I have massive sympathy for anyone who's just been diagnosed with cancer. It's such an insidious, crawling thing, the way it contaminates every aspect of your life. I think the worst past is THE NOT KNOWING, when you first get the hard word you have no idea how serious it is, if you have a chance, what will happen, who will take care of your kids, all that stuff.
I know that people get the disease, and they do not survive.
I thought it might be nice to have a post here where survivors drop in their stats a simple format, so that people newly diagnosed can find folks with similar profiles who have gotten through it ?
My suggestion (if you're willing to share) would be to just post a reply in this format:
My type of cancer: <clinical detail>
My prognosis: <a line about the severity and initial doctors remarks>
My survival time: <how long since diagnosis is it, and what are my prospects for continued survival>
My word of advice: <a line sharing your whatever hard-earned piece of wisdom you feel is most important>
I'll start, if you're a survivor haunting the forums, can I urge you to dig in as well ?
LATER EDIT: as a survivor, my intention was to reach out to people newly diagnosed, distressed as I was, scared as I was, and show them that they are still in a chance, and that they should find hope and use that to empower their fight. But as folks have come here and posted their stories, I feel that feeling .. you know it ... that rippling of the skin on the back of your neck .. I feel inspired. People who were diagnosed as TERMINALLY ILL, and who have gone on to live a couple more decades and counting. When I was diagnosed, I thought my death was imminent, and I'm still kicking. Thing is, as a survivor, the hope that I carried through treatment has morphed into some kind of loose acceptance -- reading some of these people's stories I feel my own hope rekindle, and realise that I have every chance of sticking around for a few more decades myself. If you're someone newly diagnosed, I hope you can find that spark of hope inside yourself, and protect and preserve it as you fight this crappy disease.
