If you were diagnosed with terminal cancer, what would you do?

[Mike 03]

Poll question: If you were diagnosed with terminal cancer, what would you do?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. I'd take random medical advice from the internet.

That's what I'd do.

[evlbstrd]

2. .

Excellent.

[Skittles]

3. harsh

Mike's dad has terminal cancer

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Uh huh.

Tell it to the fuckers voting for homeopathic medicine and herbs and spices.

[Skittles]

8. oh yes

because we all know big pharma is the only way to go

[Posteritatis]

44. False dilemmas are so cute (nt)

[Skittles]

55. isn't that what you presented?

[BuelahWitch]

48. .

:thumbsup:

[Hanse]

77. Big pharma actually saves lives from cancer.

cis-platin. Paclitaxel. Any number of chemotherapy regimens.

How many lives do you think quackery like homeopathy saves?

That's right. None.

[wolfgangmo]

79. Prove it.

I'm not disagreeing with you but you offer no proof that alternative care hasn't cured any cancer patients. How about Cancer Treatment Centers of America which offer integrated allopathic and naturopathic treatments? Their success rate is astounding.

And another thing. As far as I can tell from my research, there has never been a control neutral double blind study to establish the efficacy of chemo. Which means that it has never been compared to anything other than other chemo treatments. Which means that it is not valid according to the basic tenets of medical research. I'm willing to admit that my study of this is limited but I haven't found any contradictory evidence on pubmed.

[Skittles]

82. do you have reading comprehension skills?

where did I say big pharma was not an option? I simply questioned if it was the ONLY OPTION. Now please GET A LIFE.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

22. What crawled up your noodle? nt

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. As would I

provided I had a shitload of painkillers.

Actually, unless I was given a really really really good prognosis if I underwent surgery or radiation or chemotherapy, I'd just ask for all the drugs, good palliative care, and then I would get as many credit cards as I could carry and run those fuckers up to their limits buying everything for everyone I love, and then let it go.

I am not kidding. I've had the opportunity to think about this.

[Tsiyu]

61. One of my friends did that there with the credit cards

He thought he was dying so he just went on a wild spree. He called me up and asked if my kids had ever been to a Korean restaurant. When I said they hadn't, he said "Load 'em up and get over here."

So he took us out to his favorite spot for kim chee (sp?) I swear he pulled out twenty credit cards when it came time to pay. He had already maxed out a few so he just handed the server a new card when she came back twice with the declined ones.

He was laughing his ass off. He had so much fun.

Except two months later the doctors told him they had made a mistake.



He made great money and was worth a pile so he eventually paid them all off, but he wanted to beat that doctor to a pulp for a while.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

63. You have to be very, very sure........

My friend's father, who was pretty goofy anyway, was a renowned scientist at Livermore Labs. He wasn't feeling well, was in the hospital, lots of tests, and they told him he was terminal, there was nothing they could do.

He proceeded to write long, long letters to everyone in his life - including his current co-workers and superiors - telling them what he thought of them (it wasn't pretty), and mailed them. He was immensely pleased with himself.

Then - natch - he was told they'd made a mistake.

He got past it, somehow, but life was very difficult for him after that. He retired, and was never a happy man. After his wife died, life became intolerable for him, and he ended up committing suicide.

[Tsiyu]

67. Oh no

Lots of pent up stuff in that life.

Better to get it out while you're alive if it's worth all that, huh?

I'd spend the last days just doting on the people I love, wouldn't have time to think about what pissed me off at that point.

But yeah, make REALLY sure your doctor is REALLY sure...:)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. What made you ask this question? Oh, don't answer that. I just read someone posted the answer...

My mom had breast cancer. A very bad, advanced form. We sought alternative treatments.

[Earth_First]

5. palliative treatment

I hate to say this, but I would much rather not leave my wife and child under a mountain of medical debt that they could not possibly afford.

