tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post3202807788635953924..comments2024-03-28T08:06:43.198-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: We're Awash in Junk Science - and Junk SiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-77056287755313241232013-10-21T17:06:10.157-04:002013-10-21T17:06:10.157-04:00'Fraid not. I never worked in DF gear down th...'Fraid not. I never worked in DF gear down there. Closest I ever worked to Boca as Ft. Lauderdale, but not in radio. SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-59681490591770330082013-10-21T09:59:58.977-04:002013-10-21T09:59:58.977-04:00As a survivor I can say that the surgery and radia...As a survivor I can say that the surgery and radiation worked for me, Didn't do Chemo (I said NO!) Having been told by three MDs. that radiation was the ONLY known treatment for my cancer I opted out of Chemo. Still here and cancer free three years out (XXXfingers)---RayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-79023804658354790372013-10-20T23:19:22.840-04:002013-10-20T23:19:22.840-04:00Greybeard ... Did you ever work for a psycho who b...Greybeard ... Did you ever work for a psycho who built DF gear near Boca? If so we know each other, lost contact, and idiot like to get back in touch. Carl WK3C ex wa6vseCarl Stevensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08290411278408539607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-91177654715889185552013-10-20T20:45:30.028-04:002013-10-20T20:45:30.028-04:00I want to add a somewhat positive note to this sto...I want to add a somewhat positive note to this story. My father in law went through chemo and radiation and did quite well. That is except for being a little tired at toimes he would pretty much do all the things he enjoyed and he had a new zest for life. He had almost no pain. Inevitably the cancer matastasized to his brain and he underwent a more sophisticated radiation treatment. But it simply did not stop the spread of new cancer or the growth of the ones targeted. Then one day suddenly he was unable to walk and function well. My wife took care of him at home with the help of hospice. This lasted almost 3 months during which time he was comfortable but losing some of his intellect and ability to take care of himself. But throughout the entire 6 year ordeal his quality of life was pretty good and even his three months at home in bed before he passed away was pain free and lucid enough to visit with family. My point being that his/our families experience with this was as good as it can be and certainly better then I knew it would be. As for my mother in law her experience was different in that she never needed any assistance until the last week and then it was downhill quite quickly but no pain (using a pain patch of course) and passed peacefully at home with family. She never got treatment because her cancer was too advanced and her prognosis was so bad treatment wouldn't have mattered. Keepin mind that even with that she did what she wanted to in that last year without pain or need of assistance until the end. Don't get me wrong, none of this is "good" but now that we have been through it it is not so scary and unknown anymore. I talked with both of them in their last 24 hours and they were lucid, in no pain, not suffering any physical problems except that they could not walk without help and they were with family taking visitors. Hospice was a great help. They provide the medication, regular nurse visits, advice to the family, someone to assist the patient take baths, the specialized bed and other equipment, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-67349801071873084402013-10-20T18:00:25.558-04:002013-10-20T18:00:25.558-04:00Unfortunately, I believe you're exactly right....Unfortunately, I believe you're exactly right. The so-called improved cancer survival is from early detection and most oncologists will tell you that. I'll enlarge on the "if they can cut it out" slightly and say if you're one of the "lucky" ones for whom the slice-poison-burn approach works for, you survive. If not, maybe you make it past the five year mark because your tumor was found early. I've seen far too many friends and relatives go this way. <br /><br />Slice-poison-burn = surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, all of which my wife and all of her peer group went through; the 5 year survivors and the ones who succumbed quickly. <br /><br />That said, I'm not completely without hope. I'm hoping the advent of genomic research will help customize the treatment enough so that survival really goes up. If nothing else, if they could treat people without making them so incredibly sick and miserable, that would at least help them have a better quality of life. <br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-73830876719283090292013-10-20T17:23:16.772-04:002013-10-20T17:23:16.772-04:00I am 70 years old. A cancer survivor. But in the...I am 70 years old. A cancer survivor. But in the last few months another one of those spots that shouldn't be there has showed up on my lungs (what I have left of my lungs). After all the usual tests the answer is "we don't know". So we will test again in 6 months. I have been following the science and medicine of cancer for many years. Very disappointing. With all we now know and all the advances it still comes down to if they can cut it out you have a chance but if you can't live without the affected part you are not much better off then you were 20 or 40 years ago. Sure there is a lot of talk about "curing" it if they find it early enough and there is some truth in this especially if the cancer is in a part of the body they can simply cut out. But most of the stats about surviving cancer that is found early is more about living for that 5 years after discovery then it is about actually surviving. Using an example let me explain. My father in law had an unrelated pain and the doctor found lung cancer. With aggressive treatment and "because they found it early" he lived for 6 years before he died of cancer. My mother in law followed him but she died within a year of being diagnosed. What was the difference? My father in law was diagnosed five years before he would have been because the doctors stumbled across it. They both died from exactly the same thing in exactly the same way at almost the same age but it is generally believed by the family that "early discovery" of my father in law's cancer gave him 5 more years of life. It didn't. It merely gave him five more years of dealing with it; the tests, the treatment, the agonizing. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com