My mil has terminal thyroid cancer . Recently her voice box is swollen n shes getting weaker daily n has alot of the end ofvlife symptoms,but her appetite has not decreased as most end of life articles suggest
Survival time after an established cancer diagnosis is unpredictable. The only certainty is that at the end, most patients are dead regardless of treatment. Even after years of "remission".
How is such a comment helpful in any way, shape or form? The OP is asking for a TIMELINE, not whether or not the loved one will die. We are ALL going to die, obviously, as the only 2 things that are guaranteed in life are death & taxes.
Yes, this is a question for Moms oncologist. We are a forum of Caregivers sharing our experiences. Most of us are lay people learning as we go.
As Alva says, no Dr can predict someones death unless the body has already in the dying process. My Mom was told Dad would die over the weekend. He passed 5 wks later Thanksgiving night.
A cousin had bladder cancer. Was being sent home after a Hospital stay, wife walked out of the room to do something, came back and cousin was gone.
Your Doctor, or rather the patient's doctor is the best judge of this due to the fact that a patients diagnosis and prognosis is as individual to that patient as his own fingerprint. There are many factors involved of age, general condition, the body's reaction to the treatment. Even the doctor when you consult with him or her will tell you that any guess they make at survival rates is dependent on statistics which are wildly variable and really don't have much to do with the individual patient. As a nurse I cannot tell you how often the doctors, backed into a corner by family's questioning, made the wrong guess one way or another. I am sorry, and wish there were an answer, but all carcinomas have little predictability. And statistics can be made to say anything.
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As Alva says, no Dr can predict someones death unless the body has already in the dying process. My Mom was told Dad would die over the weekend. He passed 5 wks later Thanksgiving night.
A cousin had bladder cancer. Was being sent home after a Hospital stay, wife walked out of the room to do something, came back and cousin was gone.
https://www.oncolink.org/cancers/thyroid/huerthle-cell-carcinoma-staging-and-treatment
Even the doctor when you consult with him or her will tell you that any guess they make at survival rates is dependent on statistics which are wildly variable and really don't have much to do with the individual patient.
As a nurse I cannot tell you how often the doctors, backed into a corner by family's questioning, made the wrong guess one way or another.
I am sorry, and wish there were an answer, but all carcinomas have little predictability. And statistics can be made to say anything.