[Misc] King Charles has cancer

[Normal Rob]

6 years ago my friend lost his wife to cancer. Cancer took him in December just gone. They leave 2 children, 12 and 9. Cancer is a c×nt.

 

[Normandy seagull]

I’ve read all posts in this thread and can say this. Cancer touches most families- some more than most include mine having lost both parents and grandparents to it. Discussing Cancer is likely to generate a range of opinions and everyone is entitled to theirs. Guinness- I must say I totally understand where you are coming from and unfortunately some people have taken it the wrong way. Sad that some have jumped down your throat for it because your opinion doesn’t fit with theirs

 

[Chicken Run]

Guinness- I must say I totally understand where you are coming from and unfortunately some people have taken it the wrong way. Sad that some have jumped down your throat for it because your opinion doesn’t fit with theirs

He’ll be fine, he’s an expert throat jumper himself

 

[cheshunt seagull]

Agreed - And people in deprived areas may have a decreased chances of surviving cancer than the average population.

People with cancer will also know, part of the battle is reducing living stress, getting domestic support when coping with chemo, eating a good healthy diet, living in warm and dry environments and being able to afford to take time off work, pay for childcare etc.

Charles has started his treatment a week after being diagnosed so Sky News looked at how others are faring:

From Sky News Today - raising exactly this issue in the context of reporting on Charles’ cancer diagnosis - it isn’t just one or two of us on NSC raising this, there will be millions asking themselves the same questions and not the Pollyannas who think it’s amazing how the NHS cured them and so all with the NHS cancer pathway is therefore rosy but how they are struggling to get referred for diagnostics and treatment in a timely manner or even at all.

“People from more deprived backgrounds are particularly at risk from poor early detection.

Data from NHS England shows that adults living in England’s 20% most affluent neighbourhoods are significantly more likely to survive cancer than those from the country’s 20% most deprived areas”

King Charles cancer: How long do people wait for treatment, which types are most common for older men and what are the survival rates?

As King Charles reveals his cancer diagnosis, the Sky News data unit looks at how systems for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer on the NHS are under pressure.

news.sky.com

1. People with lots of money can afford all round superior treatment that may increase their chances of surviving cancer.
2. Cancer doesn’t discriminate and can kill you however rich you are.

The two statements can both be true at the same time.

I have Myeloma, which is treatable but not curable. There is a pretty standard treatment path with around 5 standard lines of treatment. You pass on to the next line when the line you are on stops working or is intolerable. You will probably follow this path whether you are NHS or private with the same consultants. When the options run out private patients may have access to emerging treatments not yet in the Cancer Drugs Fund whereas the hope for an NHS patient lies in access to a clinical trial. So it can be the case that private patients live longer. However by far the greatest factor in determining life expectancy is how you respond to treatments and the length of remission they give. What private patients may get is another throw of the dice. The gulf between public and private may widen if funding for cancer drugs is reduced and the criteria for drugs being made available via the NHS becomes stricter.

 

[happypig]

Cancer took my father, leaving a 35 year old widow and five year old child. A few years later it nearly took my mum too.
I've been a republican all my adult life and want their removal as hereditary heads of state but I wish no ill on any of them and hope Charles Windsor can beat it.

 

[The Clamp]

Rather glad the papers have turned the volume down on their coverage of this story today.

But I guess they didn’t have a choice, they couldn’t not cover it.

 

[sparkie]

Best of luck to Charles.

I'm not overly optimistic about his chances tbh but that's just pessimism on my part.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

There are cancers which can be cured. I personally know a couple of breast cancer survivors and a bowel cancer survivor. The key is catching it early at stage 1.
My neighbour is five years clear of non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
About 67% of cancer survivors have survived 5 or more years after diagnosis. About 18% of cancer survivors have survived 20 or more years after diagnosis.

 

[The Clamp]

There are cancers which can be cured. I personally know a couple of breast cancer survivors and a bowel cancer survivor. The key is catching it early at stage 1.
My neighbour is five years clear of non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
About 67% of cancer survivors have survived 5 or more years after diagnosis. About 18% of cancer survivors have survived 20 or more years after diagnosis.

Let’s hope the next government can get their stuff together and fund the NHS properly. So we can catch these symptoms early.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Let’s hope the next government can get their stuff together and fund the NHS properly. So we can catch these symptoms early.

Screening is vital.

 

[dazzer6666]

There are cancers which can be cured. I personally know a couple of breast cancer survivors and a bowel cancer survivor. The key is catching it early at stage 1.
My neighbour is five years clear of non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
About 67% of cancer survivors have survived 5 or more years after diagnosis. About 18% of cancer survivors have survived 20 or more years after diagnosis.

Indeed. Two breast cancer survivors in our ‘close‘ social group (and one that sadly didn’t) and I know 3 long-term (10 years+) survivors of prostate cancer and one going through treatment at the moment. My sister survived ovarian cancer (after some fairly nasty treatment) and was in remission for 8 years - we knew the tumour hadn’t been completely removed but it stopped growing for that time, but suddenly started again when she was 42 and she’d passed within a few months. Also lost my BIL to bowel cancer about 18 months ago, but his was diagnosed late.

