Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Dear Joe, I was surprised to see/hear and be confused by your note about spirit and surviving. ..<I'm going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing>> I was shocked to read that. According to my doctor's I have caught this very early and in no way think I only have a 5% chance to beat this. Reagan, Bob Hope and Wayne survived colon cancer (thou the Duke died of lung cancer. What I read or misread is one way or another we are going to die from this thing. Not my perspective and certainly not something I want to hear two weeks before surgery. Karima Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Dear Joe, I was surprised to see/hear and be confused by your note about spirit and surviving. ..<I'm going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing>> I was shocked to read that. According to my doctor's I have caught this very early and in no way think I only have a 5% chance to beat this. Reagan, Bob Hope and Wayne survived colon cancer (thou the Duke died of lung cancer. What I read or misread is one way or another we are going to die from this thing. Not my perspective and certainly not something I want to hear two weeks before surgery. Karima Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Dear Joe, I was surprised to see/hear and be confused by your note about spirit and surviving. ..<I'm going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing>> I was shocked to read that. According to my doctor's I have caught this very early and in no way think I only have a 5% chance to beat this. Reagan, Bob Hope and Wayne survived colon cancer (thou the Duke died of lung cancer. What I read or misread is one way or another we are going to die from this thing. Not my perspective and certainly not something I want to hear two weeks before surgery. Karima Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Joe, what a great way of putting things. Bert had a sever colon infection last year caused by the chemo. It was so bad that he was hospitalized over 7 days, three of which, quite frankly, I could tell that he didn't care if he lived or died. I did and kept rallying him but deep inside I was thinking if the don't loose this man to cancer, the chemo is going to get him. Wrong on both counts. Today Bert is active, vibrant, and still with me and finishing his LAST CHEMO TREATMENT TODAY. What's next, I don't know but what ever hurdles lie ahead, hopefully with God's help and all your good wishes and prayers, none, Bert and I are both ready to keep on trucking :-) Hugs, Monika > All, > Good to see many keeping the spirit up. Its important. As many > of you know (and, as I hope many will realize beforehand due to > messages like this), colon cancer is not a short term thing. > Chemotherapy, particularly, has side effects which tend to be > cummulative in nature - I've been on chemo for four months now - a > month ago I never got mouth sores, which I do now and never > experienced sore hands and feet, which I do now. Other side effects > just kind of keep on lingering on as well. > As a result of this, and I guess time, there have been times > where it seems like things are hopeless - instead of saying " I'm > going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five > percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing. " > But really, things aren't that different. You just have to > keep things in perspective. In my case, as I'm sure is the case > with many others, things are probably not a whole heck of lot > different prognosis wise than they were back when, when the attitude > was 100% " I'm going to beat this. " Some things are actually > probably better - in my example, I probably have more energy than I > did when I started. > > Oh well, just my thoughts. Hope everyone has a good day. > > Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Karima- Don't panic. Joe and I are stage 4. The statistical survival rate for people diagnosed with localized disease is MUCH higher, although there are a fair number of us stage 4 people here who are still beating the statistics. So keep up the spirit. As Joe has said, especially for those of us with advanced disease, this is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires work to learn to overlook, or learn ways to make the problems that come with prolonged treatment easier. I am still not perfect at doing this, but getting better at choosing that this will be a good day, regardless, so that I do not get too overwelmed to enjoy the good stuff. Best wishes, Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Karima, I think you did misread his message. Maybe you are new to this but when you are diagnosed with stage 4 statistics indicate that you have less than 10% chances of survival. Thats what he meant! Regardless of the statistics he fights for his life and has a lot of hope. My husband is also stage 4 and 33 years old but we both think he will make it regardless of the statistics. I am glad to hear that your stage is an early one and your chances are much higher. You are very lucky, you probably have 90% chance of making it. However everybody is an individual no one ever knows what will happen. Let's hope that we will all survive this regardless of stage! Good luck to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Karima, I think you did misread his message. Maybe you are new to this but when you are diagnosed with stage 4 statistics indicate that you have less than 10% chances of survival. Thats what he meant! Regardless of the statistics he fights for his life and has a lot of hope. My husband is also stage 4 and 33 years old but we both think he will make it regardless of the statistics. I am glad to hear that your stage is an early one and your chances are much higher. You are very lucky, you probably have 90% chance of making it. However everybody is an individual no one ever knows what will happen. Let's hope that we will all survive this regardless of stage! Good luck to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Karima, I think you did misread his message. Maybe you are new to this but when you are diagnosed with stage 4 statistics indicate that you have less than 10% chances of survival. Thats what he meant! Regardless of the statistics he fights for his life and has a lot of hope. My husband is also stage 4 and 33 years old but we both think he will make it regardless of the statistics. I am glad to hear that your stage is an early one and your chances are much higher. You are very lucky, you probably have 90% chance of making it. However everybody is an individual no one ever knows what will happen. Let's hope that we will all survive this regardless of stage! Good luck to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Karima, I think that you entirely misread my post and if you're going to do comparisons, they need to be done among apples only, not apples and oranges. First, as you caught your cancer early, you are certainly in a great position - from what I read of your post, your cancer stages I or II, so your chances of NOT surviving, are, in fact, very remote. You'll enjoy the rest of your life with a minor shortcut. That's great news and as anybody who has read my posts in the past knows, I am the ultimate optimist - you should be as well - you will, in fact, be ok. But the fact of the matter is that my cancer, unlike yours, is a stage IV cancer. Many people on this board, too, are stage IV survivors or caregivers; people need to take that into consideration when they read our posts. The