Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.
This month, ICBA Wellness shifts gears slightly, moving from mental health to cancer. Nearly 50% of Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime.
The Canadian Cancer Society says there are more than 100 different types of cancer, but (taking out non-melanoma skin cancer, for which specific stats aren’t reported) nearly half of all cases come down to four types:
- Lung
- Breast
- Colorectal
- Prostate
Over the next four weeks, we’ll look at each of those. Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death. The biggest problem is that it’s often unnoticeable at early stages, and the later the cancer diagnosis, the higher the mortality rate.
I hopped on the Canadian Cancer Society’s website, and they recommend seeing a doctor if you have these signs or symptoms of both types of lung cancer:
- a cough that gets worse or doesn’t go away
- shortness of breath
- chest pain that you can always feel, and that gets worse with deep breathing or coughing
- blood in mucus coughed up from the lungs
- wheezing
- weight loss
- fatigue
- hoarseness or other changes to your voice
- difficulty swallowing
- swollen lymph nodes in the neck or above the collarbone
- headache
If you feel something, get checked!
ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 50 companies, and thousands of construction professionals, better understand mental health. The program is free for ICBA members — see icba.ca/wellness.
