My father died of end stage colon cancer what was discovered 1 month before he passed

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Happened to a friend's wife. From pancreatic cancer diagnosis to death was 6 weeks. Doctors had dismissed her symptoms for months until she had visible jaundice. She had a stomach bleed and died pretty much instantly. Her granddaughter was born that day.

Happened to my mother, too, with pancreatic cancer. 33 days from diagnosis to death. 3 months before, she travelled all over Europe.

I’m so sorry this happened.
In a way, there is something to be said for enjoying life to the end rather than suffering in the knowledge you have a disease that it’s very very hard to manage.

I don't want to take away from OP's post or hurt in any way -- but this type of comment seems naive or reckless when it fails to account for the type of cancer.
It may well be true in the case of a terminal, aggressive, inoperable, non-treatable cancer.
On the other hand, many of us are walking around today healthy, living a normal life, for decades, because we were diagnosed early with a treatable cancer.

The comment was made with regard to pancreatic cancer. No one is walking around for decades living a normal life with that

That's not actually true. Get your facts straight.

the 5 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 12%. It's famous for this fact.
I will admit that occult pancreatic cancer - PRE stage 1 - has been shown to progress somewhat slowly. However pancreatic cancer is notorious for almost never being discovered at this stage, and being extremely fast moving and difficult to treat at later stages. It's brutal and I am sorry if someone you love has experienced it. However I stand by my assertion that there is an argument there is something to be said for living well and then finding it at the last moment because, as any cursory google search will show, it is highly treatment resistant and the effort involved in doing so often does not yield sustained results. Maria Menunos is a rare exception in the type of cancer she had and stage at discovery.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately cancer can sometimes be asymptomatic until it is quite advanced. Or the symptoms are so common/vague as to be easily dismissed or attributed to other causes.

It’s true that some cancers can be very aggressive, but in most cases when the timeline moves this quickly, the disease was there for quite some time and just went undetected. It’s very sad.

OP, I’m so sorry for your loss.

this

its much much more commonly long undetected than aggressive. that's often bc of the misapprehension that it causes symptoms so people assume that they'll 'know' if they have cancer and go deal. Except in the case of a palpable breast lump, continual night sweats, seizures/ weakness or multiple swollen lymph nodes, cancer is almost always asymptomatic until late late stage. That's why preventative screenings are so important and why they are racing to develop a diagnostic blood test.

While this has historically been true, there has been a rise recently in more rapidly advancing cancers.

where is the data for that? yes there has been a rise in cancer but i have not seen data that it's specific to aggressive cancers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry for your loss, OP. It was three weeks from diagnosis for my dad (pancreatic cancer).

Be gentle with yourself.

6 weeks for my dad. There’s something to be said for not suffering for years. I’m pry op.