behavior of a stage I cancer and a stage IV cancer is radically different, unfortunately. Statistically, one with stage IV cancer, which DOES NOT apply to you, has a five - seven percent overall chance of five year survival, whereas the statistics for Stage I are the EXACT OPPOSITE. In the case of Stage IV, there are two ways to look at this statistic - you count yourself as being in the five percent category or the 95 percent category - it's totally up to you. All of us, early on, are five percenters. My point is that as time goes on, it's easy to become a believer in the 95 percenters - but if we really look at what is going on, such is unwarranted, as things, overall, are usually not much different than they were when we were " solid " five percenters. Hence, there exists just as much reason to believe, even as time goes on, that we (stage IV types), will, in fact, be part of the five percent that survive. That was my point, not the opposite. Hope this helps clarify my words; I apologize if it caused any grief on your part. It was really a message of hope, not despair. Trust me, as 40 year old guy with a wife that is the love of my life and kids that are 12, 9, 6, and 3, I don't do despair very often - it tends to create a very unlikeable household. Joe > Dear Joe, > > I was surprised to see/hear and be confused by your note about spirit and > surviving. > .<I'm > going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five > percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing>> > > I was shocked to read that. According to my doctor's I have caught this > very early and in no way think I only have a 5% chance to beat this. > Reagan, Bob Hope and Wayne survived colon cancer (thou the Duke died of > lung cancer. > > What I read or misread is one way or another we are going to die from this > thing. Not my perspective and certainly not something I want to hear two > weeks before surgery. > > Karima > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Karima, I think that you entirely misread my post and if you're going to do comparisons, they need to be done among apples only, not apples and oranges. First, as you caught your cancer early, you are certainly in a great position - from what I read of your post, your cancer stages I or II, so your chances of NOT surviving, are, in fact, very remote. You'll enjoy the rest of your life with a minor shortcut. That's great news and as anybody who has read my posts in the past knows, I am the ultimate optimist - you should be as well - you will, in fact, be ok. But the fact of the matter is that my cancer, unlike yours, is a stage IV cancer. Many people on this board, too, are stage IV survivors or caregivers; people need to take that into consideration when they read our posts. The behavior of a stage I cancer and a stage IV cancer is radically different, unfortunately. Statistically, one with stage IV cancer, which DOES NOT apply to you, has a five - seven percent overall chance of five year survival, whereas the statistics for Stage I are the EXACT OPPOSITE. In the case of Stage IV, there are two ways to look at this statistic - you count yourself as being in the five percent category or the 95 percent category - it's totally up to you. All of us, early on, are five percenters. My point is that as time goes on, it's easy to become a believer in the 95 percenters - but if we really look at what is going on, such is unwarranted, as things, overall, are usually not much different than they were when we were " solid " five percenters. Hence, there exists just as much reason to believe, even as time goes on, that we (stage IV types), will, in fact, be part of the five percent that survive. That was my point, not the opposite. Hope this helps clarify my words; I apologize if it caused any grief on your part. It was really a message of hope, not despair. Trust me, as 40 year old guy with a wife that is the love of my life and kids that are 12, 9, 6, and 3, I don't do despair very often - it tends to create a very unlikeable household. Joe > Dear Joe, > > I was surprised to see/hear and be confused by your note about spirit and > surviving. > .<I'm > going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five > percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing>> > > I was shocked to read that. According to my doctor's I have caught this > very early and in no way think I only have a 5% chance to beat this. > Reagan, Bob Hope and Wayne survived colon cancer (thou the Duke died of > lung cancer. > > What I read or misread is one way or another we are going to die from this > thing. Not my perspective and certainly not something I want to hear two > weeks before surgery. > > Karima > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Karima, I think that you entirely misread my post and if you're going to do comparisons, they need to be done among apples only, not apples and oranges. First, as you caught your cancer early, you are certainly in a great position - from what I read of your post, your cancer stages I or II, so your chances of NOT surviving, are, in fact, very remote. You'll enjoy the rest of your life with a minor shortcut. That's great news and as anybody who has read my posts in the past knows, I am the ultimate optimist - you should be as well - you will, in fact, be ok. But the fact of the matter is that my cancer, unlike yours, is a stage IV cancer. Many people on this board, too, are stage IV survivors or caregivers; people need to take that into consideration when they read our posts. The behavior of a stage I cancer and a stage IV cancer is radically different, unfortunately. Statistically, one with stage IV cancer, which DOES NOT apply to you, has a five - seven percent overall chance of five year survival, whereas the statistics for Stage I are the EXACT OPPOSITE. In the case of Stage IV, there are two ways to look at this statistic - you count yourself as being in the five percent category or the 95 percent category - it's totally up to you. All of us, early on, are five percenters. My point is that as time goes on, it's easy to become a believer in the 95 percenters - but if we really look at what is going on, such is unwarranted, as things, overall, are usually not much different than they were when we were " solid " five percenters. Hence, there exists just as much reason to believe, even as time goes on, that we (stage IV types), will, in fact, be part of the five percent that survive. That was my point, not the opposite. Hope this helps clarify my words; I apologize if it caused any grief on your part. It was really a message of hope, not despair. Trust me, as 40 year old guy with a wife that is the love of my life and kids that are 12, 9, 6, and 3, I don't do despair very often - it tends to create a very unlikeable household. Joe > Dear Joe, > > I was surprised to see/hear and be confused by your note about spirit and > surviving. > .<I'm > going to be a survivor " , you say " Really, there is only a five > percent chance that I'm going to beat this thing>> > > I was shocked to read that. According to my doctor's I have caught this > very early and in no way think I only have a 5% chance to beat this. > Reagan, Bob Hope and Wayne survived colon cancer (thou the Duke died of > lung cancer. > > What I read or misread is one way or another we are going to die from this > thing. Not my perspective and certainly not something I want to hear two > weeks before surgery. > > Karima > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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