Discharged from being followed for cancer

Can you send the doctor a message on MyChart, asking if you won’t be getting annual screening, & explaining your concerns?

There are two reasons that I’ve heard of (I worked in imaging & was involved with the tumor board, & research). One is that different cancers grow at different rates, many driven by hormones. As we age, our hormone levels decrease, & things typically grow more slowly. This often means that although you have a cancer, it isn’t likely to be the cause of death.
The other reason is again age related, as you know, cancer treatment is extremely hard on our body/organs/blood, and the likelihood of the treatment causing death, outweighs the likelihood of it curing cancer, &/or improving quality of life.

It is difficult once you have been diagnosed with a cancer.

So wonderful in this case that it’s machines cured.

The unfortunate thing is that HPV is a high risk factor in causing separate new cancers:. The upside though seems to be that HPV cancers are very very slow growing before they become an issue..

It seems in this case, cancer tumours are not showing on screens now so - given our fellow cancer warrior’s age and the slow growth of HOV cancers - - apparently unlikely to be a life or death issue so no screening needed 🤔

I am so g-d tired of hearing over and over and over again that cancers are slow growing before they become an issue. My slow growing cancer has become an issue and now I am going to die because of those issues while the doctors are off being cautious. Eff them. It is so sad that people live in fear of the possibility of future cancer when I am sitting here with real cancer.

I am so g-d tired of hearing over and over and over again that cancers are slow growing before they become an issue. My slow growing cancer has become an issue and now I am going to die because of those issues while the doctors are off being cautious. Eff them. It is so sad that people live in fear of the possibility of future cancer when I am sitting here with real cancer.

I’m so sorry to hear that 😰

The reputable hospital sites I read when referring to “slow growing” for HPV related cancers used a timeframe of 15-20 years. With Laurie22 being 79 and being all clear now that seems to have played a role (rightly or wrongly) in their assessment of risk v cost/resources in stopping screening 🥹

My urologist said that at age 75 there is longer need for prostate cancer screening. Meanwhile my wife's oncologist strongly objected to that notion. He said prostate cancer is a threat at any age and some are very virulent and can be slowed or stopped with early treatment.

People need to enjoy whatever life they have instead of worrying about what may or may not happen. The point, if there is real cancer detected, a doctor should do something, anything that may be helpful.

This is not the case for those of us with elevated risk due to factors like genetic predisposition or HPV cancer history. Ongoing surveillance is critical for us.