Had my second oncologist appointment yesterday and took a list of questions. Was encouraged by the impact of the one chemo I've had so far but very discouraged by the statistics for TNBC with inflamatory tendencies. It is apparently only 40% of women who have a good outcome. How do you all cope with bad statistics and gloomy percentages?
Thanks for such a sane response! Do you know this is exactly what I would say to someone else but when an oncologist says the stats it seems insurmountable. I'm breathing easier now - thanks Bobbie.
Thanks for such a sane response! Do you know this is exactly what I would say to someone else but when an oncologist says the stats it seems insurmountable. I'm breathing easier now - thanks Bobbie.
I've been told by many people (including my surgeon & oncologist) to ignore all statistics. They usually come up with these figures by taking a sample of patients over a 10yr period (or longer) of all different circumstances - age, prior health, reaction to medications etc. so a good portion of the people involved will have had totally different circumstances to you, even though they had the same type of cancer and the same treatment.
Also, as advancements are being made every day with treatment methods, of course the people from 10 yrs ago will have had a worse prognosis. All of these factors affect the final statistics. They are an indicator, but should not be taken as gospel. I tuned them out very quickly, and I also have had TNBC.
I also avoid Dr. Google, because that does not help at all either. As I've always said, my imagination is good enough without me helping it! I didn't want to confuse or scare myself by looking up things that may not even apply to me.
I've found a lot of people post online with their horror stories or when there is a problem, but not when everything is ok, it's like they don't feel the need to report when there's nothing to report!. It doesn't really provide the full picture, and sometimes puts a negative slant on an otherwise good day.
Of course it's concerning that the statistics are not a 100% "cure" rate. If that was the case, nobody would care if they got cancer. I do occasionally remind myself that there's xx% of people that sadly don't have a good outcome. I'm just aiming to do the best I can, follow all the instructions given to me by my awesome medical team, and put faith in them. I'm more at ease knowing that there's nothing else I could have done in order to make MY outcome a good one. The rest is out of my control.
I've also spoken with a counsellor about dealing with the possibility that there may not be a good outcome, I found this really helped and put a lot of things into perspective.
Try not to dwell on the facts & figures, just concentrate on getting through the treatment and enjoying the other side of it! :-)
from Bobbie
