K777angel said:
Excuse me but the doctors also described ovarian cancer to us as the "black death." Just because the plague is described as such also does NOT mean that other horrible deaths cannot be termed similarly.
Patsy has NOT been "dying" of stage 4 ovarian cancer for 12 years. That is a gross distortion. She has rejoiced in her remissions. As did my mother.
My mother was stage 4 when DIAGNOSED. The doctors told her she was
"dying." She lived on for 6 and a half years.
My mother basically starved to death as the ovarian cancer, as it does, ravaged and destroyed her intestintal system. Yet - she was bloated and puffy just like Patsy looks.
At least get your facts right.
Sorry to hear about your mother.
I've never heard any doctor, esp an Oncologist, call cancer "the black death". That would be a complete misrepresentation of a clinical diagnosis and an immediate cause for reprisal by the AMA.
Plague causes fever and a painful swelling of the lymph glands called buboes, which is how it gets its name (Bubonic). The disease also causes spots on the skin that are red at first and then turn black. Thus the term "The Black Death".
No competant doctor calls cancer the black death. Ever.
Yes, and my facts are straight, Patsy has been dying of Stage IV Cancer for 12 years...
She was diagnosed with it, as Stage IV, in 1993. It NEVER went away, it was always there lurking and showing up sporadically in other areas. The spot on her liver is just one of the reoccurances. Remission does not mean it's cured and never coming back. Rejoicing when being told they are in remission is normal for patients, but most survivors know that it can change at any time. A competant oncologist will warn patients that not only can it come back, but that it can be stronger and show up in other locals and that it can be even harder to treat.
Patsy was considered "terminal" just as your mother was the moment they were each diagnosed with Stage IV Ovarian Cancer.
How long it takes/took the disease to kill doesn't matter. The ENTIRE time they were considered to be "dying" of the disease and/or complications from it. Saying stage IV cancer patients are not terminal and dying is like saying AIDS patients aren't.
They are dying, even if they don't feel the effects or aren't having an outbreak.
My father was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and told he would have approx 6 months. He survived another 6 + years...when he died he was emaciated. He was not "puffy" from any meds or from the cancer that ravaged his body. It may be diffferent for women, but I know Gilda Radner wasn't "puffy" or "swollen" when she passed either. She also was emaciated. Skin drawn basically over skeleton is how I would describe it.
We are all terminal.
As for Patsy, her face does look puffy in that photo, but that wouldn't account for her DOUBLE CHIN. There is a distinct difference in swelling and how it looks from what I see on that photo. Patsy's neck does not look swollen or puffy to me, it looks fat. It may be that the photo was changed to make it look worse than it is too...it is on a tabloid which is designed soley to make money.
