I have gall bladder cancer, and was diagnosed more than a year ago (August 9, 2005) and was told I had about six months. I researched this rare disease on the internet, and learned that I should have died nine months later, based on the statistical averages. I didn't! The problem with statistical averages is that they are based on large homogeneous populations, and that doesn’t exist for this rare cancer. Even then, very few cases exist exactly at the average – and there is a wide variation around the average. In addition, medical care is better today than it was even a couple of years ago, and life expectancy has increased.
I am an actuary, a mathematician that usually works with insurance statistics. The life expectancy statistics I found were not encouraging, but were a lot more complete than the statistics relating to treatment. Few studies have been completed on the effectiveness of surgery, radiation, chemo, diet, prayer, or any other type of treatment for gall bladder cancer. And even fewer provide information to the most interested population – those of use who have the disease.
I hope to change that. I have developed a survey form that collects a lot of information which I then summarize in a large spreadsheet. I only have a few people in my data base now, but hope to reach many others who can provide actual treatment history to help educate both us patients and our physicians.
If you have gall bladder cancer, or want to share the experience of another, please write me at --- Message edited by CancerCompass staff: for personal protection, email address removed. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at
http://www.cancercompass.com/common/guidelines.html ---- and I will send you the survey form, and share with you the results as I accumulate them.
Woody B.