(Left: Delta Goodrem Right: Current Broadway cast of Annie. Bald guy is long term lymphoma survivor Anthony Warlow)
Delta Goodrem nearly died 10 years ago.
She’s still alive because she underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. There are so many people who are alive today, who would have died had they refused treatment for cancer. This includes the countless number of people living in your suburb who don’t talk about it and celebrities who do. (Just off the top of my head, I can name: Kylie Minogue, Anthony Warlow, Simon O’Donnell, that guy from Dexter, Ethan Zohn, the wicket keeper for Australia, some young guy who played in the World Cup).
When I went out for lunch today, I got talking to a guy about cancer therapies. He said that he didn’t believe in chemotherapy but he did the power of positive thinking. When asked what he would do if it were him, he explained that in his culture (Chinese) it was about the survival of the fittest. I assumed he was a religious fundamentalist who had grown up without a science education, but it turns out he had an atheist upbringing in communist China.
I know for a fact that there are clinical trials coming out of China faster than any other country because of the sheer population of those undergoing treatment (and surviving). If you have read the book “The Emperor of Maladies”, you’ll realize a lot of the scientists at the forefront of research are “culturally” and ethnically Chinese. I have a Chinese friend who had cancer and when given the chance to live, she took the chemo and radiation and she’s still alive!
I can see how people can have two different opinions when it comes to wasabi. Some will take it, some won’t. But when it comes to proven life saving medical therapy, how can a take-away owner who has had no experience of cancer believe that his views are as valid as a scientist whose findings have been proven?
Sadly all too many people have a deep mistrust of science and would rather pay thousands for a bit of vitamin C therapy. I understand why people resort to alternative treatments once they’ve run out of mainstream cures, but I also believe that the people who sell hope are criminals. I know people who have wiped out their life savings, because money means nothing when you are dying, for the miracle and often painful “cure”.
Who is to blame for this deep mistrust people have of science and medicine? Makers of period dramas set in 19th Century England? Personal experience? The rise of new age nut jobs? Lack of critical thinking in our school curriculum?
I am disturbed by the number of people who think it is okay to be a skeptic about scientific facts. Science is not a belief system. It just is.
Oz Poli Chix 