[eilen]

16. I worked as an oncology nurse for 8 years

If I had Stage 4 non small cell lung cancer, pancreatic or acute leukemia.... I'd go for the morphine pump and one nice last big family vacation, return home, get my affairs in order and call hospice. Then probably have a big garage sale and try to get rid of most of my stuff so my husband won't have to deal with it.

[Buck Laser]

29. I had acute leumkemia 4 years ago...

But it was of a commonly curable type. I've been in remission since May of 2005. There are many variations of cancers, so a diagnosis of acute leukemia isn't necessarily a death sentence. On the other hand, the chemotherapy pretty much destroyed my kidneys--I had to begin dialysis in January.

[eilen]

71. Yes, it depends on the cytology

I would not undergo chemo if I had the Philadelphia chromosome for example. Some leukemia types are curable by just chemo, and a stem cell transplant (not entire marrow).

I'm sorry about your kidneys.

[tavalon]

35. That's the realm my answer came from

I'm not an oncology nurse (my hat is off to you, some of the hardest nursing there is, I think) but where the cancer was would make a lot of the decision for me. Quality not quantity is my mantra.

[eilen]

70. Very true, which is why listed some specific cancers

Cancer is a huge umbrella term for a lot of different diseases.

[Lyric]

39. My Mom had acute leukemia--AML, to be exact.

The kind that most adult patients don't survive.

2010 will make ten cancer-free years for her--WITHOUT a bone marrow transplant. She got stem cells and chemo, nothing more.

Sometimes people really do beat the odds.

[eilen]

69. I took care of transplants

throughout their entire sequelae, workup, diagnosis, induction, consolidation, transplant and the care they received for years afterward.
Out of the many we start with, a few make it, your Mom is really lucky. If I were go just go by the patient population that I worked with I would say maybe 3 out 10. My heart was broken so many times as such wonderful hopeful people succumbed after basically giving up everything to try for a remission. One man, all he wanted was to go home and be with his family, but his white count was too low and then he got a fungal infection.... That poor man and his family. Leukemia is one crazy disease, it can hit anyone-- there is no real known automatic cause.

[Lyric]

72. I remember it all too well.

Mom's most dangerous moment was right after the round of intense, bone-marrow-destroying chemo that was meant to kill all the cancer cells. Obviously no bone marrow = no immune system, at least until it after she got her stem cells back. She had one of those IV's that go into your chest area, and wound up with a terrible staph infection in it while she was still in the hospital. Her doctor didn't think she'd make it, but somehow she did--with the help of a crapload of vancomycin.

Mom couldn't get a bone marrow transplant or even a donor stem cell transplant, because she was a cardiac patient before the leukemia was found, and her docs didn't think she could survive the necessary chemo, surgery, and drugs that go along with a transplant from a donor. So they gave her meds to make her body produce lots of stem cells, harvested them, spun them out to get rid of any lingering cancer cells, and then gave them back to her after killing off her bone marrow. They said it wasn't the ideal procedure, but it worked better than anyone could have dreamed. The cancer never came back.

I remember Mom saying that the most painful parts were the terrible sores in her mouth from the chemo, and the way that the potassium chloride drips burned inside her veins, even when they were diluted. Her potassium was constantly low, and she was too sore in her mouth and throat to swallow those big potassium pills, so they had to give her a lot of it via IV. This is one reason I'm inclined to believe that lethal injection is seriously painful--Mom got only a tiny fraction, diluted, of what THOSE people get, and she still wept from the pain of it. :(

[eilen]

97. Our patients often require 4-6 runs of Potassium each day

as well as blood products. The Potassium is such a problem. It comes in big horse pills, powder form to mix in water and IV. Most can't tolerate the first two in their mouths and throats, plus the powder form tastes like crap. One lady, from her death bed in the ICU had her husband give me the message that it is not better diluted in juice, just give it in water, believe it or not. I'd like a similar method for the phosphorus too-- something that doesn't sting. Actually, if there is a central line, the potassium does not sting. Since your Mom's was infected, they couldn't use it. Amphotericin or Ablecet really screws up the electrolytes.

