Cancer.

[Cyberman]

I ****ing hope not.

Mum's breast cancer caught on screening in April this year. Operated on in May. Currently going through radio therapy (finishes next week). All looking very good so far.

A friend of mine died of breast cancer three weeks ago at 48. She left a 20 and 18 year old. Her hubby had left her many years ago but she never stopped pining over him. Very sad.

[SallyAnne]

I heard anywhere between 2 and 4. She has been clear longer than that but I am paranoid about these things. Her last op was Dec 05 so I should have stopped worrying by now, but I cant. I just cant.

I think that's totally understandable.

I bet if she'd never had it you'd still worry in case anything ever happened to her though. You just love her.

She's very lucky - I've always said so x x x

[SallyAnne]

SA, they operate and they hope they've caught it in time and got all of it.

Sometimes they aren't successful - thems the breaks, sorry darlin'.

[Churchill]

It's odd that they can cure 99% of cancers in mice...

It does help if you're the one who put the cancer there in the first place...

[Fred Bloggs]

My partner's dad has prostate cancer. He's had it for years, and is 86 now. Still walking and even driving.

They say that most prostate sufferers die with it, not of it.

That's quite right. But not every person gets the slow growing type, unfortunately.

[VectraMan]

Cheery thread.

My cousin died of stomach cancer at 36. I'm not sure how much they ever treated him; he was just put on the chemo, which didn't work and told he had about 6 months. Which turned out to be about right.

He was pretty fit and healthy too. Just one of those random bad luck things.

[Sysman]

Uh-huh. There's another side of being 58 and wondering what I'm going to do next: I've already had a lot more than some people got.

I wandered around a graveyard with a camera the other day, and one of the non-photographic things that struck me was how many of those gravestones gave an age that was less than mine.

You know, I've been wondering along similar lines lately. When Obama got in I was faced with the sudden realisation that I am older than a US President (I'm just a few years younger than your good self).

My father retired at 55. I can't afford to do that, but as you say, I have been out and done stuff, and I do remember my father coming home from work absolutely knackered every single day, which is something I've never suffered from.

Edit: Sorry SA, I posted before reading about your friend. Please accept my deepest condolences.

[DaveB]

Really sorry to hear from those who have lost loved ones.

My father had prostate cancer ~8 years ago. He had a full prostatectomy (what ever it's called) and is now as fit as a fiddle.

Ofcourse, my risk is now far higher so I get a PSA test every year now. I hope if I get it, that I know about it early enough for it to be treated. I think it is very important to know what to look for as a result of family history WRT breast cancer, prostate cancer etc...

Cancer is a C***. 'scuse the language. My dad had Prostate cancer. They operated, full prostectomy. He never recovered. It spread to his bladder and then further still, very very aggresively. He died within 6 months of first diagnosis. He was 65. That was 2 years ago.

Thing is, it really is random in the end. Prostate cancer is *supposed* to be easily treatable but there are always the exceptions.

If you've had cancer then sadly the chances are that, even if you get succesfull treatment, you are likely to have a relapse in the future.

We can't *cure* cancer, we can only make the symptoms go away and hope they don't come back and even the processes for doing that are crude by comparason to many other treatments for other diseases. We cut chunks out of the patient and bombard them with radiation or highly toxic chemicals in the hope we kill the cancerous cells without doing too much harm to the healthy ones around it.

[PM-Junkie]

It's odd that they can cure 99% of cancers in mice...

not odd at all. Think of all the revenue that pharmaceutical companies would lose if they suddenly cured cancer.

There is no money in curing things. There is lots of money in alleviating symptoms.

[Amiga500]

not odd at all. Think of all the revenue that pharmaceutical companies would lose if they suddenly cured cancer.

There is no money in curing things. There is lots of money in alleviating symptoms.

But if people die they can't make money from them...