Shedding Light on a Cause of Breast Cancer

I've have two breast cancer surgeries - 2003 and 2007 - with chemotherapy each time. I've also had two brain tumor surgeries - 1990 (23-hour craniotomy) and 2001 (Gamma-knife Radiosurgery.)

None of my other 5 (older) siblings has had cancer. My mother had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when she's 73 and she's a healthy 86-year-old at the present.

Becuase I was born premature, I suspected the heat lamp that had kept me warm in the neonatal ICU might have had something to do with my brain tumor. DDT was probably another culprit since it was heavily applied at home when I was little. The evening routine was to close all the windows and doors and sprayed the chemical fume then went out for an evening walk.

I have always been a night owl - mainly because of the brain tumor - since I was young because the cranial pressure made me

feel tired easily. Most of my studings was done lying in bed late at night - one major reason why I became a librarian.

The air pollution (I grew up overseas in a very polluted city) and other carcinogens (worked one year in a classroom that had asbestos inside of the leaking ceilings before my breast cancer recurrence; worked one year beneath a library roof that was repaired with 'tar'-smelling material before my brain tumor recurrence ) probably all have someting to do with my cancer.

But the most important factor is my gene. One of my neurosurgeons told me that 'people who have one type of cancer tend to have another type of cancer'.

Half a century post the publication of 'The silent spring', our society has just started to pay attention to 'recycling' and other 'green' initiative. I hope the future generation will enjoy a better, cleaner environment.

Jackie Swenson of TX 8:48PM May 09, 2009