Why did Ann Bancroft die of uterine cancer?

[CTyankee]

I am puzzled about this. How did a woman who had the best medical care that could be afforded to her, succumb to cancer? If we all go for regular Pap tests and exams, why couldn't this be found? It makes me nervous.

[gardenista]

1. She may have been like my dear, departed mother-in-law

She had not seen a doctor in 30 years. Just didn't want bad news. She could have afforded the best possible care, but had fought off cancer once, and I guess she knew that if she got it again, she wouldn't want to go through the treatment.

So sad. Such a loss.

[Redstone]

2. "The best medical care" can't fix everything.

Some stuff, even if detected early, still kills you.

Hemochromatosis, for example, can be detected decades before it turns into leukemia, but nobody can stop that development.

MS is frequently diagnosed when people are in their twenties, but it's sheer chance as to how it progresses. If it goes bad, you die, even with modern medicines.

Redstone

[Arugula Latte]

8. I've heard different things about MS.

Many people say that MS is a chronic, not fatal, condition. Yet, in the paper, I often read of people who died of complications of MS. Certainly severe cases shorten life spans considerably.

How does one die of MS? Is it that the brain gets so many plaque lesions that the organs shut down?

[mcscajun]

11. The facts on MS

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Brochures-Just%20the.asp

[Redstone]

19. Good link. Thanks for posting it.

It's a very misunderstood disease. I'm going to go out on a limb here, because you and I have talked before, and tell you that I was diagnosed with MS in 1978.

It's been pretty much in remission since, with only six "attacks" and the only long-term damage being a bit of a balance problem and quite a bit of heat intolerance.

But I live with the knowledge that it could turn bad at any time, without any warning. That's part of the reason why I'm generally so cheerful; I figure it's best to enjoy whatever's good about today because tomorrow might not be so great.

So now you know.

Redstone

[TeeYiYi]

26. Redstone . . .

. . . One piece of advice I would like to give to you is to avoid stressful situations, especially if the situation drags on. My mother was diagnosed with MS in the mid to late 70's, which eventually turned into full blown MS in the 90's. I watched it happen before my very eyes, as my mother was a caregiver to both her children and her parents at the same time. It's a selfless and loving thing to do but my mother did it to the detriment of her own health. This is a common problem with parents living longer than ever before. An article on how to take care of yourself if you find yourself in this situation: http://carecure.rutgers.edu/spinewire/Articles/BirdeR01.html

Back to your MS — Stress causes exacerbations. Avoid it like the plague.:hug:

TYY

[EFerrari]

29. Thanks for the link! I sponsor a group for caregivers. We're

always looking for tips and reminders!

[mcscajun]

30. Agreed on the misunderstood part.

I'll join you out on the limb...just a bit.

One of my older sisters was diagnosed in 1994 (relapsing-remitting), and a late diagnosis at that; she was 47 then. She realized since that a lot of her earlier problems going back years could be attributed to the MS.

She's still mobile, but shares with you the heat intolerance. Naturally, the fatigue impacts how long she can walk around. Other 'lovely' symptoms, too, which you'll appreciate but that I won't bore the others with. And yes, stress is a bad, bad thing for MS folk.

I worry about the long-term and it flipping to secondary-progressive.

Thanks for sharing, too.

[Warpy]

9. Thank you. People forget that docs aint infallible

and neither is the best medical care money can buy. Chances are very good that the cells were in her uterus, not her cervix, and that the cancer was detected late. It may also have been a very aggressive cancer, shedding cells to form metastases for months before it was detected and/or growing so quickly that it outpaced chemo and radiation's attempt to kill it.

Or we really don't know. She may do what a lot of people over 70 do and simply have decided not to ruin her remaining years puking her guts out with chemotherapy and opted for comfort care. There's quite a bit of that going around, too.

Whatever, I am grateful for her time her and the enjoyment she gave me over the years. My sympathy to her husband, Mel Brooks. I know he will miss her terribly.

[Redstone]

20. Warpy, that was an elegant and graceful post.

Including science, sociology, and sympathy. Not often we see all three in one message.

Redstone

[jmm]

3. Everybody's got to die sometime

I strongly believe everyone should have access to good health care but let's be real having health care, even if it's the best, doesn't make you immortal.

