Just for the record… different cancers have different stages… Patb’s mom had stage 5. My dad’s blood cancer had 3 stages (with stage 3 being terminal.) My brother and mom’s cancer’s had 4 stages.

Davelj – that’s interesting (and sad) about your mom. Both my dad and my brother had 2 unrelated malignancies… It’s considered very unusual. My brother beat melanoma (after removal of the cancer and lymph node) only to get a completely unrelated cancer. My dad beat prostate cancer after surgery and radiation – only to get a multiple myeloma – an unrelated blood cancer. In both cases the doctors expressed surpise that the cancer was unrelated – but determined they were 2nd malignancies.

My family is my own personal cancer cluster… 5 malignancies in 3 people out of a family of 5. Who needs an area in Carlsbad.