does anyone know...?

mp327 said:

LaCh

I'm sorry I can't provide any info regarding your question.  I hope you are doing well and I wish you all the best in the New Year!

thanks mp and for you as well.

z said:

Hello, I had asked my dr

Hello, I had asked my dr about reoccurance.  I was T2 and he said it won't come back in the same place.  I took that as the exact same place.  Maybe other areas around it.  Not really sure.  Lori

well, that's an odd answer unless you asked him, specifically, if the tumor would recur in the same place.  If the question is "can this cancer recur?" which is what people mean when they ask about recurrance--I mean, what's the difference if it recurrs 2 centimeters to the left of the original site or at the original site?--then it seems like a typical and deliberately obfuscating response. No insult intended, but it's pretty much what I expect from a physician. There's a presumption of stupidity of their patients, rather than the opposite. To me, if someone asks "Does this cancer with this grade recur? the answer is "yes," or the answer is "no." If someone asks "What do the statistics reflect?" that's a numerical answer. The reason that I don't like doctors and doctors don't like me, is because if I asked that question and got that response, I would have said, "Yes. But that's not what I asked you. I didn't ask about site of recurrance. I asked about recurrance, yes it happens or no it doesn't, and if it does, how often?"  You can see why doctors and I don't get on very well. Oh well.  I'm continuing with my plans, packing my bags, my dog, and moving to the Moon.  Thanks z... I dunno if the resonse that you got from your doctor was troubling or annoying, irritating or insulting or confusing to you, but I do thank you for passing it along to me.  I'm sure that the stats are out there somewhere. I'll stumble across them sooner or later. Or not. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to post a response.

Marynb said:

Statistics
This may be what you are looking for. The statistics for this and all cancers are collected and disseminated under the Surveillance, Epidimiology, and End Results Program. (SEER)

http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html

¡Marynb!

Thank you! Yes, this is what I was looking for!

Thank you!

Marynb said:

LaCh
I hope you are well. Looking at those numbers are very sobering for me. I understand why you would want to see them. I also understand why you would want to pack your bags, grab your dog, and head to the moon! My goal is to beat the odds!!!!!!!!! Hope you have a healthy 2014!

My desire to abandon earth has nothing to do with cancer and everything to do with doctors. And western medicine. And our health care "system," which is really just a health insurance system. My take on cancer is--and please, no pissed off responses, this is my opinion from my point of view--my take is that we all die of something. I don't find the numbers sobering or encouraging. I just wanted to know what they are.  Everybody dies. That's a fact.  I can live with that. (Irony intended). 

Marynb said:

LaCh
Yes, we will all die. I understand what your feelings.

and now the icing on the cake. Not unexpected, in fact, long awaited, since my radio oncologist's billing people, working at peak efficiency, are a year behind ....  Just got the first half of my portion of the bill, my co-pays in other words. Because of my out-of-pocket annual caps and my failure to think to delay treatments by a few weeks, I had 6 weeks of treatments that straddled two years (Dec 2012/Jan 2013) and two annual out-of-pocket caps rather than one for this treatment... what it all comes down to is that I owe $8,000. This is almost laughable.  If it were $800 I couldn't pay. Eight thousand might as well be eight million. In any case, I'm applying for Chapter 7 bankrupcty.  I'll spare you all my usual tirade against the U.S. and our health care machine, a source of ridicule and puzzlement to Europeans. Suffice it to say that the next ten years (following approval of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, for which I'll start filing tomorrow) ought to be interesting. Way, way more challenging and life-re-arranging than cancer was. The irony is that aside from this, I don't have a penny of debt. None. No credit card debt, no loans, no nothing. I'm diligently responsible with my money.  It also means that for the ten years that the bankruptcy is in effect (it used to be 7 but now it's 10) any bills I incur have no safety net, no back-up resource; once you file for bankrupcy, you can't file again during those 10 years, so that means no in-patient or out-patient diagnostics, treatments, or therapies that carry co-pays that I can't pay. What an adventure, and I don't mean the cancer; That was the least of it. I don't even think about that any more. This'll be with me for the next 10 years... Oh well.... Nothing to do, but do it.