Sorry about your sister’s early death. Even though I believe in having a more “positive” relationship with the reality of death, I do feel that young lives are worth fighting for, especially if they are children, or parents/guardians of dependent children.
IMHO, cost-saving measures should first be focused on the elderly (70/75+ or?), because they ARE going to die soon, no matter what. It’s silly to tack on another 3 months of hospitialization to an eighty-year-old person’s life, but it’s not silly to try to save the life of a parent young children, or the CEO of a thriving company.
I don’t want to see “acceptance of death” used as an excuse to give up on trying to find cures, either. We have a lot more research to do, and there may be a day when cancer can be largely prevented or curable.
And this is how the “Death Panel” dicussions get started. ;)[/quote]
Thanks for your condolences, CAR. I think about her often. Her doctors didn’t give her any hope from the beginning, but she wanted to try, because of having minor children. I think the same could be said of Dr. Pausch, here . . . his kids were VERY young. The type of related cancers that my sister and Pausch were diagnosed with are rarely discovered when they are still curable and are typically “late-stage” diagnoses (where distant metastasis has already occured) and are nearly always terminal. It’s just a matter of when . . . and what kind of life the patient wishes to live until the end. Patrick Swayse lasted about as long as Pausch did with the same diagnosis. This is a relatively long time considering that death usually comes in about four months to a person diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer who elects NOT to be treated. The price these patients paid to live longer was enormous, in every way, shape and form (they went thru several painful, life-threatening ordeals in attempt to buy more time).
I think 75+ year olds could undergo cancer surgery/treatment if there is a good chance of a remission and if they are in otherwise good enough shape to get thru it. If not, and/or if its a 2nd/3rd recurrence, then no, it’s probably not worth it. Every patient, along with their doctor, has to decide.
Yeah, a lot more research needs to be done and it is happening but since it is research, it takes a long time and many more people will die waiting.
For me, I would rather just “accept” my fate and do nothing if there was no hope for me than go thru what my sister (and other relatives) have.
