The Importance of Menitoning that you've had a recurrence on this network.

A December update:

Everyone,

I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, no one does. However, I do feel it's very important to mention a recurrence. What I'm thinking is this. If everyone just hangs around til things go wrong, and then just quietly slips out of the picture, then we all have false hope that we'll be fine if we just do what our doctors say. The doctors only know how to treat this cancer according to how women are responding to the therapy. So let's say, we talk about treatment and every thing's fine and we're happy with how things are going. And then we find out we have a recurrence. Well, that might be something we would think we shouldn't share because we care about everyone on here and don't want to dash hopes. This is how I felt too. But, what if NOT mentioning the recurrence gives false hope. And what if, based on that false hope, they do nothing but what the doctor says and question nothing. Do nothing else? What then????? Has our withholding the truth just killed someone???? Is that what we want??? Assuredly not! Sometimes, it's the full knowledge that gets a body motivated to do more then the basics. My belief is that it's all about motivation. Can you be too nice? Can kindness inadvertently kill???

You've done everything you were supposed to and suffered a great deal for it, with some possible lasting side effects, in the hopes of getting a cure. And now it seems it didn't get the response that was held in front of you to get you to go through all this. I propose that rather than letting each person fall off the same cliff you fell off, that you speak up, like Linda did, even knowing it might cause someone to become fearful. We need to mention that there might be a cliff up ahead. What's that saying? Forewarned is for-armed.

What if, there are a large number of recurrences. We would then need to let our doctors and especially the American Cancer Society and the FDA know about such a development. Drugs that are not working need to have attention brought to them in order to encourage trials for newer better drugs or some other form of treatment that does work. There is a feeling I have, that the doctors do know the scope and likelihood of most outcomes to be expected in most cases. It is possible that they too are trying not to dash hopes. Aren't they falling into the same dilemma as we find ourselves in, and might they not serve their patients' health more fully by mentioning the pitfalls one can face with the current treatments and suggest they look, in addition, to other forms of therapy?

In the end, it may just be the recurrences that get the trial and research arms ramped up to get funding to find a cure. I do believe there is a cure out there. Perhaps however, just not the current one alone.

Yikes! So much for not dashing hopes. I apologize ever so sincerely. There are times when things have to be said, this is one of them.

With me or not, it needed to be said, especially when women with Stage 1, who got the full treatment recurred. Where does that leave the rest of us????????

Love me or not, I care enough for each of you to tell the truth if might lengthen and save your lives,

May we fight with everything in our power, and it is in our power, in order that we may live longer, healthier, happier lives. That's my thought for all of us for the new year and beyond. Way, way, beyond.

Claudia