I wish there would be more research in making it more palatable. Also an IV form of tylenol or ibuprofen -- something that will kill a fever, would be a godsend. I hate having to put a "cool" blanket on patients. The fevers really kill off platelets.

Most patients during transplant say the mouth sores are the absolute worst thing about it.

[spanone]

7. i think it's impossible to say unless you are faced with it.

[mucifer]

9. I think I'd have to be in the situation to know what I'd do for sure.

I'm pretty sure I'd chose palliative treatments and hospice if the doc thinks I got 6 months or less. I am a hospice nurse. I've watched lots of people die. I also know that sometimes doctors are wrong and second or third opinions can be very helpful.

[tularetom]

11. it would depend on my age I think

If I were in my 80's or even late 70's I'd opt for the palliative treatments and just try to enjoy the time I had left.

If I were in my 40's or 50's I'd pull out all the stops and try every option to effect a cure.

At my current age (67) i'd have to think long and hard about it.

[shari]

12. Hard choice

I don't really think we know until we're faced with it. About a year ago my husband, Julio, died from cancer. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in Feb. of 2007 and he wanted to fight it, so that's what we did. The doctors had given him 'maybe' 2-3 months without treatment and 'maybe' a few more with. After what we went through, I wouldn't choose the traditional chemo, radiation, etc. But like I said, we don't know until we're faced with death and think that then the survival instinct kicks in and we fight in any way we can.

[Muttocracy]

87. that sounds pretty tough to have gone through

:(

[Sisaruus]

13. Without universal health care....

Is this before or after my COBRA runs out?

[supernova]

14. A combo of things

can be done certainly to make your life more comfortable. Depends on how dire the situation is and how fast growing the cancer is as to what I'd do. If a few rounds of chemo and radiation will give me another year or so, yes, I"ll go for it. In that time, so much can happen.

There's always time for palliative care when it's needed.

Alt therapies can provide some comfort along with traditional medicine, so if they are easily doable, why not?

In short, I'll do whatever makes me feel good and gives me some quality of life.

[mucifer]

30. a few rounds of chemo and radiation to help you live another year actually IS palliative care

It's not going for the cure. If it's done to control symptoms and give you a bit more time, it's palliative.

[supernova]

49. I know that

but I do make a distinction between having some months of active life left and really just honestly being bed-ridden and wishing it to be over with.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. Trust the government....

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00256334?term=cancer+resveratrol&rank=1


Purpose

Resveratrol is purported to possess cancer preventive activity, especially for colon cancer, though its mechanisms of action are not well defined. Resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes and has anti-oxidative and pro-apoptotic effects on cancer cell lines in vitro. The main dietary sources of resveratrol are grapes, grape products, red wine and small amounts in mulberries. A prior report and compelling preliminary data from our laboratory suggest that resveratrol modulates Wnt signaling, a signaling pathway which is activated in over 85% of colon cancers. In this proposal, studies will be performed to define the actions of resveratrol on the Wnt signaling pathway in a clinical trial in which patients with colon cancer will receive treatment with resveratrol and correlative laboratory studies will examine its effects directly on colon cancer and normal colonic mucosa. These studies will provide data on the mechanisms of resveratrol action and provide a foundation for future prevention trials, correlative studies and therapeutic clinical research with this agent.

[TZ]

50. Hey its Dr. Google again!

Working hard on that internet degree so you can tell real professionals what to do still?

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

17. My uncle probably has prostate cancer.

I say probably because even though he shows signs of it he's avoiding a urologist at all costs. So I guess he's going with denial.

[Submariner]

18. With no health insurance I'd cash out my IRA and have a last

blast of travel and fun and come home just in time to be morphined out as the pain sets in.

Let me take this moment to thank the most dishonorable Bush and Cheney for taking away my free for life VA health benefit, which would lead me to the course of treatment just mentioned.

