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Location: Finally the house is done and we are in Port St. Lucie!
3,487 posts, read 3,338,219 times
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I'm not willing to treat my cancer with only holistic therapy. I am willing to combine alternative with medical to give me the strongest chance of survival.
I'm not willing to treat my cancer with only holistic therapy. I am willing to combine alternative with medical to give me the strongest chance of survival.
And I respect your choice. You should always choose what you feel will give you the greatest chance of healing for your life and also that which you feel will do the least amount of harm because your beliefs influence your healing quite a lot.
In my wife's case, she refused chemo and passed 80 days after diagnosis. In my case I was given 7 months without treatment and a possible 20 months with chemo. I found a person with the same type of cancer that due to extreme measures extended it out to 40 months. However, in cancer, the goal is not always the extension of life but rather the maintenance of some functionality.
You have to wonder about these studies. How do we really know how much shorter the life of a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer patient who lived 1 year with intensive chemo? Let's say it would have been only nine months. I would rather have nine months with no chemo than 12 months with heavy duty chemo.
You have to wonder about these studies. How do we really know how much shorter the life of a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer patient who lived 1 year with intensive chemo? Let's say it would have been only nine months. I would rather have nine months with no chemo than 12 months with heavy duty chemo.
You cherry picked one of the cancers for which we do not have a cure yet, I see, then chose the most advanced stage.
For the majority of cancers with good cure rates, the duration of chemo is much shorter than a year (hematologic cancers take longer), and the tradeoff is living a normal lifespan as opposed to dying. My son would easily trade the years he spent on chemo for his leukemia for the 25 years with no evidence of disease he has had since then, during which he finished high school and college, got a master's degree and a career he enjoys, married, and had a daughter.
Note that there is value in treatment for palliation, too. For example, radiation of bone metastases can help with pain. The nine months with no treatment before you die is not going to be pleasant. Those who think it will be better without chemo have probably never watched someone die from cancer. I have: my father in law.
You cherry picked one of the cancers for which we do not have a cure yet, I see, then chose the most advanced stage.
For the majority of cancers with good cure rates, the duration of chemo is much shorter than a year (hematologic cancers take longer), and the tradeoff is living a normal lifespan as opposed to dying. My son would easily trade the years he spent on chemo for his leukemia for the 25 years with no evidence of disease he has had since then, during which he finished high school and college, got a master's degree and a career he enjoys, married, and had a daughter.
Note that there is value in treatment for palliation, too. For example, radiation of bone metastases can help with pain. The nine months with no treatment before you die is not going to be pleasant. Those who think it will be better without chemo have probably never watched someone die from cancer. I have: my father in law.
I had a friend with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and they loaded her up with chemo. She was bedridden and sick for a long time, and passed away. That's why I mentioned it. And I'm sure she's not the only one.
Same with lung cancer. What is the one-year survivor rate have diagnosis, 15%. And those survivors can have surgery. What's the point of loading chemo into the other 85%?
And I'm missing your point. Chemo is a pain killer? How does that work?
And your leukemia example is ridiculous. Everyone knows that chemotherapy is totally appropriate for leukemia (and non-Hodgkin's, and testicular, and other cancers). Stick with cancers of the various organs.
I had a friend with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and they loaded her up with chemo. She was bedridden and sick for a long time, and passed away. That's why I mentioned it. And I'm sure she's not the only one.
Same with lung cancer. What is the one-year survivor rate have diagnosis, 15%. And those survivors can have surgery. What's the point of loading chemo into the other 85%?
And I'm missing your point. Chemo is a pain killer? How does that work?
And your leukemia example is ridiculous. Everyone knows that chemotherapy is totally appropriate for leukemia (and non-Hodgkin's, and testicular, and other cancers). Stick with cancers of the various organs.
Your friend had to consent to the chemo. That was her choice.
Survival for any cancer, including lung, depends on the stage at the time of diagnosis. You choose to look only at late stage cases and ignore the fact that many cases can be diagnosed early and have good survival rates.
