Fighting terminal cancer vs. not fighting it

[mommas homeboy]

I know a guy who recently died of terminal cancer. He spent the last year or so of his life doing chemo and constantly being sick. He was also in and out of the hospital multiple times a week. I was thinking about how he extended his life, at the cost of his quality of life. Had he not fought the cancer, he would not have lived as long, but would have at least not been constantly sick from chemo, and constantly in and out of hospitals.

Now if he had chosen to not fight the cancer, maybe the cancer itself would have made his life just as bad as the chemo. In that case, there is every reason to fight it. But let's assume that not fighting it would have given him more time to do things he really wanted to before death. Or at least it may have made the time he did have left to spend with his family more enjoyable. Is having a little less time, but being able to enjoy that time better than having more time that is almost nonstop misery?

Deeper than Deepak Chopra.

 

[heavy_hands]

not having poison injected into your system to fight it may actually prolong your life

 

[Loiosh]

Cancer treatments have become pretty effective, especially as early detection gets better.

If they determine the best the treatment can do is prolong your life, seems to make more sense to increase the quality of the time you have left than to extend it slightly but increase your misery.

 

[Matt4786]

I'm a doctor (a radiologist to be specific) so my perspective is probably a bit skewed, but there are a lot of cases I see every day where I just think "fuck that, if that were me just put me on palliative and be done with it".

People generally have a strong will to fight and obviously don't want to die, but I don't think many of them have the basic framework to realize the fight has already been long lost and maybe its better to just prepping for the end you know? As a doctor, it's a hell of thing to tell a patient that they're dying and nothing can be done. I think when family members are making the decisions, there's also a prevailing feeling that if I don't do everything that could have possibly been done, I've betrayed my loved one. Even if all that extra care does is make them more miserable.

If it's terminal, I think the best reason to keep fighting it is if you feel you have unfinished business and that little extra time is what you need. Or you're getting palliative chemo just to shrink down the disease in an effort to relieve your distress.

 

[bean88]

I’ve pondered this before, I think I’d rather have a solid 6-12 months than extend things living in pure misery.

I guess it depends on how bad the prognosis is and whether this mindset remains when actually faced with death rather than just the hypothetical situation

 

[Sweater of AV]

I know a guy who recently died of terminal cancer. He spent the last year or so of his life doing chemo and constantly being sick. He was also in and out of the hospital multiple times a week. I was thinking about how he extended his life, at the cost of his quality of life. Had he not fought the cancer, he would not have lived as long, but would have at least not been constantly sick from chemo, and constantly in and out of hospitals.

Now if he had chosen to not fight the cancer, maybe the cancer itself would have made his life just as bad as the chemo. In that case, there is every reason to fight it. But let's assume that not fighting it would have given him more time to do things he really wanted to before death. Or at least it may have made the time he did have left to spend with his family more enjoyable. Is having a little less time, but being able to enjoy that time better than having more time that is almost nonstop misery?

Deeper than Deepak Chopra.

If your friend actually had terminal cancer and was undergoing chemo then he was receiving palliative chemotherapy treatments. The assumption in receiving palliative chemotherapy is that quality of life would be even worse without it, however that isn't always the case.

 

[Spounman]

I would think it would be a case by case basis. My aunt recently found out she has brain tumors, and so far the chemo treatments have made her symptoms much less.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Sure. If it can buy me a few more months of bullshitting with the Sherbros.

 

[I Am Legion]

I say fuck the chemo, give me some pain meds and I'll take a few months and live life to the best of my ability and then face the Reaper.

 

[Sano]

I'd fight like hell.

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

[lowlife]

At this point I'm OK with the idea of dying, it's living in a miserable state that scares me. Well death scares me as too but I've made my peace with it so to speak.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

My step father went through the same thing when he got pancreatic cancer. Doctors gave him 6 months without chemo and a year maybe two with chemo. He did the chemo and was sick every day and still died miserably in 6 months.

 

[BreatheSherBro]

If it were approximately 75% or greater chance that it was already terminal, I would opt out chemo/surgeries and just receive palliative care.

 

[Renard]

The real meaning of "chemo" is that you're poisoning or irradiating the body but hoping the cancer goes away before the person dies. It's barbaric. A real treatment would involve supporting the body's natural ability to heal. If the body is poisoned and irradiated, how could it possibly fight anything optimally? In the event the person survives, their immune system and their cognitive abilities ("chemo brain") are permanently fucked up. The whole thing doesn't even make sense but just like everything else that doesn't make sense the normies happily lap it up.

 

[Cole train]

I would say depends

Brain or liver cancer, fuck it hookers and cocaine

Some less generally lethal cancer form can go out swinging

 

[Bacco]

If i get confirmation it's game over thing, i like to think i'll try to pass as best i can time left then make myself a special drink when things start get ugly

 

[Sobek]

Cancer is big business so doctors etc will steer you towards chemo.

I think it will depend on where you are at with your life.

I'm older so I probably would not choose chemo. I'd be just concerned with pain management.

If you are young or have kids/grandkids or a million dollar lifestyle, you'd do fight as hard as you could.

 

[William Huggins]

Terminal cancer can be very painful depending on the location of the tumors, sometimes the treatments they give you can include surgery to remove tumors pressing on nerves etc..... it's not a simple clear cut thing of not having treatment and living a shorter but less painful time versus more time at increased pain levels.......

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

I can't say for sure, because I've never been in the situation.

I do think about it though, and because I've never truly lived, I always lean towards the idea of saying my goodbyes and spending the rest of my life doing what I've always wanted to do, and that's travel.

 

[mjmj]

Every case is different. A very good friend of mine declined treatment when he learned he had terminal cancer. The last couple weeks were awful. Treatment likely wouldn’t have made things better, but don’t think foregoing treatment means you just pass calmly in your sleep one night. Its still bad.