wolfman54

As already stated in this thread, there are too many variables. Here are some in itemized format:
1) Your general health at the time of diagnosis
2) Treatments (such as chemotherapy as well as radiation therapy)
3) Doctors skill and attitude (always, always, always get second, third and fourth opinions from other doctors and do your research on the web so that you have not only an understanding of the disease but what questions need to be asked of the doctors)
4) Take CHARGE of your care. Do not lie back and expect the doctor to make you well. Use the doctors and nurses as experts on your team to get you back to health but YOU must be in charge.
5) For every answer you receive, ask "why" at least 5 times. No, not just "why, why, why"! Refrase the question, ask in different ways. I have found that doctors put on the spot in this fashion, in general will, if they really do not know the answer, will take the time to consult colleagues to get the answer for you. I have notable exceptions where doctors could not admit that they did not know. Fire them IMMEDIATLY! They will endanger your health as they will blindly provide you with treatment that may not be beneficial to you. I did.
6) There are too many testimonials from cancer survivors who were told that they only had a certain time to live. The danger here is that the patients that do believe the doctors frequently make the life length prediction a reality. They did not take charge of their own care. Doctors have not a clue and when pressed they admit that they cannot predict the length of time a person will survive. They use "averages" from statistics to provide an answer. Note that an "average" numerical point is the worst number to have as it tells you absolutely nothing of the "range" of data that provided the "average". An average is not the center of a set of data as everyone assumes it is. Average is only centered when the data is distributed evenly. The average data point can be pulled higher or lower than the center point of the data depending on how skewed the data is.

So in conclusion, six months is a figure that you simply cannot utilize. In turning human lives lived and lost into statistics there are far too many variables. I attacked the issue of the average for small cell lung cancer by saying to myself that I would not die but that I would work hard to believe and fullfill the belief that there was no reason that I could not become one of the statistics in the top 95 percentile.

So go on, don't focus on the six months and fight for yourself, take charge of your care and ask and learn throughout the process. You will be surprised what you learn both about yourself and the medical community. And how much longer you will actually live. Best wishes, Wolf