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Old 03-20-2007, 12:15 PM
FeliciaLee FeliciaLee is offline
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Default MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

I brought this up as a possible topic, since ElD seems to like threads that have meat and we can really dig into with some good debate.

And then I chickened out. Why? Partly because I'm super lazy. Partly because it's so close.

Then, DaveR stole the concept in another thread, leaving me wondering if anyone would even want to get into it.

Mortality is something that so many people avoid discussing, if they can. Avoid discussing, avoid thinking about it or even admitting that they are not going to live forever, although at 20 it sure seems like we will.

The reason I decided to go ahead and start a thread is because I probably need it as a recovery tool for myself, personally, even if no one else gets anything out of it. Another reason that I feel I can bring it up comfortably is because it's too late for me. The cancerous tumor has to be used for this test, and mine was dumped into biohazard two years ago. No one ever offered me this chance, nor even told me about it at the time. Yeah, I had horrible doctors (someone has to graduate last in medical school, and I think I got all of those slackers).

So here is a test that lets one gaze into his own crystal ball. Knowing the future with near certainty. Who wants to look?

(Yes, I realize I am using the male pronoun here. About 1% of all breast cancer patients are men, despite most men insisting that it is impossible to get breast cancer. Men also have a much higher mortality rate, due to their stubborness in getting treatment; waiting so long that the cancer has metastasized or the tumor gotten too big.)

Okay, so back to the topic of the test and crystal ball. I guess I would have done it, in the end, had it been offered to me. On one hand, knowing your destiny is a horrible thing. Especially if you think you will not survive the second or third round. On the other hand, if you have a very strong constitution and can get the latest and greatest drugs, knowing what is coming in the future will better prepare you for the fight ahead.

In my case, I am not able to take the "new" drugs. None of them. My DNA did not match any of the requirements for the good stuff. I was simply a day late and a dollar short for anything even resembling current treatment. I have no idea why, that's just the way it is. The so-called easy chemo and aftercare were not only unavailable for my genetic make-up, but if taken, one of the drugs would have killed me in and of itself.

The Oncologist said that I'd have to do the old fashioned chemo of 30 years ago. The really harsh, sick as a dog, bring you as close to death as we can and then bring you back, chemo.

I never finished treatment. Well, I should say, I never finished treatment to HER satisfaction. In my mind, I was done, over and out, forgetaboutit-there-are-things-worse-than-death.

Everyone wants me to start chemo over again. I will not. Nor will I ever go through that again, unless new, improved drugs come out which are a match for my DNA.

So now I have alternative medicine and radiation. Those are the only two avenues left open for me. I did not have radiation the first time around because I needed to have a double mastectomy (bi-lateral mastectomy). The current line of thinking is that if the person gets both sides chopped completely off, the need for radiation is diminished, and better saved for a time when cancer may return (one can usually only have radiation on an affected area once).

So I have always maintained the attitude that if I have a recurrence, I'll do radiation, and buy myself some more time, but then it's pretty much sailing away on a ship, and not getting off until I am taken off via the morgue.

While this sounds gruesome, really it's not, it's my way of saying that I don't expect recurrence, but if that happens, I'm going to make the most of my time and live it up (I love cruising).

So I can't have the MammaPrint. But so what if I could? I probably wouldn't be thinking in much different terms than I am right now. Right now I'm living as if I'll never have recurrence, like a normal person.

The only thing that would change if I could have the test, would be that I would KNOW which way it's going to go, pretty certainly, and could start the cruising a little early, lol [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Last year I had a chest x-ray and there was a spot on my lung. After ten billion tests and a lot of hatred towards the hospital here, Kingman Killer, I found out it wasn't cancer. This year I had another x-ray and the spot was gone.

Lung cancer bothers me more than any other places of recurrence. Not being able to breathe is the worst way I can imagine dying. I have a long history of lung problems, and it's really a horrible way to go. I don't think about it often, but inside I stay aware that if cancer does come back, it will probably go there (weakest link). That thought doesn't paralyze me with fear, nor bring me down, because I am just not the type of person to be depressed or to dwell on mortality when I'm still alive. So if I think about something morbid, or speak about it, it doesn't really get me down, it's just something I maintain awareness of.

I have a terrific life, and I am not planning on sailing away anytime soon, but perhaps I would have liked to know, for certain, if I am going to have recurrence. Then again, with the history of my family, maybe I already know.

Thanks for reading,

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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  #2  
Old 03-20-2007, 05:27 PM
BPA234 BPA234 is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

Great post. Do you ever write a bad one?

I would definitely want the test. My biggest gripe about mortality, is so often it hits like a car wreck. You have no clue it's coming and you're left in a daze from the impact.

The more time to process the information the better.
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Old 03-21-2007, 01:30 AM
imthaifool imthaifool is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

What is beautiful never dies.
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Old 03-21-2007, 04:11 AM
Mickey Brausch Mickey Brausch is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

[ QUOTE ]
Lung cancer bothers me more than any other places of recurrence.

[/ QUOTE ]From your avatar, I can also see it grew you a beard.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
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  #5  
Old 03-22-2007, 10:33 AM
FeliciaLee FeliciaLee is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

[ QUOTE ]
Great post. Do you ever write a bad one?

[/ QUOTE ]
All the time!

I also kept a poker journal for many years, and there were so many bad posts in that journal that eventually I lost count (and lost hope??? lol). I finally put it into dormancy and may it rest in peace!

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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  #6  
Old 03-22-2007, 01:42 PM
FeliciaLee FeliciaLee is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

Well, jeez! I guess she didn't get MammaPrint either. Or if she did, she never talked about it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/...pr/edwards2008
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Old 03-22-2007, 01:50 PM
El Diablo El Diablo is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

Felicia,

I'm really not sure where I stand on this.

"Full body CT scans" and other types of advanced diagnosis procedures have become pretty popular lately for people who hope to have early detection of all sorts of stuff. I guess the jury is still out on whether or not this stuff actually works: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ct/
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Old 03-22-2007, 01:55 PM
FeliciaLee FeliciaLee is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

[ QUOTE ]
I'm really not sure where I stand on this.

[/ QUOTE ]
Not sure where you stand on what? On the MammaPrint, or on scans in general?
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  #9  
Old 03-22-2007, 01:58 PM
El Diablo El Diablo is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

Felicia,

"Knowing the future with near certainty. Who wants to look?"

On that, regarding health.

If knowing means I can treat things better, I guess I'd want to know. But if it is just knowing and I can't change anything in terms of treatment/prevention/etc, I dunno.
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  #10  
Old 03-22-2007, 02:21 PM
FeliciaLee FeliciaLee is offline
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Default Re: MammaPrint (Gazing into Your Crystal Ball)

[ QUOTE ]
Felicia,

"Knowing the future with near certainty. Who wants to look?"

On that, regarding health.

If knowing means I can treat things better, I guess I'd want to know. But if it is just knowing and I can't change anything in terms of treatment/prevention/etc, I dunno.

[/ QUOTE ]
I can definitely agree with that. For instance, recently liver cancer (whether primary or metastasized) was not very treatable, and not curable at all.

Now, patients with liver cancer are able to live for ten years or so with new treatments. But it has to be caught pretty fast, so the MP might be useful with that.

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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