WHAT IS YOUR PROGNOSIS?

There's nothing wrong with being concerned with the prognosis stats--I think we all go through that phase, it's part of the information seeking we all do.  It gives us something we can wrap our head around (sort of) to help us decide what treatment option(s) to persue. So go ahead and play with the sites that calculate stats based on pathology and treatment options, but keep the nubmers in perspective--stats apply to large groups of women only, not to an individual woman.  Like someone has already posted, each of us has either 100% or 0% chance of recurrence.  It's only when you put a whole bunch of us together that you get other numbers. 

Merry Christmas to all, and May God Bless Us, Every One! 

Diane,

I never asked my Onc about my prognosis, stats or percentages. For me, it's just numbers and words. I can only live one day at a time and I get to chose how I live it. After 2 bouts with BC, my "perspective" on life is more important to me than a prognosis...if that makes sense to anyone. Each day is truly a gift and I cherish each and every one. If I have to ride the cancer train again, I will deal with it when I need to, knowing I have done everything I can to keep living...

Linda

Hi

I think we all go through the stage of looking at the stats. I was dx May 08 and just couldn't ask the onc for my stats (and still haven't). I was obsessed with knowing what my chances were for a recurrence, worried about it constantly, googled 'til I scared myself silly but couldn't ask the onc.

I'm one year out from treatment and have realised that it's either 100% or 0% - nothing in between. Whatever the future holds I'm going to MAKE THE MOST OF IT. I may be OK for the next 20 years or I may have a recurrence in the next few months, but I'm not going to waste any time worrying about it. I'm going to make the most of whatever time I have - be it 20 years or 1

Mal

i have not asked my oncologist about prognosis. i just figure if i relapse that will be my statistic in real life and if i keep NED that is the otherside of the statistic of which i am currently living at all most 8 years NED next month.

Good for you Diana 50.  You have beat the odds, in my book, and I am soooooo happy for you.  I see in your picture you are on a bike.  That is one thing my body lacks is exercise, but I have other pain issues, that exercise is hard for me.  Keep it up, SOMETHING is working for you.   Did you change to a healthy diet, too?

Here is the irony.  In May 2009 I had a test to determine the likelihood of having a heart attack within the next 10 years.  Since my father had died of a heart attack at age 47 and I was 48 I was somewhat obsessed with "how much longer I had", so certain that a heart attack was right on my horizon.  The test results showed that I had less than a 10% chance of having a heart attack within the next 10 years.  I can't tell you how thrilled I was.  The weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders.

In June 2009, my husband lost his job of 21 years when the company downsized.  Not only did he lose his job, but with it our health insurance and financial security.  I was devastated.  Our world had come crashing down.  

In August 2009 I was diagnosed with Stage IIb breast cancer. September I had a bilateral mastectomy.  October I started chemo.  I will finish my last chemo treatment next Monday. I know I still have a long road ahead of me.  And I am still struggling with the fact that life will never be the same.   But I now know what is important.

The point of sharing all of this -- no one knows what the future holds. Appreciate what you are given today.  Life doesn't come with any guarantees, no matter what anyone tells you.  

Have your oncologist go on www.adjuvantsite.com (it is a site for physicians), and have him/her enter all the information, and it will give out the statistics for someone with your exact diagnosis, what they would be with various treatments. Looking at my odds of reoccurrence with and without chemo, really made me know that I had to do it. Of course, like others have said, in the end each of us is 100% or 0. Good luck! 

My understanding is that the percentage that they give you pertains to you being alive after 10 years.  It does not look at reoccurrances so the percentage incleds individuals who have had reoccurrances but are still alive at the end of the ten years.  I specifically asked my Onc. in order to wrap my head around what the numbers meant.

My onc told me not to read the statistics. All of them are biased by the party who is conducting the study. She told me that based on her experience of 20+ years recomends chemo. She supported me on my decision for prophy mastectomy and told me that I have a very good chance of being NED for the rest of my life. She runs the markers every 6 months, she believes in them. My father had colon cancer and his doctors run the markers, too and that was 15 years ago.  My surgeon recommended chemo as well and after the second mastectomy he told me that he cannot say that I will be 100% ok but he gave me 99% also based on his 40+ years experience.I hope they are right.  It's been almost 2 years (march 2010) since I found the lump and so far I am NED.

Here's the problems with stats, as I see it.  If you are told you have a certain percent chance of reoccurance, the other side of the coin is that you always have a certain percent chance of NOT having a reoccurance.  If you're told you have a 50% chance of reoccurance, that automatically means that there are 50% in your same group who will not reoccur.  Can you ever know what group you're in?  Naturally not.  Even at 3%-97%, someone has to make up the 3%!

I have already decided that I have beaten breast cancer.  That's all I need to know.  I refuse to spend one second of my life wondering whether I may fall into any percent other than 100%!  To do otherwise indicates that breast cancer controls me.  And that just isn't the case.