 

[AmexRuislip]

On a side note, as well as myself, these are others who Maggies have helped with cancer support

 

[Zeberdi]

… Cancer touches most families- some more than most include mine having lost both parents and grandparents to it. Discussing Cancer is likely to generate a range of opinion. Guinness- I must say I totally understand where you are coming from and unfortunately some people have taken it the wrong way. Sad that some have jumped down your throat for it because your opinion doesn’t fit with theirs

Sorry to hear of your loss - and I do agree some people (actually a lot have taken it the wrong way when a few of us are raising the disparity in health care (which was all GB was getting at) that we get in this country and feel it is right and completely appropriate to raise it when Charles gets a diagnosis one day followed by treatment the next - there’s been some very passive aggressive responses to even suggesting that Charles has a better chance of surviving cancer than someone from a socially deprived area with the same cancer. While most people haven’t jumped down my throat for voicing the same opinion as GB, perhaps just ignoring me and the issue instead, there seems to be a denial on this thread that the NHS surgical/consultancy waiting lists are failing thousands of people waiting too long for cancer treatment and failing the thousands who are being misdiagnosed by their primary care clinics and not getting onto the cancer referral pathway when they should.

At least the MSM, in particular the BBC and Sky News have sensibly made it a point in the past few days to raise the problems thousands of people are having in this country in accessing cancer treatment or primary care referrals for a diagnosis. For them not to do so would risk angering some of their readers who have negative experiences of their cancer pathways on the NHS or in the very least alienating them. While most of us have been touched by cancer, our experience of the healthcare we have had/getting is very different - I just don’t understand why peoole don’t want to hear that

 

[OzMike]

I have a sister who has survived cancer and a brother who has survived two different types of cancer. It would seem my family may have good genes when fighting this sort of thing.
They may have helped my daughter in her fight too.
I host an annual quiz night at our local, as a fundraiser for cancer sufferers in our village.
It always sells out and raises a decent amount.
Next one is on March 16th, if anyone is in the area !!!

 

[Questions]

Starts a new job and is straight on the sick.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I have a sister who has survived cancer and a brother who has survived two different types of cancer. It would seem my family may have good genes when fighting this sort of thing.
They may have helped my daughter in her fight too.

What are "good genes"? Maybe they were just "fortunate" (if that's the right word) enough to have a type of cancer which has improved survival rates. Or has better screening or wider public awareness, resulting in it being caught earlier. It's like all this crap I mentioned earlier about "positive thinking" or "bravery" being the key.

I'm honestly pleased for you, especially if your daughter is current going through it as you imply. But maybe, just maybe, your loved ones have just been lucky rather than medically gifted.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I think there's quite a difference between treatable and curable though.

Indeed. When Chris was diagnosed, they said exactly that. Treatable, but not curable. Basically, he was told they would have a go at it with a few different things to try and keep it at bay, but that ultimately, it was going to kill him at some point, whether that was several months or several years down the line. They started him on chemotherapy (it's called something else these days but forgive me for the incorrect terminology, everything was a bit of a blur). After six weeks, the oncologist took a look at his scan results and went "well this isn't working anything like as well as I'd hoped it would" and started him on immunotherapy. He had that for a couple of weeks, then took a rapid downturn and they said pretty much straight away that was it. He was gone within a month. He was 46 years old. It's brutal.

 

[The Grockle]

Indeed. When Chris was diagnosed, they said exactly that. Treatable, but not curable. Basically, he was told they would have a go at it with a few different things to try and keep it at bay, but that ultimately, it was going to kill him at some point, whether that was several months or several years down the line. They started him on chemotherapy (it's called something else these days but forgive me for the incorrect terminology, everything was a bit of a blur). After six weeks, the oncologist took a look at his scan results and went "well this isn't working anything like as well as I'd hoped it would" and started him on immunotherapy. He had that for a couple of weeks, then took a rapid downturn and they said pretty much straight away that was it. He was gone within a month. He was 46 years old. It's brutal.

That's incredibly sad, 46 is far too young.

I'm sure sympathy from a stranger won't bring you any comfort but I'm very sorry you had to go though such an awful experience. My thoughts are with you.

There's been lots of experiences shared on here all very sad. One thing is clear, cancer doesn't discriminate between Rich, poor, young or old.

 

[seagullwedgee]

EK, absolutely every single one of us are with you, right now, and forever.

 

[knocky1]

There’s a plethora of medical evidence that some people have a higher risk of certain cancers because of their genetic make up and more recently research considers that certain genealogies have greater resistance.

Why do the majority of people never get cancer?

(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, millions of people are diagnosed with cancer - a remarkably high number. But what about the flipside of those statistics? That is, two out of three people never get cancer, and more than half of heavy smokers don’t get cancer, either. A recent study points out this...

medicalxpress.com

I have a much higher risk of certain cancers because of my ethnicity, in particular Pancreatic cancer.

Conversely, our immune systems are built in from birth - some people have a better immune system than others for fighting cancers as a result of birth, environment, exercise and diet..

The variability to which we are at risk or how we as individuals fight cancer is not a myth and goes beyond individual early detection or adequate response to treatments.

Jesus f##£ing Christ!