Ok so I start looking up the prognosis of lung cancer small cell and non small cell.All of these web sites state that after surgery only 5% of the population live past 5 years?I just dont get any of it?My doc says that say we remove the cancer you are just like the rest of us cancer free and can live to be 100.Then I start reading the statistics and life expectancy's and they contradict what my doc said.Please someone clarify this for me.thank you.Sincerely,Kandy
Kandy, Kandy, Kandy....DO NOT read those OLD statistics!! They are no longer accurate or necessarily applicable. We tell everyone not to pay attention to those stats. As one cancer survivor in a TV commercial says "the doctor says he never saw an expiration date stamped on my toe" and that is the truth!! We will all live until the good Lord calls us home, and He doesn't send us a termination notice!!
Just always be thankful for each and every day...and remember that we should all live our lives as if today is the last day of our life!
Hi Kandy,
I agree with the previous poster - if you look at the date of the statistics, most are over 15 years old. There have been a lot of treatments developed in that time. Listen to what your doctor says and stay off the prognosis sites!! : )
Good luck!
Amanda
Kandy,
That can't be right. I know for stage IV alone the statistics (which are 10-15 years behind) say only 5% survival past 5 years. I would think early stage with surgery it would be much, much higher.
Marcia
Don't read those statistics, Kandy. Some are 10 years old. I'm not sure when new statistics will come out but it will show a better survival rate than what you're reading now.
My doctor said they are based on other people, not me. We were not part of that study :).
Take care,
Bette
Hi Kandy,
I had surgery ( no chemo or radiation ) , stage 1A
and I believe the statistics for my 5 yr survival are between 70 - 85 % depending on who you believe.
But as others have pointed out statistics are just that
- statistics - they can not predict any one individual's survival rate. Kind of like the average number of children per family being 2.3 children - some families might have none while others may have 5 but I have yet to see any family with 2.3
Take care
Jim
Kandy,
Not to mention that lots of those stats were from times when LC wasn't found until later in life (65+ years) when the beast had already progressed and spread. Thank Heavens (?!?!) that it is now being found in younger people when it is still in an early stage.
Sweetie, I have been where you are and done what you are doing! (Right after my surgery.......). You will drive yourself NUTS if you keep doing it. Just sit back, enjoy each and every day, and the people, animals, and other things of beauty that are in your life. Count your blessings every day - now THOSE are statistics to care about!!!!
Erin
Kandy - haven't we all told you - STAY AWAY FROM THE WEB AND THE STATISTICS! They are 10 years out of date - and they are completely generalized. Look at the bottom of your left foot....go on....is there a date stamped on it? NO - stop "looking for trouble" - we all struggle with this - I do everyday - and I would bet everyone here does as well- but TODAY you feel ok - right??????? Live for today hunny - tomorrow we could all get killed by a tornado. xxxxx to you!!!
Karen
hi kandy,
i can only say what has already been said. those stats are out of date. kinda hard for em to get new ones when so many treatments are relatively new to the field and folks are rapidly outliving them. take a look around the site. look how many folks here alone have outlived them. methods of diagnosis have improved. treatments of lung cancer have improved, and there are more lines of treatment. medicine in general has improved since those stats. everything is on the plus side.
now...about YOU!! you are in relatively good health other than the stupid cancer. your attitude is great. you have an early stage, which back then was unheard of. you have everything going for you! you are gonna be just fine! you believe in you...and i believe in you! you will be rockin your grandbabies to sleep so no worries!
hugs,
deb
Ditto! Don't look at these stats or at what your oncologist might tell you - if I believed all I read and heard I would not be here today. Nobody knows me like me!
Hi Kandy
Its tough to avoid the statistics. I focused on the negatives for about 1 year. I was staged 111a . I have made it 17 months now and do rock those grandbabies. Forever changed we are, but for now life is good. Take care
Clarification: DON'T READ THAT OUTDATED CRAP!!! It dose NOT PERTAIN TO YOU!!
Just trust me on this one. We have been telling members this for YEARS and YEARS and YEARS NOT TO READ THAT CRAP! The only thing that crap does to you is scare the shit out of you!
Hugs,
Connie
Hey Kandy,
Good advice given by all the above responses. Statistics apply to the population in general and have nothing to do with any individual case. (You could flip a coin 10 times and come up with 10 heads. Still the statistics say you should get 5 heads and 5 tails.)
Docs use statistics to determine the best treatment methods and those numbers come from studies. This is a valid use of stats. But we all respond to treatment differently. Until someone discovers exactly how cancer works, treatment based on statistics is the best we can do.
Good luck lady, focus on being cancer free and leave the numbers to the number crunchers...
Jim
I agree with everyone above... Last week when we got my moms diagnosis I got online. The first thing I read (which I still have written on a post it on my desk) that her survival was less than 5%. It totally devastated me. Now that I found this group I feel better and we spoke to her onc. more and I am throwing that post it away!!! I say stay positive and take care of yourself!
Hi Kandy,
Stage 2 can be 65% and Stage 1 as high as 89%. Most of these statistics come from late stage diagnosis.
Best wishes,
Joyce
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!
I was diagnosed in May... and I have read those old stats. I looked at the dates on the studies but the good old fear factory concentrated on the dismal stats, not the old dates...
THANK YOU FOR THE POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS!
Chemo Boy
Eddie
Hello Kandy,
The survival rates are determined by what stage you are along with some other factors - your age, health status, general condition, tumor size, etc. If you are stage one and have a small tumor - your prognosis should be upwards of 85% even up to 95%. And that includes everyone who was operated on for small tumors - even people with lousy health or advanced age, etc.
Even if your tumor is over 3 cm you still have I think around 65% survival rate or something close to that. There are studies that are out there on tumor size and survival rate. The New England Journal of Medicine had a good study either last year or the year before where they went into great detail about survival rate and tumor size. I've never ever seen a survival rate of 5% for people who have had surgery - if that was the case I'm not sure people would opt for surgery! Maybe you misread the figures? I think that statistic is an old statistic for stage four - not for people who have had surgery??
Sharon
erin.....some of us are YOUNG and diagnosed with stage 4.
Love ya,
Cathy & Bill
Oh please Kandy, I WAS 3A 9 years ago, 9 years. Please lose these web sites, talk to the Onc. they know and they'll tell you they can't tell you 100 % about anything! So stay positive and the heck with the negative. Didn't your mother tell you about a self fufilling prophesy. You are doing awesome. So stay the course. You'll soon be perfect again! - John
Thanks to Kandy for bringing this up and for everyone who responded. I needed to hear this again!! Sometimes I wake up terrified just thinking about it even though my surgeon said there is a VERY small chance it's coming back!
Cathy
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