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Question
29 Aug 2007
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i give up
im so sick and tired of chemotherapy / blood tests / ct scans etc i wonder how long i would survive if i just gave up all these treatments, its very tempting i am sooooo depressed today i wish i could just die in my sleep tonight. i should post this on the cybershrink forum but you have a kind heart and always have a word of encouragement which is always appreciated
CyberDoc
Dear Bleeding
One should NEVER give up hope, BUT you should ask your doctor to be honest with you and tell you exactly what the advantage of the current chemo is, and what would happen to you if you stop it - then weigh up the consequences of not taking the chemo versus taking the chemo and feeling "gagga" all the time! In the end, it is not about the doctor doing the right academic thing, or about doing what everybody else is doing or expecting from you, but what is best for you as a person, what would make YOUR life worth living.
If not taking the chemo will reduce your life span but will give you better quality of life during this time, and taking it will give you extra months or years but you don't enjoy this time as you are feeling too bad all the time, you have to carefully consider what YOU want for yourself now. Also ask him about other options - sometimes you can't stop the chemo alltogether as the cancer would then just grow unfettered and cause obstructions etc, but you can reduce the chemo dose and choose to get "palleative" ( making the patient comfortable) versus "therapeutic" ( healing the patient) treatment.
Thinking of you! Did the bleeding stop?
Dr Bets
One should NEVER give up hope, BUT you should ask your doctor to be honest with you and tell you exactly what the advantage of the current chemo is, and what would happen to you if you stop it - then weigh up the consequences of not taking the chemo versus taking the chemo and feeling "gagga" all the time! In the end, it is not about the doctor doing the right academic thing, or about doing what everybody else is doing or expecting from you, but what is best for you as a person, what would make YOUR life worth living.
If not taking the chemo will reduce your life span but will give you better quality of life during this time, and taking it will give you extra months or years but you don't enjoy this time as you are feeling too bad all the time, you have to carefully consider what YOU want for yourself now. Also ask him about other options - sometimes you can't stop the chemo alltogether as the cancer would then just grow unfettered and cause obstructions etc, but you can reduce the chemo dose and choose to get "palleative" ( making the patient comfortable) versus "therapeutic" ( healing the patient) treatment.
Thinking of you! Did the bleeding stop?
Dr Bets
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