I still believe that we have the best healthcare system of any advanced nation on earth, still, I think the boys that get paid the big bucks (aka- Oncologists....HELLO!), oughta have the sack to tell their patients the truth when they have stage 4. The widow of my friend that went to Zimbabwe with me in '99 had to find out from a RN (God bless them, of which, the wife is one.) (It's in the Brain.) This woman is as tough a square-head (Gatesville area) as I've ever met. My wife is a shambles. F Cancer.

I witnessed some of this with my brother that had AML Leukemia. What the hell is WRONG with these people? Nobody has the intestinal fortitude to talk Turkey to these medical school dweebs? What the hell???

Cancer has no friends. Sorry Creekrunner.

X2....cancer sucks....

My wife died of cancer. She was in stage 4 before she was diagnosed. The doctor gave her 4 to 14 months. She died in 14 months. The chemo was rough on her. I'll reject all medications if I'm ever diagnosed.

Yep, my daughter in law was diagnosed six years ago stage 4 breast cancer.
She went through chemo and was told she had beaten it.
FF one year and here it comes again with a vengeance.
Chemo and radiation both this time and they say she is cancer free.
About a year later they say that it has spread all over her and that future treatments would not do anything.
We lost her in February at 42 years old.

Unfortunately, I have to see it everyday. The number affected is mind boggling. Young, old, men, women. It has no bias. There are some good oncologist, medical physicists and therapist out there. Truly sorry, sir.

Sorry Creekrunner, for sure. Sometimes my little brain has a _art. I cant help but think, they came up with a cure for polio, landed a man on the moon and many more miracles WAY back when it was NOT as what we have today. Sometimes just sometimes?????? And i have lost many kin folk to that sorry C.

Lost a sister and a first cousin to a glioblastoma, malignant brain cancer. They both were 56 years old and never smoked or drank in their life. I feel your pain. I hate that chit!

They don't go peacefully in their sleep. The dying process from cancer takes several days

Cancer almost got my dad. He went in for a hurt leg and they started running tests and found an aggressive form of colon cancer in him but early stages. Going in for his hurt leg saved his life.

When the neurosurgeon told me I had a brain tumor, he didn’t shrink from telling me what I had. He was a cold hearted SOB for sure. Said they’d open my head up in the morning and try to get the tumor. Said it was on the other side of my carotid, so they'd have to clamp it off, and cause me to have a stroke on one side. I’d be paralyzed on one side and would lose one eye. “Well, how bout we don’t do that”, says I. He said “you’ll dead in a month”. Then he just walked out and left me to my little bag of M&Ms and my unfinished game of solitaire. I cried. Just knew I’d be dead in the morning by 9am.

Maybe he could have sugar coated the truth just a little bit. Do you really want to hear ALL the bad news and lose all hope?

They got the tumor, didn’t paralyze me, and I have both eyes. That was just too danged close for comfort.

If there’s a next time, lie to me. Please.

Dam Bill, I hate that.

Or weeks and months....been there and done that....I won't put my family thru that...

We were lucky to have the type of doctor back then. Sat us down at 17 and said won’t lie, told the truth, and this is what we are gonna do. It is the worst thing I would never wish on anyone or their families.

Thoughts and prayers for everyone going through or been through this.

Yup, cancer sucks. Took my first wife in 2 years...AML. But I've seen both sides of doctors and cannot say I really liked either. But that cold hearted SOB, I was about to rip his soul out and stomp on it.

I don’t have the words

I’m sorry you have to deal with that

Seriously, I don’t have the words

I wish there was a cure

I lost a grand father, a brother in law, and good friends to cancer. My sister in law is battling it now. Some of our friends lost a 34 year old daughter with a two year old son. I hate cancer with a passion. I feel for anyone going through this. I just don't understand with all of the medical technology we have today they can't find a cure for this. It's devastating not just to the person who has it but the people who are close to those individuals. It just sucks for everyone involved. Creekrunner, I hate you are having to go through this again. Your brother fought a good fight but it's difficult to come to terms with. If I ever get to sit on God's knee, I have a few questions on why bad things happen to good people. Good luck with your friend and I pray the best for her and you all too.

Not really a good answer to how to tell someone they have cancer. Some doctors are direct and some not. Some people like to be told firmly, direct, what is in the future for them; others want it sugar coated and want to be gently spoken to about their future. Any cancer is bad. Maybe commit more wasted money given to illegal aliens to US citizens that earned it.

Thank you, sir. Me too.

X3


Yesterday was exactly 1 year ago that my FIL passed away in our house. Long story short they lived in Wichita Falls and he had health issues for quite some time including an enlarged Thyroid that was restricting his breathing, his doctor said his health issues were allergies After many trips up there with the wife helping them with many things around their house we and some medical friends of ours finally convinced them to see a doctor at UT Southwestern in Dallas.

One of the many problems was their own doctor would not release his medical records to the new doctor at UT Southwestern, after many phone calls from doctors and families their doctor agreed to on one condition that he must see their recommended specialist for his Thyroid? By this time he is in such poor health that their Thyroid doctor told him that if he did surgery to remove his Thyroid it would kill him and he stated he was the very best surgeon for this. Problem is if the Thyroid is not removed its growth will end up choking him to death.

His GP decided to release his records and before they left the Thyroid doctor called them and said if you are driving to Dallas you better have Care Flight insurance because he will probably die before he gets there

It was Friday Memorial day weekend and I met them on I 35 and escorted them to UT Southwestern emergency room, they successfully removed his Thyroid and diagnosed him with cancer and other issues.
He was there for about two weeks then they moved into our game room until he passed away September 20, 2018.

Some doctors are real a holes and a lot are great like the ones at UT Southwestern.

It's a shame you can put a murderer to sleep but a term ally ill person has to suffer, makes no sense

I lost my father to lung cancer when he was 68. They took one lobe of his lung out, no chemo or radiation and he made it a little bit over 10 years. I lost a second cousin to brain cancer when he was 9 years old, when my daughter found out she had a brain tumor my world almost stopped. It turned out not to be cancer but the surgeon damaged her optic nerves and she lost half of her vision in both eyes. My wife's niece has had three brain tumors removed so it runs on both sides of the family. I pray for anyone with cancer as it is just about the worst thing in the world.

I’ve never really been convinced which is more difficult to hear- “you have cancer “ or “your loved one has cancer”. This is even after having heard both.
Facing either is difficult, but I’d rather hear the clinical side of it straight from the doctor. As with anything, though, it is best to do all the research you can and -as syrupy as it sounds- remember that attitude is huge.
I’m a scientist and I hate to say it, but there probably will never be a cure found for cancer. With most other dread diseases there is some virus, or trigger, or something just “turns off” in your body. Cancer is your own cells growing unabated and crowding out the normal ones.
Be there for them, support them, listen to them, help them out with small things. Just resist the all-too-human common response of “I know how you must feel”, because even if you’ve personally been through it, you’ll never know how that person feels or is struggling to deal with it.

My wife didn't want visitors toward the end. She sent out an email in my name asking that no one stopped by. They lose all dignity. Think about someone changing your diapers. We had home hospice but I was the primary care giver.

Don't hold back on the morphine.