Cancer maths

As a logical person, it is difficult to get your head around cancer stats. Clearly, the prognosis is pretty rubbish for secondary breast cancer to the brain, but how do you end up on the side furthest away from the median e.g. dying at over 100? If life was fair and easy to influence, you would add together the following aspects to your equation:

Healthy diet + happy marriage + limited stress + intellectual stimulation + strong faith + positivity + regular exercise + lots of laughter + a fantastic support network + lots of sleep = long life, job done

You would of course, avoid the following:

- alcohol - fatty foods - cigarettes - drugs = come on, you knew they weren't good for you

Plus, according to whatever the latest theories are, you would add in the following:

+ beetroot + blueberries + 3 minutes' exercise every day + a low fat, low sugar diet + mindfulness + yoga = a few more years? Please?

The truth is that none of us know how long we've got and that life isn't logical or fair. You can add everything into your equation and still not get the long life you deserve. And sadly, all of us will know of someone who, if life was fair, would still be here.

But what we can do, is cherish what we have. Anyone who is reading this is wildly lucky to still be here with the people they love. So whether we have months or years of this amazing life left, then make it count.

Amanda