Comments for Life Out Loud

Comment on Discovering life is fragile is a process by PAS

PAS — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:08:21 +0000

Honesty is hard for people to handle, and some people definitely prefer smaller doses of it (or none at all) to any level of reality. But I’m hard-wired for honesty, and I wouldn’t be true to myself if I sugar-coated things like survival percentages because that’s what someone wanted to hear.
Thanks for the kudo, Sandy, and thanks for stopping by.

Comment on Discovering life is fragile is a process by Sandy C.

Sandy C. — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:27:29 +0000

Gaelen, I discovered you on the Colon Club forum. Strangely enough, although I knew someone who had colon cancer who recently passed, I don’t have any other connection to it and yet, I’ve become strangely addicted to the Colon Club. I don’t even know if she was ever on that forum, making it even more weird.

I do understand that no one who hasn’t had to fight this battle could ever fully understand what it’s like. And maybe it isn’t heroic to simply cope with it and do what has to be done, but it’s still worth noting how you all do it with such humor and grace.

I saw your post in response to that young Stage IV woman who asked about fertility options, and I applaud you for speaking so frankly. She needed to hear that, no matter how painful it might be. Getting sick when you already have a child is one thing, but planning to have a child who will never know a time when you’re not ill is morally wrong. It’s terrible, but denial and pats on the back don’t serve her as well as what you said.

I wish you continued success in your fight, and I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with this.

Thank you,

-Sandy-

Comment on Stage IV rectal cancer: 7 years and 9 months in… by PAS

PAS — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:32:40 +0000

While you are free to leave a comment here at Life Out Loud, please understand that what I said about the prognosis for Stage IV patients for both survival and childbearing was true as those percentages exist today. I do not apologize for my thoughts, or my posts – and certainly don’t apologize for posting a known fact.
Some people do consider facts and truth insensitive and offensive, but I suspect your friend is made of tougher stuff. She has to be – she’s dealing with cancer.
I never mentioned your friend or any other person by name. Your comment did mention your friend by name (multiple times – I edited the name out). Until your comment, my readers might have gone happily through their lives without identifying anyone specific from the information I posted. By coming forward and trying to call me out, your attempt to make this personal has also violated your friend’s privacy…something I didn’t do.
As she’s posted in her own blog, your friend clearly has feelings about what I’ve written here and elsewhere. But since she’s already commented here once, I’m sure she’ll contact me directly if she feels the need.
I hope you enjoyed stopping by Life Out Loud.

Comment on Hope collides with reality…the promise #fail of new drug research by PAS

PAS — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:21:06 +0000

Hi, Eric, thanks for stopping by.
The numbers that have been released so far for regorafenib, and which I mention in my post, are medians…so yes, sort of an average. Unfortunately a median fails in some ways because it only shows the top of the bell curve. It doesn’t tell you either the low point (least amount of survival time) or the longest point (most amount of survival time.)
Hopefully, at Feb. 8th’s webinar featuring updates from the 2012 Gastroenterology conference, some of the people who attended and got to see the presentations in person will have some more information to add to what was published so far about this study.
Be well.

Comment on Stage IV rectal cancer: 7 years and 9 months in… by The man in the yellow hat

The man in the yellow hat — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:10:20 +0000

I dont care about your government project that makes you feel important and neither does [name deleted.] (sorry [name deleted,] but I know you don’t and you can be mad at me for sticking up for you later).

What you said was mean to the core and although [name deleted] may feel some cancerous connection to you, I dont, and I’m allowed to be angry. You owe [name deleted], her family, friends, law school mates, pharmacist, oncologyst, mail person, dog, and dirty clothes, an apology. No fluff to make yourself feel high and mighty, no explaining away biology and studies, a very plain, “I apolozie and what I said was insensitive”.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Note from PAS: the individual name referenced by this commenter was deleted to protect that person’s privacy.