I'm being a bit dense I know...

Life expectancy is I suspect based on the " average" person n statistics. In other words, it doesn't bear any relation to you as an individual person!

Personally, I've never wanted to know how long I've got- it can become a self- fulfilling prophecy.

My oncologist says I'm an anomaly, take that as you will .

I've been living with cancer for 14'years, despite several mets over that time.

Hi Zigoin123,  it's complicated isn't it but it absolutely doesn't mean that we all have only five years left.

What they do is they usually stop monitoring us after five years because the likelihood of a recurrence then is so low as not to be worth those pesky checkups.  So they give five year survival rates which in most cases are very high, using the data gathered at those checkups.  Some people of course willl die during those five years, maybe due to their cancer having been already advanced at diagnosis or perhaps because of a recurrence which cannot be cured.  I am not sure whether deaths from causes other than cancer are included in the statistics but even if they are not, some conditions make it difficult or impossible for a patient to be given further treatment so that has to be taken into account.

But remember that these are just statistics.  Five or ten year survival rates refer to people who were diagnosed with cancer at least five or ten years ago.  And things have moved on in that time.

You're not a statistic.  Youre an individual and your outlook will be yours alone.  I think your CNS nurse would be a good person to chat to about this.  

Don't get hung up on these figures.  They are useful as a very general measure of how cancer treatment has improved over the last few decades.  But they are pretty meaningless for us as individual patients.

Hi, life expectancy is I suspect based on the " average" person and statistics. It doesn't bear any relation to you as an individual.

Personally I've never asked how long I've got, preferring  to take each day as it comes.

My oncologist says I'm an anomaly-  take that as u will.

I've been living with ( kidney) cancer for 14 years now, despite several mets during that time.

Sorry this posted twice. I'm too impatient

Hello  I honestly have no idea how the stats are calculated. I’m honestly also not sure what the maximum life expectancy is that we can achieve. I’m pretty sure there are ladies on this forum who have survived longer than 5years and that there are people in the incurable group who are, to use their words, “well past their sell by date.” 

As you know I had a serous type, high grade and aggressive. My gynae-oncologist refused to discuss statistics with me because he felt they were unhelpful. I thought he was hiding something so I googled and boy did I regret it - the stats for serous type cancers are grim. My CNS has to put me back together. She said that some of what’s out there is out of date and also refers to a different demographic, hence why my lovely gynae-onc said what he did.

My thoughts, for what they're worth , is that life is for living here and now. None of us know how long we have left and lots of things unrelated to cancer might happen that could potentially shorten our life span. Worrying about it just robs today of its joy. Yes, if I was told I only had a year I’d perhaps take a different view and cram in as much as I could. Having cancer definitely changed my priorities and I think that’s reflected in some of the things I’ve chosen (or not chosen) to do. So I’d say do the things that bring you joy, things you need to do, things you want to do, things that give you a sense of fulfilment and achievement, things that bless others, but most of all live, laugh and love and enjoy life with those you love x

What a lovely recommendation Fairycake!

Truly beautiful and heartwarming words.  Inspirational.

Thank you XxX

From my understanding life expectancy is based on the average of every single cancer patient and not based on the individuals themselves. A very close friend I lost last year to cancer was told he had 12months if he was lucky he latest 18months till he sadly died but living is for the here and now no one can say for certain what to expect but its a calculation. Fairycake , is spot on really and yes best not to look on Google. I think sometimes our consultant are very careful about telling you as well because for many its depends how you respond to treatment. I will give you my example, my consultant admitted this to me after he found out my final staging and I don't think I have mentioned this here before, as it was something that surprised me but in a good way really. He seriously thought looking at my womb  that I was going to come back at a much higher stage then I was to his surprise he found I was stage 1a grade 2 so sometimes they can get it wrong. So for me if I was stage 3/4 incurable I am not sure I would want to know what my life expectancy is as it scare me more then I would be already but my understanding of the 5 year thing is that if their is going to reaccurrance then its more likely within the 5 years since diagnosis which is why for some if they are very low stage some just have phone call checks, others have regular checks with the consultant.

Heya, 

Hysteria said it best. 

The 5 year and 10 year marks are arbitrary nice round numbers picked by the medical profession to see who is alive and who is dead.

However, if you've got the sort of bog standard endometrial cancer that has been treated via hormones or hysterectomy only, then old age should get you before anything cancer related should. That's still true for folks who have been given the all clear after further treatment too.

There are a few folks who sadly don't have that sort of a prognosis, but they generally know that because the doctors at least hint at it, even if they don't have specific time lines given to them.

Hope that helps. 

Lass

Xx

Hi Zigoin,

I'm not sure this is worth worrying about.

My husband had throat cancer 13 years ago now. A couple of years ago he was unwell on a Good Friday. (Everywhere closed and he wouldn't go to hospital) By Tuesday he was feeling better, but because of his history I thought he should be checked out. Turns out, he had a heart attack, which freed itself !!!!  So, nothing to do with the cancer at all !!!!!  He is on tablets now and no different. I say just enjoy life and don't worry about the future or statistics.

xxxxx