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Have you had cancer/ know someone who has had cancer
Oldnbold
Posts: 1,318 Forum Member
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A few members of my family have died from cancer or cancer related illnesses. I had cervical cancer in my middle 20's. Does survival rates from cancer depend on just how good your GP is in taking you seriously and getting an early diagnosis.
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It's a terrible illness, a truly terrible one.
In terms of survival it obviously depends on the kind of cancer you have and how quickly it is diagnosed and treated. Getting your GP to take you seriously probably is a huge part of increasing your chances of successful treatment. In my experience GPs tend to play down the chances of your symptoms being something serious unless they are glaringly obvious.
A lot of people think googling your symptoms is a bad idea, but I reckon it probably has saved lives. If done sensibly and thoroughly it gives a person the information they need and many will have sought medical advice based on recognising that they do have the symptoms of a serious illness listed on a credible medical website.
My dad died of a different cancer. He was given 18 mths to live and lived 7 years. It was a painless form of cancer, unlike lung cancer, but horrible as towards the end you become paralyzed and unable even to speak. But are still perfectly aware. At the end the doctors and nurses said he had 2 weeks, tops, to live. They'd never seen anyone at that stage live past a fortnight. He lived 6 months. He was a very tough and determined man and also, like his father, refused point blank to die in a hospital. He too died at 4pm one afternoon, just as grandad had.
My best friend got breast cancer in her mid 40s. She had an op, then another op, chemo and now has the all clear. Another good friend had testicular cancer as a teenager - before I knew him. He too survived.
And another dear friend has a really virulent form of breast cancer and she was given a couple of years - a couple of years back. She has had various chemos.
Not someone I ever met but a friend's sister in law had a sister who got a weird small lump on her neck, as a teenager. It didn't hurt or anything. But she thought she'd get it checked. It was a very very rare form of cancer and they told her she had weeks to live. She was dead in a fortnight.
My nan died from breast cancer in 2009, two months after being diagnosed again shortly after her 5 year all-clear - that was the first real experience I had with seeing what cancer was like, because although she'd had it before, as did my other grandmother, we'd been 'shielded' a bit from it because we were young.
Seeing my lovely mum deteriorating and so ill, in so much unbearable pain, was horrific. She was diagnosed at Stage 2, but it was inoperable, as pancreatic cancer often is, and they think she'd had it for up to a year. Pancreatic cancer is notorious for being late to diagnose because it's so difficult and the symptoms are hard to recognise. So I think early diagnosis is definitely key, but sometimes it's just not something that's possible.
I remember your threads and the lovely video you posted. I hope you don't mind if I post it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HqdzJtRddE&feature=plcp
My dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and lasted 3 1/2 months My brother died 7 months after diagnosis at 50 years old.
Neither had been diagnosed with cancer. I've recently been given the all clear but have a serious blood disorder that is being treated.
My great grandma died of lung cancer before i was born.
My grandad died of bowel cancer 7.5 years ago. I think he battled it a few years before he passed away.
My nan had skin cancer a few months back , it wasn't too serious. It was removed & she is OK.
My aunt battled breast cancer last year , she had to have chemotherapy , she is fine at the moment. I don't know much about it , we found out from my gran.
And right now my other grandad was recently diagnosed with cancer. He has lost tons of weight & looks extremely ill. He knew something wasn't right because of it so he got checked. He is in his seventies & is starting chemotherapy soon to shrink the tumour before they operate. It is tough right not especially for my dad , he is ill himself & worrying about my grandad on top of it. It is upsetting me as well i fear he won't be here to see me get married or have children
My relatives have been from both side of my family as well. I am defintley more wary about it , second i feel something is wrong i will seek help. Cervical cancer i worry about , due to my fear of needles at the time i never had the HPV vaccine , i was expecting to be a 40 year old virgin but then i met my fiance. So i feel like a right idiot. I am 21.5 nearly so got 3.5 years till i am 25 as well. But what can you do , with cancer it is catching it early & knowing the symptoms.
My Dad died from pancreatic cancer in 1991, he was 71.
My husband died of an inoperable brain tumour in March 2013, at the age of 42, 7 years and much treatment after diagnosis.
That's my dad died of, undiagnosed.
Sorry for your loss Radio.
Thanks, Woody - same to you.
It's over 20 years ago, I still miss him. Thanks for that Radio.
It never goes away, does it Woody, the missing them bit? But the thoughts and memories never fade.
I've also had 2 uncles die of various cancers.
So another point to make here is if anything is bothering you - don't take no for an answer.
She is the first person in our family to suffer from cancer so I have nothing to compare it to.
My Dad has had skin cancer (caught early luckily) but he keeps getting pre-cancerous skin lesions now. I keep getting told off because I love the sun (always have) and never used to use Sun lotion as I never really burnt. But after finding that out it has really hit home to me that I am quite at risk so I now slap on factor 30 and have even got my partner doing the same (and he never burns, he goes brown straight away) and I will never use a sun bed no matter how much I want a tan.
Even doctors admit that they often don't offer enough pain relief, but imo it would be a rare person, when terminally ill, who would choose to suffer pain, even if the cost is being kept asleep for much of the day.
I don't mind at all, thank you - I found it really comforting and therapeutic making the video for my mum after she died.
Wishing you all the best for the treatment for your blood disorder, and I'm really glad to hear you've been given the all clear.
Horrible illness, makes you realise how many people's lives are affected by it.
My nan had throat cancer and survived, then got secondary lung cancer just over 10 years later and passed away.
My grandad had prostate cancer, but that wasn't what killed him. He also had Alzheimer's and it was just general old age and that that got him.
My aunt had breast cancer, but she's still alive. Has been in remission for a good few years now.
My uncle and hair dresser both had bowel cancer, and are both in remission.
Two colleagues at work - one had breast cancer - she was in remission but it came back, the other had bone marrow cancer and is currently in remission and back at work.
My godmother's mother-in-law had breast cancer, and died a couple of weeks ago.
My mum's colleague had breast cancer, was in remission and coming up to the 5 year mark when they discovered a few weeks ago that she had brain cancer. She's had the tumour removed and seems to be doing well though.
Didn't realise quite how many people I'd known who have had some form of cancer.
I did have to have a benign bony tumour chiselled out of my skull though; that was an interesting experience.
My aunty on Dad's side had breast cancer and was treated / survived, but that is the only family member who has had it. My Grandparents lived until their 90s (all 4 of them), my parents are in their 60s and *touch wood* all is OK.
My husband's family are also cancer free to my knowledge. On his side Alzheimer's and Parkinson's have struck a few down including his Father, but I don't recall cancer being a problem.
But - it can strike anyone, and its scary
It's true when they say that cancer touches all of our lives at some point, either directly or indirectly.
Cousin: Pancreatic cancer. Deceased.
Aunt: Lung cancer. Deceased.
Aunt: Pancreatic cancer. Deceased.
Me: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. In remission
Early diagnosis will improve survival rates even if nothing else is done (as people would, by definition, live longer after diagnosis). Cancers vary as to when the best time for treatment is (I was on watch & wait for 4 years).