[maxsolomon]

19. I know what my mom is choosing & I don't agree

she's going for #1 (she has 2 glioblastomas - what Ted Kennedy has times 2), and is so weak & miserable there's no quality of life left to her.

however, if i could live 1, 2 years by going through misery for 2 months i'd do it. but you have to know when to move to hospice.

and for god's sake, DO SOMETHING with your remaining time - even if it's just sitting on a beach/mountain/desert/forest comtemplating eternity. don't watch FOX NEWS.

[donco6]

20. Been there; done that.

About 7 years ago, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

There's a period of time after your biopsy comes back and before you go to do your major workup that you just don't know . . . how bad is it? Has it spread? Is it in my organs? Is that why I feel sweaty at night? I just don't have my usual energy . . .

That is the long hard night of the soul.

I followed everything my doctor's told me . . . chemo, radiation, drug therapy. I've made it seven years with no more cancer. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[Wwagsthedog]

27. No argument here

Same cancer, same treatment, same results. No question in my mind that I made the right decision.

edit sp.

[riderinthestorm]

47. My husband was/is the same: Stage IV, Grade IV follicular lymphoma.

He's done all the treatments available to his condition so far and 18 months down the road, he's doing fine (chemo, participation in the only drug trial available to him, and stem cell).

I will say he also quit his high-stress job and is now pursuing life long goals. We listened to a lecture by an oncology surgeon from Yale many, many years ago and somehow that lesson stuck: managing cancer and it's recurrence is (sometimes) as much about your mental state of health, as well as your physical state of health.

No matter how much time he has left, he's going down doing exactly what he loves.

[liberaltrucker]

54. You were lucky

My niece, 31, died of NHL Jan 18, 2009.
Live long and prosper, my friend.

:toast:

[donco6]

76. I take all the well wishes I can get.

And I always remember: Planning for the future is great, but the future includes today.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

21. As for me, how terminal are we talking?

I had a great uncle with terminal cancer, but with treatment he recovered and was cancer-free until his death at 84 years of age. I'd probably take his route as long as I had a chance to keep living. But that's just me. I'm stubborn.

[cynatnite]

23. I would extend my life as much as possible...

until I decided the pain wasn't worth it and then cease medical treatments.

In my experience, that is what most do.

[Dragonfli]

24. I've decided to go with pain killers but

no insurance = no doctors or drugs

When I get too sick to work I may be able to get some help from hospice, not sure.

I have too much debt from my wife's battle with cancer and no family - so my options are really only work as long as I can, then go to county to see if I am advanced enough to get help with pain meds.

[mentalsolstice]

25. It would depend on the statistical odds

60-40 I'm terminal, I would start to consider palliative care. I would probably be more comfortable about making decisions at 60-40, than if I was 50-50 or 40-60.

eta: I don't know what your definition of "terminal" is. Teddy Kennedy and Patrick Swayze are both to be said terminal, but so far they're hanging on. My dad has chronic lymphocytic leukemia which has been terminal for many, but at his age it's likely something else will get him first. Lance Armstrong?

[meowomon]

26. I'd hoard my pain meds and use them all at once when the pain was too unbearable.

[malaise]

33. BIngo

Hubby already knows that once I hear terminal, it's one last family reunion and I'm out of here.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

68. Bingo

I have the stash. I update it periodically, and I know exactly how to do it.

Just in case.

:thumbsup:

[Zynx]

28. Take on a lion with a sword and shield, while hopped up on morphine.

[razors edge]

43. Me too.

Except maybe not a lion, and maybe not a sword.

The world needs lions, maybe something the world needs to be rid of instead.

[Blasphemer]

31. Homeopathic treatment....

If it worked - great. If not, and I got to a point where I was in too much pain enjoy life, then I would end it. I've witnessed (via family members) survival post-cancer with chemotherapy, radiation, long term treatment etc. but it's not for me.

