1,140 WTC 9/11 responders have cancer — and doctors say that number will grow

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/archive/index.php/t-207581.html

Christine Todd Whitman, administrator of the EPA in the aftermath of the attacks, was heavily criticized for incorrectly saying that the area was environmentally safe.[231] President Bush was criticized for interfering with EPA interpretations and pronouncements regarding air quality in the aftermath of the attacks.[232] In addition, Mayor Giuliani was criticized for urging financial industry personnel to return quickly to the greater Wall Street area.[233]

“Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink.” She also said, “The concentrations are such that they don’t pose a health hazard...We’re going to make sure everybody is safe.”[25] Later, a 2003 report by the EPA’s inspector general determined that such assurances were misleading, because the EPA “did not have sufficient data and analyses” to justify the assertions when they were made.[26]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks#Rescue_and_recovery

I was diagnosed with cancer last year, it is not necessarily a death sentence like it used to be.

On the other hand, we all have an expiration date, being told you have cancer makes it hard to ignore that fact. Although I would have preferred not to have had it, the effect on my life has been a net positive.

I’m 48, so I was hoping to stay around for my wife for a while yet!

I had melanoma when I was 20, deep enough that they told me it could have gotten picked up by the lymph node but it seems I dodged a bullet there. I decided a year ago I was tired of being fat so I had surgery in May, this was all discovered after they did the blood work since then.

Again like my melanoma it was discovered by accident. My skin cancer on my back was spotted by a vacationing pathologist standing next to me. I was changing my shirt in the big tent while fishing a couple of hundred miles north of the arctic circle in Canada, which by luck probably saved my life then too.

I had just turned 49 when I was diagnosed, with a wife and three kids at home. I was prepared for eternity but scared to death about leaving my wife and kids alone. My faith kept me sane through the first year.

Keep strong though, a diagnosis of cancer is not a death sentence, especially with blood cancers. And if you are told you don’t have cancer, it is not a guarantee you will live through tomorrow, live like it.

I’ll send up prayers tonight, I hope you have good news tomorrow.

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