft drink from a can will cause leptospirosis and kill you...

Like instant noodles are covered in wax that will cause cancer and kill you...

Normally I just simply state that it is a hoax, if I can be bothered, and go about my day...

But now my hackles are up and I've got my cranky pants on...

Because I am SICK TO DEATH of the slew of conspiracy theories going around about cancer...  more specifically, how to cure cancer.

See...  way back in the middle of last year a particularly rude and obnoxious individual told me that I was the reason my daugher had cancer.  I have her refined sugars and flours.  I let her have processed foods.  I poisoned her.  I killed her.

It was around this time that I started to actually pay attention to the number of stupidly ridiculous conspiracy theories that people are spouting and spruking in regard to cancer.

For instance...

Cannabis can cure cancer.  Smoke it, ingest it, whatever...  but Cannabis can cure cancer!

Eating red meat left to 'cure' in the sun for 90 days will cure cancer.

Drinking barley grass in hot water twice a day will cure cancer.

Eating 13 serves of fresh sugar free vegetables every day will cure cancer.

Most of them I dismiss with a wave of the hand, they're stupid and if people believe them, well, it says a lot about their intelligence levels doesn't it?

But the one single conspiracy theory that is doing the rounds that really, really, REALLY makes my blood boil is the allegation that pharmaceutical companies have a cure for cancer.  They know what it is...  and cancer can be cured for as little as 20 cents...  

But the pharmaceutical companies have hushed this up because otherwise they won't make any money.

Seriously?

I mean, really...  seriously??

Do the people that spread this vitriol have any idea of how insulting this kind of thing is?

Firstly, it's insulting to every single person in the Oncology field.  The doctors, the nurses, the surgeons, the palliative care teams...  the people who deal with oncology patients day in and day out.  The ones who watch patients die after options have been exhausted and there is nothing more they can do.

Do you really think these people would stand back and let their patients die if there was a 20 cent cure that could be given that would cure them?

How about the families and friends?  The ones who watch their loved ones go from bright, happy, vivacious individuals to gaunt beings, barely recognizable, riddled with unmanageable pain and suffering.  

Do you really think that these people would stand back and let their loved ones, their parents, sisters or brothers...  their CHILDREN die if there was a 20 cent cure that could be given that would make everything better again?

What about the cancer sufferers themselves?

The ones who have to endure the ordeal...  the chemotherapy that makes them feel so violently nauseous and makes their hair fall out?  The mouth ulcers, the infections, the pain, the constant injections.  The radiation treatments, the surgeries, the ongoing barrage of medications to be taken around the clock.

The ones who end up with only one dream...  the dream to survive...  the ones who wake up every morning and celebrate just because they have woken up and have another day to be with those they love.

The ones who have the most to lose...  their lives...

Do you really think that these people would be dying if there was a 20 cent cure that could be given that would give them back their life again?

Seriously, do you really think at all?  Do you have any comprehension of how these theories might be taken by those who have been personally touched by this horrible disease?  Any idea how insulting they are?  How hurtful?

I dragged my family through hell and back...  I fought for my daughter, I moved heaven and earth to keep her here...  and I lost.

I lost her.

I lost a whole big chunk of my heart.

I wake every night because I can still hear her crying in pain. 

I close my eyes and I can see her face etched with suffering.

I stop and I can feel her in my arms, tense with confusion and fear.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't cry for her...  that I don't wish to God that I had more than just a photo of her to hold onto.

If a 20 cent cure could have changed that, don't you think I would have?

So...  seriously...  just for once...  think about what your saying...

Or better still...

STFU!