[tavalon]

32. Being a nurse, I just know too much to be able to guess my response

Cancer cells themselves are very differentiated but where they are matters. I would weigh everything but for me, quality is more important than quantity, so if it wasn't likely to help, I wouldn't go for treatment but I would want state of the art pain management and frankly, I would want the right to end things on my time schedule if I decided to do so.

I'm not surprised you're thinking about this one right now.

[ThomWV]

34. It would be much better for my family if I were to bow out minimizing health care

I have health insurance but the truth is that were I to try to prolong my life to the extent possibly it would cost everything I would like to leave to my son. It ain't much but its all I've got to give him and I'd like to be able to rather than have to sell it all so some fucking Doctor can spend a week in some tropical resort.

[liberaltrucker]

37. Let Nature do what She may

Pain meds are a helluva lot cheaper and less side effect prone than chemo.
And chemo is not exactly the Holy Grail of cancer treatment.

I choose to die in peace with my family if I have to make that choice.
In case I can't at the time, my choice is on paper in our lawyer's office.

[blues90]

38. I watched my younger brother go through it

He had hope and finally reached a point at 47 in 2001 where he found a profession he liked and a wife and after 6 months of being diagnoised with liver cancer and his insurance cap ran out they told him after radiation and pain killers there was nothing more they could do, went to a hospice and died three days later on morphine to kill the pain.

At 60 with no job or insurance and all my interests gone from things I liked to do and with this new high tech world which is past my caring I would opt out and do what I could to have fun in what time I had left even if it were a road trip to no determined destination.

Then just check out on my terms when enough was enough. I wouldn't put my wife through watching me die.

[NeedleCast]

40. Smoke, drink and screw as much as possible

in my remaining time.

[eilen]

75. I wish I could rec this. nt

[sandnsea]

41. fight like hell

do everything that was put in front of me.

[ferrous wheel]

42. Buy some magic shake from Pat ROBert$on.

Hey, it's endorsed by Jesus, has to be good shit, right?
:silly:

[liberaltrucker]

51. Is that fucker still alive?

Robert$on, I mean.

[ferrous wheel]

53. More like undead.

:scared:

[liberaltrucker]

58. True

Belated welcome to DU!

:hi:

[ferrous wheel]

45. Make damn sure I had at least one cartridge for my .357 magnum

Not joking.

[liberaltrucker]

60. Morphine OD would be a lot less messy

However, I share your solution, should insurance run out.

[ferrous wheel]

64. Yeah, that's true enough. I think I would find a way to go off in the woods

so as not to soil the walls. (insert a wry grin here) ;-)

[wolfgangmo]

80. To add to the suggestion of using a .357

Get an appointment with your insurance company president if possible or at least regional manager. Have a note in your pocket explaining that you are killing yourself before the insurance company assholes because they cut you off, send a copy of the note to all the major news outlets, and then blow your head off while filming it on your cell phone.

It might make national headlines and it might just do some good.

Beside, the insurance company assholes who deny treatment that they damn well know they should cover should have to see the death they cause up close and personal.

[biermeister]

46. get on my harley and ride until I can't ride anymore then

go home and wait.

[varelse]

52. Other

I'd combine these two:

Pursue an unconventional path, such as homeopathic treatment, herbs, supplements, diet, exercise and meditation.

Take your doctor's advice and undergo every modern treatment currently available

I have never understood why these two approaches are considered opposite, rather than complementary, to each other.

With this:

1) educate myself about the disease, take charge of my own health
2) join a support group of survivors of a similar cancer
3) work on improving my relationships with my loved ones (focus on the "big" things in life, not the petty crap)
4) work to wrap up my affairs and make sure the people depending on me would be ok when I died

Please accept my deepest sympathy, Mike03. I wish you and your dad the best.

[wolfgangmo]

81. My mom died 6 months ago of a rare form of cancer.

7 years ago she was given 6 months to live. She credited a blend of allopathic and naturopathic care for her making it as long as she did. Her traditional MD said he credits the ND for her longevity.

