marshmallowjones wrote:Hi all
Hoping to hear back from those with more wisdom and experience. I'm seeing the therapist from the Oncology Center today as I know i'm feeling defeated and down today.
marshmallowjones wrote:2. I been falsely lumping myself in with other Stage 3 patients and pretending that my cure rate is more in the 70's but it's really only 53%, isn't it? How do I deal with that?
e_enyedy wrote:All I can tell you: forget the statistics. Statistics apply for large numbers. You are ONE human being,
If you read carefully the available (good) information, you will see that nobody has a clue how a person's disease will behave.
When you start your treatments, nobody has a clue on how the disease will react. So, they do a scan after 3 or 4 sessions;
to have an idea what is going on. Next scan: after ending your chemo, to re-stage the disease.
After the re-staging there will be a new treatment plan; which can vary from watchful observation to whatever is needed.
And your doctor will watch you like a hawk (hopefully). [ I spent almost six years with a follow-up visit every three weeks and a PET/CAT scan every two
or two and a half months. Now, my visits are every 6 weeks, and CAT scans every 3 months] The labwork? don't even want to mention them.
Why all this mess? Because the Dr knows how my organism behaved in the past - but he also knows the the past behaviour does not guarantee future
reactions or future events.
What I am trying to say: do not apply statistics to yourself. Wait and see how your body will behave.
All the best,
E
Nordy1 wrote:Hi recently diagnosed
I recently finished my treatments at number 11 - it really was cumulative (the drs constantly reminding us) but for me it wasn’t all terrible. I have nerve damage and neuropathy in my hands and feet but it’s slowly getting better - I’m walking on the treadmill everyday now and I can feel a big improvement every week.
I told and continue to tell myself how lucky I am to have the chance at beating this- -It’s not that long ago that we didn’t see much of a future with colon cancer. I also look at others in my family we lost to cancer and to my 5 yr old granddaughter who just came off treatment for the first time since she was 2 yrs old - I realize how lucky I am and that gets me through 95 % of the time, the other 5% I wallow, obsess, and read everything on the internet. .... we’re only human:)
I hope I don’t come off as insensitive, I really do get it. I have read to many gov. studies to count over this past year, wanting to glean a little more solid grasp on my exact odds. I’m getting better a tiny bit better at accepting there is no solid answers, it’s unknowable.
My biggest reassurance is every time I go for treatment I try to sit next to a new person during chemo and talk to them about their journey. I’m amazed at how many of them are there for the 2nd, 3rd or even 5th time round - they just keep rolling with it. we talk about it being like diabetes, something you live with and manage with chemo/treatment.
I also found great comfort on this forum, just read everyone’s signature and you get a sense of how the stats really don’t apply!
zephyr wrote:marshmallowjones wrote:2. I been falsely lumping myself in with other Stage 3 patients and pretending that my cure rate is more in the 70's but it's really only 53%, isn't it? How do I deal with that?
What others have said about stats is true but here's something I learned that really helped me wrap my head around the statistics: those stats don't actually tell you how many of those people died from the cancer. Seriously. All they tell you is that X number of people were alive on day 1 and X number of people were alive at the end of 5 years. That's it. They don't tell you the general health of the patients on day 1, they don't tell you anything about lifestyle choices, they don't tell you what kind of support system was available, they don't tell you what treatments they chose (or refused), they don't tell you anything about genetic mutations, they don't tell you anything about the immune system of other patients, they don't tell you how the patients died ... they don't tell you a lot. So let's say there's a Stage 3 patient who has a serious, potentially life-threatening and pre-existing medical condition on day 1, then they find out they have cancer, they have no support system (and no understanding employer) in place or maybe they refuse treatment or maybe they die from a heart attack or in a car accident. If you're depending on the stats to give you a reliable read of your future, then you're also saying that your chances of hitting the 5 year mark are exactly the same as that person. I'm not saying that the stats don't serve a purpose, that we don't learn something from them; I'm just saying that it's not the whole picture. When people tell you that you're not a statistic, please believe them.
Hope this helps. We're here for you.
My ONC is saying that we don't look/scan until 1 year which I'll ask about.
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