# Are you a cancer survivor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 30, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500 "2012-05-30T00:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Curate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Curate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curate)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/21 "2012-05-30T23:11:35Z")
Prostate cancer in July of '11. Surgery in August and I’ve had clear PSA’s ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/22 "2012-05-31T04:12:36Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I see my dermatologist again tomorrow..hopefully nothing will chance in my answer. 🙂 Removed an odd growth from my face, near the ear. Still probably cancer free, but I won’t know for a week or so until the biopsy report comes back. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/23 "2012-05-31T08:52:06Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Stage IIB, recurrring, in remission since 1973. Congratulations to you! Also stage 2, no idea if it was A or B… the only symptom I had was the one that almost no one gets, pain in response to alcohol consumption (which even at that presented unusually, since the affected nodes didn’t hurt, and the pain was neither aching nor stabbing, but a burning pain across my upper back and arms). Eventually this became chronic back pain, with occasional episodes where the pain got so intense I was curled into a ball barely able to breathe. So is that considered systemic? I never had night sweats, fever, weight loss, or any of the usual symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/24 "2012-05-31T11:19:34Z")
I had another skin cancer cut off yesterday. Lost count, however, to me at least, I never sort of think of myself as a cancer survivor for these things. To me cancer is more the real chemo/ nasty stuff not just a minor surgery. And I am fully aware that many people do die from melanomas and getting a developed one removed is a horrible procedure. I just don’t classify the ones I have had in that category. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/25 "2012-05-31T12:18:06Z")
Thyroid cancer diagnosed in 2008 as papillary/follicular. My thyroid was removed a month later, and 6-8 months later I underwent radioactive iodine therapy. Two years later, an involved lymph node was discovered and removed. I’m monitored closely (blood tests every six months, neck ultrasounds at least every year) for further developments. This February, my doctor saw a lymph node he didn’t like the look of, so I go back in August to look at it again. Hoping for no surgery this time. I’ve been told that I will die _with_ thryoid cancer, not _from_ it, and for that I’m very grateful. Still tired of surgery, though. I have a tetchy relationship with anesthesia. Though I wouldn’t want to go without it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/26 "2012-05-31T12:44:10Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Also stage 2, no idea if it was A or B… the only symptom I had was the one that almost no one gets, pain in response to alcohol consumption (which even at that presented unusually, since the affected nodes didn’t hurt, and the pain was neither aching nor stabbing, but a burning pain across my upper back and arms). Eventually this became chronic back pain, with occasional episodes where the pain got so intense I was curled into a ball barely able to breathe. > > So is that considered systemic? I never had night sweats, fever, weight loss, or any of the usual symptoms. I think they took away the symptom that gave me the B, which was horrible itching all over. I’d gone to more than one doctor and was told it was nerves, and was prescribed tranquilizers. Anyway, when I was diagnosed the itching made it B, but I think now I’d be an A. Strange disease, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/27 "2012-05-31T12:54:58Z")
Skin cancer multiple times, most recently one month ago. Oral cancer: four surgeries; I’m now cancer free and have been for the last three years. As others have said, I don’t really think of myself as a cancer survivor since none of my cancers were life threatening. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/28 "2012-05-31T12:57:51Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Skin cancer multiple times, most recently one month ago. > > Oral cancer: four surgeries; I’m now cancer free and have been for the last three years. > > As others have said, I don’t really think of myself as a cancer survivor since none of my cancers were life threatening. And you said it a lot better than I did. Mine were not life threatening- untreated they may have been. I could never place myself in the same boat as aperson who has beaten (for instance) lung cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/29 "2012-05-31T13:05:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1999. After surgical removal of my left nut, I have been cancer free since then. No chemo or radiation. Me too, in 1995. Surgery and a light course of radiation, but no chemo. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/30 "2012-05-31T13:22:11Z")
Hodgkin’s. Stage IIIA. 6 Months of chemo (ABVD) and about a month of radiation. In remission about 15 years now give or take. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/31 "2012-05-31T14:34:22Z")
Non-Hodgkin’s, Marginal Zone, indolent. Dx’d about 18 months ago, so far I’m still “watch and wait”, so it has been a non-event so far although my hemoglobin was low last week (knock wood). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/32 "2012-05-31T16:12:53Z")
I have to admit that before I opened the thread I wondered if the choices were going to be: 1. Yes 2. No ---
**Author:** ![Mopal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Mopal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mopal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/33 "2012-05-31T23:36:17Z")
Stage III B lung. Not really thinking of myself as a “survivor” at this point since I just had my last (At least for now) radiation March 28 and chemo series April 27. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/34 "2012-06-01T01:11:53Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > And you said it a lot better than I did. Mine were not life threatening- untreated they may have been. I could never place myself in the same boat as aperson who has beaten (for instance) lung cancer. This is pretty much how I feel. Mine has never been life threatening, no chemo or radiation, just diligence to keep ahead of it. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/35 "2012-06-01T04:29:31Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Strange disease, isn’t it? I’ve always wondered why/how alcohol would set off the lymph nodes. As well as how that happened so fast… we’re talking within seconds of swallowing. Especially since apparently this symptom almost never happens (2-3% of patients, according to Wikipedia). ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/36 "2012-06-01T13:31:47Z")
Bladder cancer, three tumours removed by surgery. No chemo. No radiation. 5 years free. Don’t really think of myself as a cancer survivor, although a month or two longer, and I might not have been. My oncologist talked about women with the minor symptoms I had seeking alternative treatments first and then presenting too late for the easy run I had with it. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/37 "2012-06-02T21:08:28Z")
I was diagnosed with stage IA Hodgkin’s after I had a cough that wouldn’t go away. None of the usual treatments worked, and a CT scan turned up a mass in the middle of my chest. The week or so between the CT and the needle biopsy was the worst part - when you don’t know what it is, you can’t help but think about the worst case. I had four months of ABVD chemo and one of radiation and I’ve been in remission for three years. And I have a [tattoo](http://xkcd.com/933/), though mine is only five dots and I’ve had it augmented a bit after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/38 "2012-06-03T05:58:45Z")
> [@Number](#): > > And I have a [tattoo](http://xkcd.com/933/), though mine is only five dots and I’ve had it augmented a bit after the fact. They used permanent Sharpie-type marker for me, and one of the dots was on the tip of my nose. The other scribbles were on my neck, chest, and abdomen but no one could see those, luckily. I did get a lot of strange looks with magic marker all over my face. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/39 "2012-06-04T23:05:10Z")
The results of this poll (currently one-third yes, two-thirds no) show just how meaningless self-selected polling is. I’m in the “no” group and knocking on wood to hope I stay there the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500/40 "2012-06-04T23:11:34Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > The results of this poll (currently one-third yes, two-thirds no) show just how meaningless self-selected polling is. Self-selected polling may or may not be meaningless, but I’m not sure how this poll clarifies which. Is there some common knowledge it contradicts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-cancer-survivor/623500.md?page=3)