Just got a call from my sister back East. My first cousin, who is very close to my sister, was just diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that is also in her liver. She is 49 years old, married to a wonderful guy and has a great family of 3 kids, she is really an incredible person we were all close to as kids and I just spoke to her Dad last week, my Uncle on my father's side. She just moved to a real nice house on the Lake in northern NJ about a month or so ago.
She was having stomach pain, went through a bunch of tests and they found nothing. It then got so bad she went to the ER in excruciating pain and suddenly they do a scan and find it.
They immediately put a port in her and are giving her chemo. Chances are very slim she makes it and while I do know that some immunotherapy with special cocktails these days, her outlook is poor. :-)
I'm stunned and this is another of our cursed family with cancer. Like 12 of our family.
Just live your life and enjoy everyday because if you keep postponing things until the future, it may never arrive.......
I have always believed I will have a short life like so many in our family so I live it up like my time on this Earth is very limited.
I hate the way we treat cancer in our society. We just wait around until we find out we have it. We know something is wrong, tell our doctor and they are like meh you are PROBABLY fine. Not as motivated as they should be to turn over every stone.
We should be getting ultrasounds and scans done every year regardless of health. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I hate the way we treat cancer in our society. We just wait around until we find out we have it. We know something is wrong, tell our doctor and they are like meh you are fine. Not as motivated as they should be to turn over every stone.
We should be getting ultrasounds and scans done every year regardless of health.
I assume that would be too wasteful of resources, but I do agree.
I hate that someone can appear and even feel perfectly healthy with stage 4 cancer metastasizing in their vital organs.
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I hate the way we treat cancer in our society. We just wait around until we find out we have it. We know something is wrong, tell our doctor and they are like meh you are PROBABLY fine. Not as motivated as they should be to turn over every stone.
We should be getting ultrasounds and scans done every year regardless of health.
It's because of money hungry hospitals and stupid insurance companies. Catching cancer early would save a bunch of money and that's revenue hospitals would lose. It'd save insurance companies a ton of money if they'd pay for a yearly scan, but for some reason they would never do this.
No one gives a shit about us or our health. Money is the only thing that matters to these people [Reply]
Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
I assume that would be too wasteful of resources, but I do agree.
I hate that someone can appear and even feel perfectly healthy with stage 4 cancer metastasizing in their vital organs.
Also, sorry to hear it, Scho.
I mean no resources would really be wasted. Early detection of cancer would save insurance companies billions upon billions, but they'd never go for it. They only care about money they saved in the present and don't give a shit about future savings if it gives them a bad quarter. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
It's because of money hungry hospitals and stupid insurance companies. Catching cancer early would save a bunch of money and that's revenue hospitals would lose. It'd save insurance companies a ton of money if they'd pay for a yearly scan, but for some reason they would never do this.
No one gives a shit about us or our health. Money is the only thing that matters to these people
It's not that simple, healthcare would be unaffordable if everyone got a yearly scan and it's foolish to say it would save money. Hospitals and Insurance Companies are making a margin similar to most other industries. Also mortality for cancer is getting better every year. Cancer sucks, but we are getting better every day. And yes, My Brother died of Brain Cancer 9 years ago. It sucks, but the healthcare system isn't the scapegoat. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
I mean no resources would really be wasted. Early detection of cancer would save insurance companies billions upon billions, but they'd never go for it. They only care about money they saved in the present and don't give a shit about future savings if it gives them a bad quarter.
If it would save them money and provide more efficient services with lower premiums, which would happen in a competitive landscape, a company would be offering this now. No one does, because healthcare would be unaffordable. We have a pretty darn good healthcare system. My brother received great care during his journey.
Scho, I now a fella who recovered from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Prayers sent. [Reply]
