6 ms·

I've had 3 close friends who fought cancer. 2 of them said, after beating it, that they would have chosen to die if they could do it over. One of those peopl

I've had 3 close friends who fought cancer. 2 of them said, after beating it, that they would have chosen to die if they could do it over. One of those people was treated with modern immune therapies, which still left him permanently messed up. My other friend with cancer isn't around to tell me his thoughts on it. At this point in my life, 45 with no kids and good life insurance, I would not choose to fight cancer if I developed it.

downut 6y ago
2x cancer survivor here. It's not a binary choice. The melanoma was chopped out and I was closely monitored for 10 years. Would have killed me in a year or two if I did nothing. The colon cancer was chopped out through an 18" resection and I've ridden 10 centuries in the three years since. Spent two weeks in the Canal St. Martin neighborhood of Paris with my partner. Had a bunch of other lovely trips, remodeled the house, cooked a thousand lovely meals. Nope, I think if/when the crap comes back, I fight it again.
- angry_octet 6y ago
  Bravo.
- rhn_mk1 6y ago
  > I've ridden 10 centuries in the three years since Sorry for the ignorance, but what does that expression mean? I've never seen it before.
  - luhn 6y ago
    A century is a 100-mile bike ride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_ride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_ride
- hoka 6y ago
  Just starting cycling and feeling lost. This is damn impressive! Consider me inspired on multiple fronts.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  That's exactly it. It all depends on what cancer and how far it has spread. Making informed decisions under that kind of pressure is hard. Congrats on your status, and those bike trips are very impressive.
chiefalchemist 6y ago
Medical treatments, especially cancer treatments, are not always successful. You could suffer through the treatment and still not be cured. It seems reasonable to say "No thanks. I've had enough."
specialist 6y ago
I had a bone marrow transplant in 1989. 1 year mortality was 95%. It's a fucking terrible way to die. FWIW, the AIDS patients down the hall had it as bad or worse. It took me a long time to think the effort was worthwhile. And if people like me didn't get fed into the meat grinder of progress, we'd still be banging the rocks together.

downut 6y ago

2x cancer survivor here. It's not a binary choice. The melanoma was chopped out and I was closely monitored for 10 years. Would have killed me in a year or two if I did nothing. The colon cancer was chopped out through an 18" resection and I've ridden 10 centuries in the three years since. Spent two weeks in the Canal St. Martin neighborhood of Paris with my partner. Had a bunch of other lovely trips, remodeled the house, cooked a thousand lovely meals. Nope, I think if/when the crap comes back, I fight it again.

angry_octet 6y ago
Bravo.
rhn_mk1 6y ago
> I've ridden 10 centuries in the three years since Sorry for the ignorance, but what does that expression mean? I've never seen it before.
- luhn 6y ago
  A century is a 100-mile bike ride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_ride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_ride
hoka 6y ago
Just starting cycling and feeling lost. This is damn impressive! Consider me inspired on multiple fronts.
jacquesm 6y ago
That's exactly it. It all depends on what cancer and how far it has spread. Making informed decisions under that kind of pressure is hard. Congrats on your status, and those bike trips are very impressive.

chiefalchemist 6y ago

Medical treatments, especially cancer treatments, are not always successful. You could suffer through the treatment and still not be cured. It seems reasonable to say "No thanks. I've had enough."

specialist 6y ago

I had a bone marrow transplant in 1989. 1 year mortality was 95%. It's a fucking terrible way to die. FWIW, the AIDS patients down the hall had it as bad or worse. It took me a long time to think the effort was worthwhile. And if people like me didn't get fed into the meat grinder of progress, we'd still be banging the rocks together.