Round Up user

[W00dfin]

From 1984 to 1987, I worked full time for my farmer father who was a no-till corn producer. My duties included mixing the various herbicides for the sprays used to suppress weeds and grass in the corn fields. I also operated a tractor drawn herbicide sprayer. And I used a backpack sprayer to use herbicide to kill weed infestations in the field and along fence rows. I believe the latter was when I sprayed Roundup. All the herbicides we used were probably carcinogenic to one degree or another.

I was diagnosed CLL in 2003.

W00dfin

[Ballyhoo77]

It's sad people don't realize the what might happen in the future from using pesticides. More information needs to be provided to the users on the risks. Kinda like smoking cigarettes.

[wmay13241]

There is a Roundup class action lawsuit. More information at forthepeople.com/class-acti...

[W00dfin in reply to wmay13241]

Thanks 🙏🏻

[W00dfin in reply to wmay13241]

I read the site and it twice said to contact them if you had been diagnosed in the last 10 years. I was diagnosed CLL 14 years ago. I was already ambivalent about it anyway.

[shoshanaz]

It certainly could be that, or it could have been something else. (pretty much covers it, yes?)

There have been some surveys that I have participated in that asked about many lifestyle activities, including pesticide and insecticide use. It appears that Agent Orange does have a link. It's important for researchers to look for these links to help reduce the risk for others.

For those of us who already have CLL, it is more helpful to look at what is best in terms of treatment, and at prevention of other diseases/conditions for which we have risks: Vaccinations, sun and insect protection, exercise, etc.

Knowing the cause won't be much help to us now, but knowing the causes may prevent others from having to join our "CLL club".

[Wordmonger]

I'm sorry about your CLL diagnoses, and think it's entirely understandable for you to want to "look back" to see what may have triggered your cancer, if only to try to protect the health of our families and future generations.

The province where I live, Ontario, banned the cosmetic use of pesticides (for lawns) after an extensive review of medical literature showed clear links with many cancers. I believe Roundup has also been linked to Parkinson's, and have seen media reports about research linking it to the rise in autism.

Rachel Carson issued a broad warning about these toxic chemicals decades ago, before herself succumbing to breast cancer. I heard two impressive women scientists give public talks about the links between environmental toxins and cancer: Sandra Steingraber, a U.S. ecologist, poet and cancer survivor who wrote the scrupulously researched book Living Downstream; and Devra Davis, Director for the Center of Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh, whose book Secret History of the War on Cancer describes why research efforts that focus on cancer prevention are downplayed.

Of course, most visiting this site are understandably focused on our own and our loved ones' treatments and well-being. For some, however, a cancer diagnosis has been a trigger to look at the bigger picture and raise our awareness about eliminating the evironmenal contributors to this disease.

[W00dfin in reply to Wordmonger]

Yes indeed. We need to tell our friends and family what we are learning.

[lexie]

I worked at a large mail order greenhouse and farm operation beginning in 2008. Sides were open aired to the fields and adjacent gardens and parking where we observed workers in white suits spraying RoundUp, industrial strength, as I asked what they were using. I was diagnosed in 2015 but had some odd symptoms in 2011 with viruses that seemed to last unusually long. 2011 was my last year there. My hem-onc was very interested to learn that I worked around herbicides. I have wondered about RoundUp, especially with recent articles about it. I know it won't reverse my CLL but I would be more than happy to receive restitution if RoundUp were to blame. I appreciate the class action link.