Something in the water?

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

This has been on my mind in the last few days.

I started working here in 2000 with about 150 other people.

In 2002, one woman was diagnosed with cancer and died shortly after.

In the last five years, we've had eight more diagnosed and two more die -- and we're about to lose another one.

I know one death was basically self-inflicted (smoking=lung cancer) and another was genetic. But still. Nine diagnoses in 150 colleagues in five years is a little sobering. All but two probably were under 50 years old. And all had been in their jobs for several years.

Just wondering how my shop compares to yours.

 

[Flash]

MMS, I've done a lot of reading on the causes of cancer. I figure it will be my downfall, because my father, both his parents and all their parents are gone from it.
You work in a high-stress environment. Stress has long been considered a major contributor to the cause of cancer because it weakens the immune system, which in turn fewer and weaker cells to fight off problems.

 

[Ace]

You are talking about 9 out of 150 people, that's fewer than 5 percent so it's not like you are in a hot zone.

The older you get, the more you realize how common cancer is. I could name dozens of co-workers and their spouses, friends and family members with cancer.

Scary. But most of them beat it.

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

No, I know it's not a horribly high percentage. But it seems more sudden. Folks who predate me here say it's never been this frequent. It could just be the odds catching up, of course. And it probably is.