Cancer - would you go through treatment?

[ThatGuyRyan]

I didn't want to hijack ******'s thread so thought I would ask this question out here. For those of you who have lost someone to cancer, and saw what they went through, would you opt for treatment if you were diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer? It just seems like the more aggressive they got with treatment, the worse off my dad became. There was a "break" in between his chemo treatments where he was almost back to "normal". His tumor(s) had stopped growing, his appetite was back, he was actually walking without a walker, and you could see life in him.

It was shortly thereafter where he started his second round of chemo and he deteriorated fast and eventually passed away in hospice.

 

[ruprecht]

Sometimes there is no right choice.

 

[Monster]

My Mom got 8 extra years from a bone marrow transplant but it was a rough 8. I asked her if it was worth it. She said yes because she held all her grand kids. All of whom were born in that period. I don't know that I could get through what she did and now stem cells have made it better. Hope I never have to make that choice.

 

[Desperado34]

Reminds me of this film.

[video=youtube_share;c7wN4ogONxE]http://youtu.be/c7wN4ogONxE[/video]

 

[Desperado34]

My Mom got 8 extra years from a bone marrow transplant but it was a rough 8. I asked her if it was worth it. She said yes because she held all her grand kids. All of whom were born in that period. I don't know that I could get through what she did and now stem cells have made it better. Hope I never have to make that choice.

Broke my heart reading this, specially that your mother got to hold her grandkids. I hope your mother is at peace on her journey.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

My Mom got 8 extra years from a bone marrow transplant but it was a rough 8. I asked her if it was worth it. She said yes because she held all her grand kids. All of whom were born in that period. I don't know that I could get through what she did and now stem cells have made it better. Hope I never have to make that choice.

Sorry man. My dad got to 'hear' that my brother got married and died about 7 hours later like he hung around for that.

 

[Monster]

At the end I was ok with her going. It gets to a point where it's almost merciful. Was a long time ago.

 

[ShiftyDevil]

Depends. What are my odds of making it? If I do make it how likely is it that I'll suffer long term impairments that decrease my quality of life, and how severe are those impairments likely to be?

You have to remember that you're not only going through that very painful process yourself, you're also bringing your family and friends with you. I do believe there is a point where it's totally reasonable to decide that the cost of having a chance isn't worth it and that it's best to live the remainder of your life as fully as possible and then pass away.

 

[1COBearsfan]

Chemotherapy or surgery would be my last-ditch efforts. There are plenty of alternative methods that have produced results without being debilitating.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

My uncle passed away from Prostate Cancer 6 years ago, and that is an awful one to have. When it finally progressed to stage 4 he opted for the clinical trial treatments figuring if it worked great, if not then at least the doctors could see what they could (hopefully) improve upon for others.

 

[Penny Traitor]

I don't like the idea of chemo at all, so that is the only treatment I would go out of my way to avoid. I do not care how severe the diagnosis...you will never sell me on large doses of radiation as a form of treatment.

 

[Warrior Spirit]

I would not. I have no trust in the healthcare system.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

At the end I was ok with her going. It gets to a point where it's almost merciful. Was a long time ago.

Yes I feel you. It's almost a relief as sad as that sounds.

And yes you bring your family and friends along. Your family and friends get to witness you go from a high functioning, intelligent, happy person to a drugged, rambling, frail shell of your former self. It's so hard to watch someone go through that.

When my dad passed away, you know, we were all there holding his hand.. it was a mixture of grief and joy, so hard to explain.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

The side note of this though is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 20 and beat it with multiple marrow transplants but he too went to hell and back.

 

[Monster]

The side note of this though is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 20 and beat it with multiple marrow transplants but he too went to hell and back.

My Mom beat the cancer. Graft vs Host beat her down. Kidney failure was the final blow.

 

[botfly10]

theres a lotta kinds of cancer, boss

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

We lost a very good poster over at IHN named TBird. He was a season ticket holder for the Blackhawks and passed of pancreatic cancer.
Another poster named Klemmer lost his wife to pancan. He helped start a charitable organization that raises money for cancer research. I cover the "Have a Skate with Bob" event every year in Rockford. There's plenty of us trying to help others with their battle.

**** cancer.

[video=vimeo;114103315]https://vimeo.com/114103315[/video]

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

theres a lotta kinds of cancer, boss

Yeah no shit asshole.