How can they know this?

ElaineM · 07-05-2013, 01:57 PM

Doctors can't know how long a person will live.
They have data from clinical trial results and other things that are purely related to science. They do not take human potential, a patient's attitude and what the patient is doing to help himself or her self into consideration.
For example if a person has is aggressive, has a positive attitude, eats healthy and exercises that will help a person live longer.
Doctors do not think about those things when making predictions.
A doctor gave me 6 months to live in January 2000, but I decided that was not going to happen.

StephN · 07-05-2013, 02:12 PM

I wonder if they can knock down some of the bone mets by radiation. She still has the spots in liver to measure for purposes of tracking whether treatment is working or may need changing.

Local treatments are often part of an extended life with cancer. You are a caring, loving mum, and trying to maintain a balance in the face of something like a stage IV cancer diagnosis is asking so much of families.

"Never give up."

CoolBreeze · 07-05-2013, 03:00 PM

I have a very good cancer friend, one where we share all those cancer secrets, you know - the only one who gets it? She is on her 9th year with HER2+ cancer with spread to lung and liver. About six months ago, she had ascites and it wasn't looking good, and now she is vacationing out of the country and visiting people from everywhere.

Nobody can KNOW anything about your daughter. All they can tell you is averages, estimates, mediums and means. She may fit in with them and she may not and there is simply no way to find out.

Living with uncertainty is what living with cancer means.

If you haven't read this before, I recommend you do:

http://obront.wordpress.com/2010/12/...hen-jay-gould/