I don't think that the methods are incompatible and can be combined well together. In fact there is a new school of thought in medical circles called functional medicine that blends the best of both worlds, allopathic research with naturopathic paradigms. It seems to work, or at least that is my take on things.

Mike - I'm very sorry. Stay strong and give yourself permission to be weak. My thoughts go with you and your family. Cheers.

[seabeyond]

56. look at al the options, listen to people, get informed, then make a decision. n/t

[Nay]

57. Go on a macrobiotic diet like that doctor in "Recalled by Life" did, and then

also follow my reg doc's advice of regular medical treatment if there was some possibility of recovery. I would do the traveling I want to do, and if things got worse I'd go into hospice care and go out on morphine. I also would not want relatives visiting, esp in the later stages.

So, so sorry about your dad, Mike.

[wartrace]

59. Maybe some meds for the pain until they didn't work anymore.

I would have to end my life when it was time to go. Maybe it's "selfish" of me but I see no reason to suffer until the end. Terminal means dead.

[Tesha]

62. Well, we're all "terminal", so it would depend on the probabilities.

75/25 for the good? Roll on with any non-permanently-debilitating treatment!

50/50? Who knows.

75/25 for the bad? Hey, let's take just a small portion of the several hundred
thousand dollars that medical technology would waste giving me "a few more
months" and let's go have one last blast in Europe. Then a quick handful of
pills and there'll be no more pain.

Mr. Tesha and I have both been through this with parents and other close
relatives so I think we're in firm agreement about this.

Tesha

[Mari333]

65. Id move to Oregon and not leave my family in debt

and then, you know. hugs.

[juno jones]

66. No insurance

I'm a goner.

And I watched my (well-insured) parents die miserable deaths that were as much the product of their chemo as it was their incurable cancers (Multiple myloma and mesotheimeloma).

Give me some narcotics and I will continue to work and meditate upon the mountains as long as I can. I have no desire to bankrupt my family for a few selfish months more.

[comrade snarky]

73. Take every damn curative I can find

Chemo, herbs, meditation and everything else I can get my fingers on. Fight like hell until it's clear I've lost the battle then if I have to, check out on my own terms.

I hope...

Then again it may be more like this:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29585

"Most people, when they find out they've got something terrible like this, dig deep down inside and tap into some tremendous well of courage and strength they never knew they had," said Judith Kunkel, Russ' wife of 11 years. "Not Russ. The moment he found out he had cancer, he curled up into a fetal ball and sobbed uncontrollably for three straight weeks."

[WonderGrunion]

74. Other - Bucket list.

I'd rather spend as much of my remaining time enjoying how I live then extending the amount of time I'm dying.

[nadinbrzezinski]

78. First hugs... and you are too close to make this decision

so it is up to your dad

That said, I have spoken of MY wishes with my hubby in case of any medical that may require extraordinary circumstances

If this is terminal... pain care, very good, state of the art, pain palliative care. That would be my choice

As a medic I saw plenty of people who were my patients for upwards of two hours, who were in pain, and terminal... and I don't wish to go there, I also saw my aunt, who died from a very rare blood cancer, suffer quite a bit, and so did my uncle from prostrate, so I'm a chicken.

Oh and whatever his decision is... make sure he fills and signs a medical will... I need to fill up mine, and lord knows I am not even close to that.

[DFW]

83. I'd do as my brother in law did

Get as much treatment as I can take, not suffer unduly, and stretch the time I have left to function normally
as much as I could. He was diagnosed with advanced brain cancer tow years ago and given 4-6 months. He lasted
two years, and when all hope was gone and every treatment exhausted, he said enough, and we buried him last week.

He was 52--way too early to go, but he was prepared for it and proud that he lasted far beyond what the sprecialists
gave him. If you know from the start that there is no cure, then he made the best of the hand fate dealt him.

[moriah]

84. Other: I would laugh at the doctor for mentioning the C-word until I'd had a second opinion.

I've been told twice now that I most likely had cancer -- once they said liver cancer, second time said lymphoma. They were wrong both times.

