I assure you, her course is not unlike many I see in my patients. Cancer prognosis is, by necessity, an inexact science of probabilities. More, Stage says littl

I assure you, her course is not unlike many I see in my patients. Cancer prognosis is, by necessity, an inexact science of probabilities. More, Stage says little about progression and much about prognosis. In essence, it just describes metastatic spread which, depending on where you stand on treatments, may manifest in a multitude of different forms. I have patients who, days before we "refrained from heroic actions," had been skiing in the alps, running a marathon, or gave birth to a child. And I have patients who, for months, waste away as we can do little but soothe the pain and provide comfort. It's messy, strange, inexact, and different from patient to patient.