For many cancers the curative part of the treatment is surgery. Take breast cancer, for example. First, the tumor is removed. Radiation may be appropriate to treat the site of the original tumor and decrease the chance of a recurrence from any microscopic areas of cancer missed by the surgery. Chemotherapy follows to get any cancer cells that may have already spread before the cancer was diagnosed. The chemo for most solid tumors works the same way. It is considered adjunctive, not curative, and decreases the risk of recurrence. For leukemia, chemo is used for cure, sometimes supplemented by radiotherapy.
It was radiotherapy that I mentioned as a palliative, but chemo can sometimes improve quality of life and extend survival, even in terminal patients. It can shrink tumors and relieve symptoms they are causing, including pain. The physician must try to avoid inappropriately continuing treatment past the point where it is helpful, though. That is part of the art of medicine.
Location: Finally the house is done and we are in Port St. Lucie!
3,487 posts, read 3,338,219 times
Reputation: 9913
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubygreta
I had a friend with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and they loaded her up with chemo. She was bedridden and sick for a long time, and passed away. That's why I mentioned it. And I'm sure she's not the only one.
Same with lung cancer. What is the one-year survivor rate have diagnosis, 15%. And those survivors can have surgery. What's the point of loading chemo into the other 85%?
And I'm missing your point. Chemo is a pain killer? How does that work?
And your leukemia example is ridiculous. Everyone knows that chemotherapy is totally appropriate for leukemia (and non-Hodgkin's, and testicular, and other cancers). Stick with cancers of the various organs.
The point in chemo is to kill the cancer cells that travel freely to attack other organs.
I'm battling my second colon cancer. The first was just restricted to my right ascending colon which was removed through surgery. No chemo needed. Unfortunately, a few of those cancer cells escaped during the removal of that section of colon. I had 3 years before this latest was diagnosed.
In hindsight I should have done the chemo. It has now spread to my omentum and abdominal cavity. It is currently responding Very well to chemo. The side effects I am experiencing are absolutely NOT limiting me in any way. I am actually enjoying life more now that chemo has totally gotten rid of the ascites that was causing me pain and major discomfort.
The side effects are a sensitivity to cold in my hands and throat. It only lasts about a week. I then have a week of normalcy to enjoy. They ARE only temporary. I can work around them.
Without chemo, I would be in a world of hurt and a shorter life expectancy. As of now, I have a VERY strong chance of beating this terrible disease.
I'm considered stage 4. I refuse to just give up. Thank god I didn't. I have a VERY good prognosis right now. It is thanks to chemo.
The point in chemo is to kill the cancer cells that travel freely to attack other organs.
I'm battling my second colon cancer. The first was just restricted to my right ascending colon which was removed through surgery. No chemo needed. Unfortunately, a few of those cancer cells escaped during the removal of that section of colon. I had 3 years before this latest was diagnosed.
In hindsight I should have done the chemo. It has now spread to my omentum and abdominal cavity. It is currently responding Very well to chemo. The side effects I am experiencing are absolutely NOT limiting me in any way. I am actually enjoying life more now that chemo has totally gotten rid of the ascites that was causing me pain and major discomfort.
The side effects are a sensitivity to cold in my hands and throat. It only lasts about a week. I then have a week of normalcy to enjoy. They ARE only temporary. I can work around them.
Without chemo, I would be in a world of hurt and a shorter life expectancy. As of now, I have a VERY strong chance of beating this terrible disease.
I'm considered stage 4. I refuse to just give up. Thank god I didn't. I have a VERY good prognosis right now. It is thanks to chemo.
Wow. I am not one of those anti-chemo freaks. I am opposed to it when it just adds a few weeks or months of misery to patients who have Stage 4 fatal cancer.
I wonder if chemo treatments would decline if oncologists weren't paid for each chemo treatment they provide (the only specialty that profits from prescribing a drug). Something to ponder.
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