I didn't.

It's a really scary thing to be told that imaging shows that you likely have liver cancer that has metastasized to your lung and/or vice-versa.

ETA: At 19.

[Lorien]

85. No choice but #3. My insurance sucks

I would be pretty much on my own. :-(

[uppityperson]

86. It depends on what the cancer was, what treatments were available, how I was, a bunch of stuff.

No one can answer for anyone else. Everyone has to make their own choice.

For me, it would depend on what it was, what stage, how treatable or controllable, a bunch of different things. It is very difficult to help a parent through their terminal illness, and best wishes to you and yours.

[blogslut]

88. My mother chose palliative care

Diagnosis: glio-blastoma multiforme - the kind where there's no tumor but rather little tendrils of the stuff. The disease was destroying the part of her brain that controlled cognitive thought and there was no chance that she would experience lucidity as the cancer progressed. She and we (her children) felt that subjecting her to poking, prodding and chemo for the last moments of her life was cruel. She passed away, in her home, two months after she was diagnosed.

As for me, I will probably get cancer because I have smoked for the last 30 years. I stay away from doctors because I don't have insurance. Chances are, by the time I receive any sort of diagnosis, it will be too late for curative treatment. When and if that day arrives, I'll make my decision. Until then, having lost both parents, I've learned that death comes when it comes and it is never welcome.

[Raine]

89. Other...combination of homepathic and

conventional. I've been thru this with my mother and my aunt within recent years they each choose one or the other and in the end they both died.

[Spider Jerusalem]

90. Heroin until the pain became unmanageable.

Then a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head.

[orleans]

91. *if* i had health insurance?

honestly, i don't know what i would do.
if it happened tomorrow i don't think i would have a lot of choices.

[renate]

92. I'm so sorry, Mike

My prayers will be with you and your family.

There's no single right choice and maybe he would rather do the minimum and enjoy his life, rather than do "everything" and feel as though fighting cancer is his entire existence, unless that approach fits his personality.

If it were me, with my strong belief in natural medicine, I would get second and third opinions (an absolute MUST) and take the chemo, radiation, and/or surgery recommended, using natural medicine to alleviate the effects of those protocols. I don't think natural medicine is better at eradicating cancer cells than a scorched-earth policy would be, but I definitely believe that good nutrition and herbal and homeopathic medicine, as well as psychological support if needed, can be very helpful and even life-saving supplements to that kind of care. Many cancer centers are starting to incorporate natural medicine as a supplement to, not a substitute for, hard-core Western medicine.

That's what I'd do. My sincere best wishes to you and yours. :hug:

[obiwan]

93. A moot question for me.

I have multiple sclerosis.

While MS itself won't kill you, since it is a progressive auto-immune disease, a more conventional disease will kill me ahead of my time.

My mom had MS, but what killed her was pneumonia, since her immune system didn't work right.

So I plan to enjoy the rest of my life to the best of my ability and not worry about anything. Nobody's beaten death yet. C'est la vie.

[busybl]

94. get a second opinion

[vincent_vega_lives]

95. The FIRST one

worked for my wife. Been in remission for 5 years.

[Delphinus]

96. I would choose

options three and four: an alternative type of treatment as well as palliative care if/when needed.

[bunnies]

98. Die.

No money + no insurance = no treatment.

[Vinca]

99. No choice - I can't afford insurance and I'm not rich.

My fear is getting something that is curable if treated. I'd still die.

[Ganja Ninja]

100. Pay a visit to Rush Limbaugh.

Just to say "Hi" of course. Why else?

[Strong Atheist]

101. In Washington's time, they bled people to death, including Washington.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington#Retirement_and_death

These days, we bombard people with radiation and fill them with toxic chemicals that makes their hair fall out.

Oh, yeah, we have come a long way in 200 years .... NOT! :eyes:

I won't go the chemo/radiation route... I will try other things, including:

http://www.essiacinfo.org/