Cancer - Blind Faith

Hammer89

Hammer89 wrote: »

I wonder if it's a silent cancer because it never displays any symptoms whatsoever, or because the symptoms are so minor that most people just think nothing of them at the time. But yes you're right, somebody could benefit. I'll post again when I speak to him or my auntie. I specifically remember the dodgy stomach one though.

In addition to the dodgy stomach, the early signs for him were tiredness, heartburn and a sudden adverse reaction to dairy products, which might relate to the upset tummy thing.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Hammer89 wrote: »

In addition to the dodgy stomach, the early signs for him were tiredness, heartburn and a sudden adverse reaction to dairy products, which might relate to the upset tummy thing.

And to show how awkward the arsehole that is cancer can be, when I was diagnosed, it was very advanced but I had not experienced either of the two most common telltale signs - rapid weight loss and fatigue. I was working full-time up to three days before my diagnosis and coming home in the evening and cooking and doing lots of housework. I didn’t feel any more tired than usual. And I was a bit overweight at the time and certainly hadn’t dropped any weight in the months leading up to diagnosis.

Fatigue and rapid weight loss are two of the things doctors are looking out for when figuring out if it’s cancer and I had neither symptom, despite mine being very advanced.

Hammer89

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

And to show how awkward the arsehole that is cancer can be, when I was diagnosed, it was very advanced but I had not experienced either of the two most common telltale signs - rapid weight loss and fatigue. I was working full-time up to three days before my diagnosis and coming home in the evening and cooking and doing lots of housework. I didn’t feel any more tired than usual. And I was a bit overweight at the time and certainly hadn’t dropped any weight in the months leading up to diagnosis.

Fatigue and rapid loss are two of the things doctors are looking out for when
figuring out if it’s cancer and I had neither symptom, despite mine being very advanced.

Sorry for your troubles I hadn't realised you had cancer. He didn't have any unexplained weight loss either.

Scotty #

Mortality rates can vary widely from country to country. My mam died of stomach cancer a few years ago and I can remember reading at the time the mortality rate for her type and stage was something like 65% in Canada but 92% in the UK (I didn't see Irish figures). She lived 14 months after diagnoses.

You can compare country to country for breast cancer and a few others here > https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/cancer-mortality-rates

Japan is 14.3/100k compared to 28/100k in Ireland meaning you are TWICE as likely to survive breast cancer in Japan than here.

Remember that Lockerbie bomber that was sent back to Libya (to a hero's welcome!) on compassionate grounds because he was on deaths door? He lived on for years after mainly due to the drugs that were available to him in Libya that weren't available to him in Scotland.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Scotty # wrote: »

Mortality rates can vary widely from country to country. My mam died of stomach cancer a few years ago and I can remember reading at the time the mortality rate for her type and stage was something like 65% in Canada but 92% in the UK (I didn't see Irish figures). She lived 14 months after diagnoses.

You can compare country to country for breast cancer and a few others here > https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/cancer-mortality-rates

Japan is 14.3/100k compared to 28/100k in Ireland meaning you are TWICE as likely to survive breast cancer in Japan than here.

Remember that Lockerbie bomber that was sent back to Libya (to a hero's welcome!) on compassionate grounds because he was on deaths door? He lived on for years after mainly due to the drugs that were available to him in Libya that weren't available to him in Scotland.

But does that just mean that less people get it in Japan than in Ireland if that’s how many die per 100k of population? Incidences of different cancers vary in different parts of the world. Stomach cancer is way more common in Japan than here, I think.

In addition, the survival rate used in that link seems to be five year survival which isn’t absolute survival. For example, stage 4 breast cancer is, as of today, always terminal but around 25% of women (and men) live with it for more than five years. But they’re still going to die from it. And if you have early stage breast cancer that returns metastatic, you’ll likely go past that five year point in the stats too but it’s still terminal.

Melanoma is another one that can return and spread years after initial treatment. Actually, lots of cancers can. The five year survival stats are pretty meaningless when you dig down into them. The Lockerbie bomber is a good example. He had terminal prostate cancer. Treatment keep him alive for longer than expected but it was still always terminal. He was going to die from cancer. Palliative treatments just gave him a reprieve. And he actually still didn’t survive five years after his diagnosis date. But was it because there was better treatment in Libya than Scotland? He survived for four years which for metastatic prostate cancer isn’t that great. It’s something men can often live for a decade or more with.