Anyone given the "5 year" speech?....

KayeKay said:

yes i did chemo and went into

yes i did chemo and went into remission in sept. 2011 and it just recurred in my liver this year

I got the  it's systemic,

I got the  it's systemic, there is cancer outside of your colon and you may live two years.      He didn't say that till I asked  "how long" ..... I shoulda kept my mouth shut. 

KayeKay said:

ya know the first onc i seen

ya know the first onc i seen said i had two yearsto live max. its been two years. granted i was just rediagnosed i will live past two years

(No subject)

horse has left the barn speech

Well, I didn't get a specific time frame but I'd feel very lucky if I got five years.  The first guy I talked to did tell me that the horse had left the barn!   Miracles happen, but over the course of my treatment, from what I've read and have been told, the "lucky ones" who are stage IV have mets in one section of their liver, or are concentrated in a maneagable place, and can just have serial resections.  Cut off the liver mets, treat with chemo. Remission, couple years later, mets regrow in same place, more hacking of the liver. Even for liver plus lungs, if in one section only, hacking is possible and can prolong life. Those folks tend to iive longer because of where the disease is and the fact that it can be controllled by surgery or other targeted therapy.  

 I was hoping for surgery but keep getting told no, because my mets were on both sides of my iiver and both sides of the lungs, and practically every frickin' lymph node in my body. Even though I had a good reaction to my initial chemo round (primary rectal tumor is gone), mets gone or shrank, no lymph activity, and didn't light up a pet scan 2 mos ago.

I'm not quite giving up on the surgery option yet (one surgeon said he would cut if the tumors in my liver didn't grow back) but now after 10 mos of living with cancer, I have a better idea of how disease progression affects us. My mantra is "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's cancer treatment!"  Now I do understand why some people who are stage IV get to have surgery and others don't... i.e why not me????  If anyone does know a center who would take on a hard luck case like me and not just prescribe chemo, I'm all ears. Message me privately or post it. 

When I talked to doctors (and I have good ones), they probably didn't know what i didn't understand, if that makes sense.  The horse comment could have been more tactfully given, yes, but I get it.  

I always think about the future - I am always planning - and it's really hard for me to "live in the moment" and that is what I have to do with my remaining time.  Hard. Hard. hard.  And as I tell my friends, I am not in a hurry for time to pass!

- Karin

 

 

sailor_on_a_lee_shore said:

Five Year Survival Speech: Please Expand

Could you please expan on the "five year survival speech," by providing a brief synopsis.  I don't think I ever got that one.  Thanks, Rick

Hi Rick,
You can look up all

Hi Rick,

You can look up all of this information on the internet.  My Rick was given a year, he lived for three, and I cherished every day of those "extra" years.

5 year survival rate:

"When reading research regarding cancer treatments, you'll notice that the term "5-year survival rate" is often mentioned. The 5-year survival rate is a percentage of patients who are alive 5 years after they were diagnosed with cancer (not counting those who die of causes unrelated to the cancer).

Take care,

Cyn

Yes.

I was told I had "Garden Variety Stage 4 colon cancer, median life expectancy 2 years, but with my unusual presentation (appendix) the dr said he could probably "get me" 3-5 years.  That was 6 years ago, and I'm in total remission (oh, yes, and I switched doctors!)

You are terminal speech

For me it is partly about moving from the- we are trying to cure you phase - to the - you are palliative and the treatments will aim at controlling the disease stage. When we get that message it is natural to ask 'how long?' which docs Hate as they know they are thesimply applying population stats to an individualwhich is hugely inaccurate. I was given a year or two but in that time the new surgical option of radical amputation and pelvic clearance was published in a journal and having gone down that route I move out of the terminal group back into the - we are trying to cure group. It is as strange to move back and try and have hope of cure as it is to let go of it.

Newoptions, surgicallyand medically do arise as we progress and treatments develop but it individual how we manage trying to accept we are terminal and this illness will kill us ie how much we hold onto hopes of 'miracles' or how much we simply accept that and focus on living a quality, time limited life with cancer.

Steve

janderson1964 said:

I have been stage IV for 7

I have been stage IV for 7 1/2 years now and been through 2 oncologist but was never given a time frame. It really makes me mad when hear about people getting an experation date. 

Stage Four
Hi -
Diagnosed Stage I - Fall 2008-no chemo or radiation
Stage IV - September - 2011 - was told 50/50 chance - only symptom was weird breathing on left side at night. Chest x -ray to ct showed lung nodules and small liver tumors. See my profile.
I never ask about a date but do live each day to the fullest and keep it all in perspective since I had a surprise seizure and brain tumor met removed in December. Surgery was a walk in the park compared to other two surgeries. Thank god I had a friend with me. I was parked in my car when the seizure hit. This was a wake -up call and pulled my two young adults and ex -husband together to check on me more....Currently on folfiri -tolerating well, first brain mri, no evidence of cancer. Scans and next mri soon...
I don't believe the doctor's always know.
Keep the faith and strong mind to keep moving forward....
Yoga helps me tremendously.

Wishing you the best -Barb

Sort of
I was stage 3c into six nodes,trouble was it was a nasty highly aggressive ca. My surgeon told me straight up If there is anything you want to do ,do it now your ca is too aggressive and into too many nodes,you probably have around three years. Well it's over fifteen years later ,still ca free. Long term side effects of the ca and chemo give me a hard time but no ca... Ron.