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Thread: Wegners vs Cancer

  1. #11
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    I've thought about this question a lot. I think there are common sufferings to both, like many of you have explained already.

    I think a lot depends on what type of involvement you have with Wegs, how well the drugs control it and what damage you're left with.

    Assuming someone with cancer goes into remission, it's pretty easy to tell if the cancer returns. Yes, they have to live with the uncertainty of it returning, but they don't have to live with as much uncertainty as people with Wegs--especially those whose labs are completely normal despite active Wegs. Another huge difference: if you have cancer there are no limits on what you can do to support your body using holistic methods. MDs even encourage it. After chemo and/or radiation is over you can do full detoxes and get stronger. That isn't possible with Wegs. And while chemo for cancer is at a higher dose, they don't stay on it every day for months (or years).

    Personally I wouldn't trade having Wegs for having cancer, but it has nothing to do with the pros and cons. I wouldn't trade anything I have for someone else's conditions.

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    I think both diseases have a range from mild with good prognosis to very severe with death likely soon. We are dealing with both, as my wife has stage four lymphoma, and we view them as equally distressing and debilitating. We have both had RTX IV treatment, lots of X rays, CT scans and other medical tests and treatments. We both take lots of meds and have many medical appointments, usually several a week between the two of us. Neither disease is curable for us and we both have lot of fatigue and various strange symptoms that show up that we have to try sort out. Both of us have poor immune systems and at a high risk of dying from an infection eventually. We seem to take turns so far in terms of who is functioning best on any given day but neither of us has spent much time envying the other person for having an easier disease. Both of us also have another incurable chronic disease we also had to manage for a long time before we got cancer and WEGS. For me, I think learning to deal with diabetes was helpful preparation for trying to manage WEGS. It is actually much more time consuming to deal with diabetes daily than WEGS and many of side effects and symptoms are very similar.(neuropathy, fatigue, weakness, loss of kidney function, eye problems, etc.) I think my wife is very glad she doesn't have the diabetes though.

    I don't think anyone is arguing which disease is better or worse, but for us it would be a draw.
    Last edited by drz; 11-09-2011 at 07:10 AM.

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    I think BOTH are equally horribly things to go thru. I get annoyed when people hear John went thru chemo and I ask what type of cancer he had. When I reply he doesn't have cancer but "wegeners" they reply with "Oh that's good that it's not cancer". Really?!? My experience with John is that WG can be just as deadly. Who gets to decide that cancer patients deserve more concern then patients with other diseases/ailments? I have known several people who have endured cancer (My mother in law just passed away a month ago from Ovarian Cancer). I don't think any disease/sickness should EVER be compared with one another, because to the person/family dealing with THAT certain issue at that time it is HEART BREAKING none the less.
    I think the most important thing is for a person to deal with what they have at hand. Don't let others convince you to compare illness's. One case of WG can be WAY different then another. Even with this ONE disease you can't compare peoples cases and think "Oh My God this is going to happen to us".
    One thing I learned has been to stop focusing on others problems and focus on ours (Not that I don't listen or have compassion for others, I'm referring to NOT dwelling on what happens to them MAY happen to you). If we dwelt on the "worse case scenerio" all the time, our lives would be MISERABLE!

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    Very well said, Stephanie.

    Al

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris G View Post
    Well said leigh. Comparing it to lupus is perfect in the sense that many people have some degree of knowledge about lupus. That's what I use as a when I tell people too. Then I go on to explain that some of our drugs are cancer treatments too. But in our case they're purpose is to stop our bodies from attacking itself, by shutting down the immune system. And the drugs are given at lower doses.
    I use lupus as an example often too. People have never ever heard of WG.

  6. #16
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    WG? What's that? Have never heard of it? Is it cancer? No? You're that sick, huh? You don't look very ill...in fact, you look pretty good. Must be a rare disease or something...not many people get it...Googled it, didn't look good, but you look good...you're a fighter! Anything else we've heard lately? Hehe...it IS a roller coaster on all sides of the coin...hang in there...with advice and knowledge from Al and Sangye, this forum is keeping me aligned in the right frame of mind...most of the time! LOL...take care all!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dirty Don View Post
    WG? What's that? Have never heard of it? Is it cancer? No? You're that sick, huh? You don't look very ill...in fact, you look pretty good. Must be a rare disease or something...not many people get it...Googled it, didn't look good, but you look good...you're a fighter! Anything else we've heard lately? Hehe...it IS a roller coaster on all sides of the coin...hang in there...with advice and knowledge from Al and Sangye, this forum is keeping me aligned in the right frame of mind...most of the time! LOL...take care all!!
    Don, if you're aligned and in the right frame of mind after all those meds and the wacky comments like this one, you must be a strong fighter!

    Al

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dirty Don View Post
    WG? What's that? Have never heard of it? Is it cancer? No? You're that sick, huh? You don't look very ill...in fact, you look pretty good. Must be a rare disease or something...not many people get it...Googled it, didn't look good, but you look good...you're a fighter! Anything else we've heard lately? Hehe...it IS a roller coaster on all sides of the coin...hang in there...with advice and knowledge from Al and Sangye, this forum is keeping me aligned in the right frame of mind...most of the time! LOL...take care all!!
    How about......."I googled it and it says it can be fatal in 5 years! I'm so sorry!"
    Or......"Wagner?" No. Wegener's. "Wagner's"........nevermind.
    ~ Chris ~
    (Female )

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris G View Post
    How about......."I googled it and it says it can be fatal in 5 years! I'm so sorry!"
    Or......"Wagner?" No. Wegener's. "Wagner's"........nevermind.
    I personally think that GPA is a better term (and maybe more medical to the kibitzers), though "Guppy" doesn't have quite the same ring as "Weggie"!

    Al

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris G View Post
    How about......."I googled it and it says it can be fatal in 5 years! I'm so sorry!"
    Or......"Wagner?" No. Wegener's. "Wagner's"........nevermind.
    until a few monts ago I thought my doctor had a speech impedement...I always thought I had wegners and could not figure out why he said it was weg a ners.
    lightning crashes
    leigh

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