Does it feel like cancer is everywhere?

Multiple friends’ parents. The wife of my friend. A mom of my son’s classmate. They’re all battling cancer — right now. I know all too well what they are going through. My husband, Stephen, passed away from brain cancer a little over a year ago at the young age of 37 years old. I know what it is like to hear the news. I know what it is like to fight like hell. And I know the pain of loss.

Since his diagnosis, I've repeatedly asked the question, “Does it feel like cancer is everywhere? Is it because I'm getting older and this just starts to happen as we age? Or do I feel this way because I lost my husband to cancer, and am hypersensitive to take note of its presence?” I do believe it is a combination of both, but I also think the horrifying truth is that, yes, cancer just might be everywhere in Iowa.

Last year, the University of Iowa reported, “Iowa as the second state to have the highest cancer rates in the U.S.A. and the only one in the top 5 that cases are rising.” Through another report they shared with me this year, a majority of cancers in Iowa across the board are reporting higher incident rates than expected. Unfortunately, this data pool has a five year lag, so my fear is these reported cases are only on the rise. There are all sorts of cancers surrounding us and increasing. And patients are getting cancer at younger ages and at more advanced stages. Just this week, The Lancet Public Health released a new report finding, “17 cancer types appearing more common in Generation X and millennials than older age groups.”

An online search for cancer news typically yields: alarming warnings, rising trends and reports, instead of advanced discoveries, more treatments and breakthroughs. I wish we didn’t have to hope for miracles, but that the standard would be cures and the known. We should have more cancer survivors.

Statistically, I will assume you too may know someone with cancer. I'm part of a club none of us wish to join, but I am honored to be connected to such brave families and warriors facing cancer. It worries me just how many people I know with diagnoses, and how many people don't "fit the typical demographic." I can't help but bring attention to the alarming cancer rates growing and lives lost. Just today, another loved one shared their battle and started chemo. I wish I could stop it. Cancer is haunting, and depending on how you define it — cancer is winning. Cancer is claiming terminally ill patients with no cure; those people can only hope for prolonged survival. Diagnoses are going up, prognoses continue to be poor, and deaths are compounding. I’ve paid my condolences to more people in the last year than my entire life … all from aggressive forms of cancer.

If cancer is “everywhere” in Iowa, the question and challenge becomes, “what are we going to do about it?”

My opinion is that cancer is everywhere. That we can do better, make a difference … and ultimately, we can beat cancer. I am optimistic that cancer can be cured in our lifetime if we work together on this epidemic. I believe my kids can grow up in a world where they don’t have to fear cancer anymore after losing their dad to it. Heightened awareness and funding more research can pave a path to a better future for others. I'm committed to impacting both and hope you will join.

If you feel this way too, please get involved Saturday, Aug. 24 at Bass Farms for the "Burger and Beer Benefit for Brain Cancer." This fundraiser will launch a new, "DON'T DIE" campaign — highlighting cancer patients to amplify their stories, strengthen their possibilities, and advance cancer treatment through funding research. To read the touching story behind this campaign inspired by Stephen’s son, learn about the opportunity to honor your loved ones, and to join the journey fighting against cancer in Iowa, go to https://www.thrivebraincancer.com/burger-beer-benefit.

Brittney Stepanek lives in Cedar Rapids.