Cancer Sucks

Image Credit: Pixabay

Author: Nick Pettit, DO PhD

2018-2019 AAEM/RSA Board Liaison to the Publications and Social Media Committee
Originally published: Common Sense May/June 2019

Cancer sucks! This is the proverbial phrase that unites all cancer survivors, cancer fighters, and cancer victims. It allows unity among the terrifying cancer experience, allowing us to bond and empathize over the seriousness that is a cancer diagnosis. Clinical experience suggests that cancer is frequently diagnosed in the emergency department (ED). Anecdotally, in three years of residency I have seen a whopping two STEMI’s between my two large academic EDs, whereas, maybe monthly I worry about a new cancer diagnosis.