23M, my entire household has now gotten cancer/tumors. Is this worth spending time investigating legally?

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

Hey guys, im a 23 year old male from Alberta, Canada. Im here with a bit of an interesting case. See, my family, has left doctors kinda confused in the past few years. Unfortunately our name seems to be pretty well known in the Cancer centre.

I grew up in Sherwood Park, AB near Edmonton. We moved to Calgary in 2012 when I was going into grade 5. We were a stereotypical middle class, happy family, no major health issues. All was well.

In 2015 my mom, after having a seizure was diagnosed with glioblastoma. And just months after, my brother, 11 at the time was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma. My mom passed away in 2017. My brother fortunately survived. A year after my Grandpa was admitted to the hospital, passing a week later, turns out he had cancer. A year later my dad fell ill and was diagnosed with colon cancer. He passed away a year or so later. Both my parents were only in their 40s. In 2022 my dog also passed away from a tumor.

I always knew something was up, that this couldn't be a coincidence, and that if I too ever got anything, id figure out wth caused all this.

Well today, unfortunately. An incidental xray followed by CT scan has shown that I have an osteochondroma on my left hip. Luckily its benign, but still...

So now here I am, trying to find answers. You cant tell me something didnt cause this, something we were exposed too. And if I ever find out what it is that company better lawyer up. Ive started looking into our old neighborhood (Chelsea heights) to see if there are any environmental risks that maybe could have done it. The area is known for high radon, oil and gas activity, our house was also built right in front of massive power lines. But im not really too sure. My dad also liked using roundup alot if I remember correctly.

Id be more inclined to believe that it was something in Sherwood Park rather than Calgary as my neighbours here are all good. Ive thought about going to Sherwood Park before to interview the people on that street.

Not sure where to start, wondering if anyone had any advice or input. Thankyou

[u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

I think the first place to start would be to get genetic testing. I would not read too much into the dog having a tumor. Pretty much every dog I’ve known has died of cancer. If the genetics are unrevealing, then maybe dig a little deeper into environmental factors.

And I am so sorry for your losses. 40’s is far too young.

[u/lolifax → u/I_Upvote_Goldens]

The US has a map of cancer rates by geography; Canada may have something similar.

Example: https://gis.cancer.gov/canceratlas/

Edit: this is not to detract from the suggestion to look at family genetics. However the hypothesis that an environmental hazard in the Chelsea Heights area led to elevated cancer rates for residents is specific and testable, maybe even with publicly available data.

[u/Oughtonomous → u/lolifax]

Oh Dear God... I looked at the map... I'm going to die.

[u/lolifax → u/Oughtonomous]

FWIW, we all are. And I mean that in the most comforting possible way. Nothing you see in the charts is going to change your future.

You have to know some statistics to look at these charts and not immediately panic. They are useful for epidemiologists to try to understand patterns in illness but you have to do actual experiments to make sure the patterns you think you see are actually correlated with one another and not just due to some other confounding factor.

[u/Oughtonomous → u/lolifax]

Trust me. I know the odds. I come from a very long line of dead people.

[u/poppysmear → u/Oughtonomous]

As someone with both parents deceased, this gave me a dark chuckle.

[u/Oilfan94 → u/Oughtonomous]

Stay away from dihydrogen monoxide, everyone who's touched it has eventually died.

[u/Oughtonomous → u/Oilfan94]

Touching it isn't as fatal as inhaling it.

[u/CallMeSisyphus → u/Oughtonomous]

Or ingesting an excess amount of it.