Melanoma cont. 3
March 11th 2007 03:34
3. Stats and making sense of them. If maths isn’t your strong suit it can all get quite confusing. An example: my friend is quite young to have this type of cancer – it is usually an old person’s problem. Here are two statistics that look contradictory: nodular melanoma is one of the rarer forms of cancer. Melanoma is one of the most common cancers in people of her age. The way to make sense of these statistics is that people of her age almost never get cancer and when they do it is often this type.
Much of the information around is full of these type of statistics – the people who provide them think that information is good. And this is the way the information comes. If you are not at home with maths it is worth trying to find someone who is and can help you figure out what these statistics actually mean. It is worth remembering that statistics are just the odds and they may not apply to you.
It is worth asking yourself how much you need to know. Monitor when you start feeling overwhelmed and teary. This is probably the signal that you have taken in too much already. You can end up with a swirling head and being very confused. And you already have enough to deal with. So monitor the size of the chunks of information that you take in.
4. Standard options and alternatives. Melanoma is aggressive and so decisions that are very serious need to be taken quickly. And while you are trying to deal with a life threatening situation. This is far from ideal and the medical system is little help. It will most likely be down to you and your family or friends.
The first option is surgery and you will need to ask if you want to know whether there may be permanent damage. My friend plays keyboard and recorder and the cancer was removed from the back of her hand. It did not occur to anyone in the medical system to say whether her movement would be restricted after the cancer had been removed. It was not even mentioned. She had to ask.
If the lymph node analysis means that the cancer has metastasised then she may be asked to have all the lymph nodes in one armpit removed. This can have consequences like foul body odour and compromised immunity. She only knows this because she has found this out on the internet. Other options are radiation, chemotherapy, and boosting the immune system with vaccination. At no stage has anyone in the medical system spoken of this as an option yet – and they haven’t spoken of the consequences either.
The medical system takes one step at a time; at no stage has she been asked if she would like to know more.
At no stage has anyone in the medical system mentioned alternative health – even of the most respectable kinds such as Traditional Chinese Medicine.
We are fortunate to be in Sydney, Australia. Sydney is the world’s leading place for the treatment of melanoma. As she is poor she is also fortunate to live in Australia with its public health system. In other countries she would simply die because the treatment is expensive.
Much of the information around is full of these type of statistics – the people who provide them think that information is good. And this is the way the information comes. If you are not at home with maths it is worth trying to find someone who is and can help you figure out what these statistics actually mean. It is worth remembering that statistics are just the odds and they may not apply to you.
It is worth asking yourself how much you need to know. Monitor when you start feeling overwhelmed and teary. This is probably the signal that you have taken in too much already. You can end up with a swirling head and being very confused. And you already have enough to deal with. So monitor the size of the chunks of information that you take in.
4. Standard options and alternatives. Melanoma is aggressive and so decisions that are very serious need to be taken quickly. And while you are trying to deal with a life threatening situation. This is far from ideal and the medical system is little help. It will most likely be down to you and your family or friends.
The first option is surgery and you will need to ask if you want to know whether there may be permanent damage. My friend plays keyboard and recorder and the cancer was removed from the back of her hand. It did not occur to anyone in the medical system to say whether her movement would be restricted after the cancer had been removed. It was not even mentioned. She had to ask.
If the lymph node analysis means that the cancer has metastasised then she may be asked to have all the lymph nodes in one armpit removed. This can have consequences like foul body odour and compromised immunity. She only knows this because she has found this out on the internet. Other options are radiation, chemotherapy, and boosting the immune system with vaccination. At no stage has anyone in the medical system spoken of this as an option yet – and they haven’t spoken of the consequences either.
The medical system takes one step at a time; at no stage has she been asked if she would like to know more.
At no stage has anyone in the medical system mentioned alternative health – even of the most respectable kinds such as Traditional Chinese Medicine.
We are fortunate to be in Sydney, Australia. Sydney is the world’s leading place for the treatment of melanoma. As she is poor she is also fortunate to live in Australia with its public health system. In other countries she would simply die because the treatment is expensive.
| 33 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
