Is IBD worse than cancer?

[lizbeth]

I know someone like that Dusty. They are a cancer survivor for many years but also an attention seeker. They are full of cancer paraphanelia like buttons and shirts and want to talk about cancer constantly. Perhaps it's how they cope but I think a lot of it is for attention.

My dad's like that . Firstly April 4 years ago mum was taken to hospital with a very sore back....10 days later she had died having been diagnosed with cancer, 8 tumours all over the place. During those ten days we rallied round spending as much time as possible until she passed. Since then dad has announced he has cancer on a number of occasions, first his leg, that was flaky skin, then his forehead, again dry skin, then again on his leg and yep you guessed it....more dry skin. When he really was diagnosed with cancer we didn't believe him and actually phoned his specialist for confirmation. He has since had his treatment and is fine, not needing anymore. Dad wears his cancer badge with pride and loved the attention he gets, or got, people are fed up listening to him go on about it. He tries to get special treatment because of it. He's delighted he got cancer and I'm disgusted with his behaviour about it.......

To answer your original question, I think it would be impossible to say, both are terrible diseases and nobody should wish to have either, but it's not a competition as to who's sicker than who (that's a favourite of my dad), both are a tragedy and I wouldn't wish either on my worst enemy.

 

[DustyKat]

A tad off topic but also not in a way...

Pancreatic cancer ad causes outrage:

AN awareness campaign highlighting the poor survival rates and scant funding given to pancreatic cancer has been slammed as insensitive to people who suffer from other forms of the disease.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/pancreatic-cancer-tv-commercial-branded-as-insensitive-by-other-cancer-sufferers/story-fneuzlbd-1226819562486

[youtube]BU1SANY0RKM[/youtube]

 

[UnXmas]

A tad off topic but also not in a way...

Pancreatic cancer ad causes outrage:



[youtube]BU1SANY0RKM[/youtube]

I'm actually inclined to agree with the sentiment expressed in the ad - I can imagine that for someone diagnosed with cancer, seeing large support networks for cancer sufferers and then not being able to join them because your cancer is of a different kind could really hurt, and if the better-known cancers attract more financial donations, it could really affect the quality of treatment available. I don't think it's offensive for the ad to say "I wish I had breast/testicular cancer" - if that is a thought that people have, they shouldn't have to keep it to themselves for fear of offending others.

I do sometimes get comparable feelings when I see people on this forum complain about the lack of public knowledge about Crohn's. Having another disease where I know no-one else who has it, where there are no online forums discussing it, it does make me feel, at times, that there's not really a reason to feel Crohn's is rare. And seeing people complain that Crohn's ruins their life is even harder, when I have Crohn's and it's actually the least of my medical worries. Is it offensive if I say that maybe? That having Crohn's isn't that bad, as illnesses go? I'd regret it if I offended people, but it is how I feel, and, like the cancer ad, I'd rather be able to discuss it than keep quiet about it.

 

[Ihurt]

I am not really offended by the ad. I think the people are just trying to say that if they had breast cancer, then at least there is a chance to get rid of it. Just like with testicular cancer, there is a chance to get better. Pancreatic cancer is a death sentence. My grandfather died of it. It is horrible and there is no cure really. It has to be caught very early and even then, it is extremely hard to knock it out....

 

[lsgs]

I'm actually inclined to agree with the sentiment expressed in the ad - I can imagine that for someone diagnosed with cancer, seeing large support networks for cancer sufferers and then not being able to join them because your cancer is of a different kind could really hurt, and if the better-known cancers attract more financial donations, it could really affect the quality of treatment available. I don't think it's offensive for the ad to say "I wish I had breast/testicular cancer" - if that is a thought that people have, they shouldn't have to keep it to themselves for fear of offending others.

I do sometimes get comparable feelings when I see people on this forum complain about the lack of public knowledge about Crohn's. Having another disease where I know no-one else who has it, where there are no online forums discussing it, it does make me feel, at times, that there's not really a reason to feel Crohn's is rare. And seeing people complain that Crohn's ruins their life is even harder, when I have Crohn's and it's actually the least of my medical worries. Is it offensive if I say that maybe? That having Crohn's isn't that bad, as illnesses go? I'd regret it if I offended people, but it is how I feel, and, like the cancer ad, I'd rather be able to discuss it than keep quiet about it.

I watched the show called The Wright Stuff today, where they discussed this ad. Apparently there have been some pretty vile comments directed at the girl in the ad.

The two ladies in the advert actually called in to discuss why they participated in the advert and they both said those words actually came out their mouths when diagnosed. If they were to get breast cancer, they would have a chance of survival, there would be a great support network, people would understand and sympathise with them because of the public engagement with this particular cancer. Breast cancer does have a 'brand' that people identify with (pink ribbons, breast cancer marathons etc) Is it not natural to want a disease that has a 95% survival rate for first year over one which has a 3% survival rate, pretty much guaranteeing you won't live longer than 6 months?

Anyway, Kerry from the ad explained her feelings about the situation and that she had 4-5 months to live. Then there was this moment of horror in the studio when she was asked her age, and replied... 24.

Imagine being 24 and told you're going to die, it's just devastating to even think about. I know I sat for about 5 minutes with my mouth open when she said it.

Breast cancer gets so much attention and a disproportionate amount of funding. They showed a graph and breast cancer was receiving way more funding than other cancers, along with leukaemia.

I totally agree with the ad. People are so touchy about cancer when the sad reality is we're only paying attention to 'sexy' marketable cancers while others face down poor treatments and poor survival rates and it's never really talked about. Meanwhile we are 'protective' over cancers like testicular and breast.

What is really, really sickening is the reaction of many breast cancer sufferers to take it upon themselves to post horrible comments and essentially bully this girl for expressing how she feels and trying to raise awareness. Sickening.

 

[jwfoise]

Sorry for being late to this thread, didn't see it till it came back. A couple of thoughts, which might have already been said.

I don't think its a competition, and I'm not sure how one judges "worse". Other than looking for government funding for research, I'm not sure why there needs to be a comparison.

Some of us also don't have to chose. My mother's family has a very strong history of colon cancer - my mother, my grandmother, and my great aunt all died of it. In fact, my first colonoscopy was to look for colon cancer, not UC. I have a suspicion (and I think there is some research to support this) that colon cancer is more common in people with IBD.

I expect ultimately how you rate the two diseases depends on which one you or your loved one has.

I think the sense of shame is critical to the discussion because it doesn't factor in as much in some other diseases. Breast and testicular cancer would also be ones that can bring shame to a person but IBD does have so many socially unacceptable topics.

I don't know how old you are (I'm 55), but when I was a kid there was a lot of shame involved with cancer and it was not something you talked about. In fact people did not seem generally to be very open about diseases. I think that's a mistake, and I think it is good that this has changed (or is changing) for many diseases, including cancer and IBD.

 

[14senan]

I agree 100%. I think Crohn's and Colitis are taken as a joke compared to Cancer. Not enough people know about IBD and the symptoms, television advertisements should be made to show people just how bad that Inflammatory Bowel Disease is. I also think that when there is nothing they can do for your physical symptoms and you are awaiting an operation that a palliative doctor should be involved: to help manage pain and improve quality of life.

 

[ronroush7]

I agree.