[spartan61]

4. By the time uterine cancer is found,

it may be too late. It is difficult to diagnose. Pap smears are tests for cervical cancer, not uterine.

[shanti]

24. my aunt died last year of uterine cancer

it was very quick, 4 months from diagnosis.

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Pap smears don't detect it

Those are for cervical cancer...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. That's what I was going to say

I don't think there's an early test for uterine cancer.

[KoKo]

6. Because what's on the "Death Certificate" never lists the "origins" of the

cancer. She might have had Colon, Breast, Pancreatic, Lung or other cancers that were NOT Dected. So she died from where the last sight of the cancer invasion was.

It's a little known but travesty of our Medical Profession that the "end results of cancer spread" don't go back to the "origins" of it.

Colon Cancerous Polyps are responsible for probably MOST of our cancer spreads along with Lung Cancer.

But...it's not "convenient for them" to tell you about this. Where Cancer "spreads" is what kills you and is in the "official diagnosis" but where it "originated" is left to a "researcher." :-(

[LeighAnn]

7. Linda McCartney

If the McCartneys can't beat cancer, that proves to me that money isn't the issue.

[leesa]

10. Cancer is cancer. Treatments remain very barbaric and primative

Do you actually believe that most cancers have cures???

[GreenInNC]

13. I was cured n/t

[Skittles]

27. OMG leesa I had a mammogram a couple days ago

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA f***ing BARBARIC....I envision in a few decades women will be cringing at the thought of those damn things - er, much like we do now :o

[amazona]

12. she was in her 70s

I googled up some statistics that mentioned "5-year survival rate for women aged 70-79 with uterine cancer is 63%." So it looks to me like even with the best care in the world, the odds were more than 1 out of 3 that she would die of the uterine cancer or its complications once it was diagnosed. We're all gonna die of something, and for many of us, it will happen in our 70s. We have unrealistic expectations. In days gone by, it was accepted that the 70s were old age, and you were lucky to get that far.

[SoCalDem]

14. My elderly little friend died of breast cancer at 78.

She probably would have had trouble filling out a AA cup bra, and only weighed 98 lbs. Her ratbastard doctors never even offered her chemo.:cry:. They more or less said that at "her age", she would not do that well. She died a miserable death, and I know she had a few more good years left in her. She had more enegry and "piss & vinegar" than most people half her age. Some people just end up with doctors who don'e want to bother with patients in their 70's.:(

[amazona]

16. I am sorry for your loss that is tough

I hardly know what to say. In a tiny explanation of the doctor's actions, I would not expect the combination of 98 pounds and 78 years old to survive chemo either. None of my underweight friends has survived chemotherapy for more than a few months. The most heart-breaking, in his 50s, lung cancer, but he was told he was in remission...only to find it in his brain a few months later and then he was gone almost overnight.

There is always the option of second or third or even more opinions. Another friend, 60s, had a rare cancer with no treatment by U.S. medicine. She was given 6 weeks to live. So she went to Mexico and had an unconventional treatment, which allowed her to live and travel and be active for several more months. If she had insisted on chemo in the U.S. anyway, she may or may not have lived those extra months...but she would not have been able to travel over Mexico and the U.S. visiting her friends and family once more. She would have been too ill. But what was right for her is not necessarily right for everyone.

A lot of doctors are worried about increasing suffering for older people without increasing their chance of survival and it can be a bigger concern if the patient is already underweight, I think.

[SoCalDem]

18. Thelma was only 5 ft tall and always weighed around 100

They did do a lumpectomy, and told her "she was fine" and didn;t "need" any further treatment. Her husband was the one who told me that the doctor said that with or without further treatment she would "be the same". The thing that bothered me, was that they seemed to not be willing to offer her further treatment. She was diagnosed at 76 and died at 78.

the thing that really bothered me too, was that she really needed a heraing aid, and medicare said that with her medical history (cancer)...it would be a "waste of money" and they wouldn't pay for it:grr:

[Canadian Socialist]

17. Not to belittle your friend

but my doctor (whom I trust implicitly) told me that, if a woman lives long enough, she will eventually get breast cancer. It's also true of men with prostate cancer. Having said that, it does not excuse your friend's MD from not giving her a choice. Either treatment or at the very least, pain reduction. Sort of a side note, my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year (age 79). He was immediately given treatment. And he's up and running! (or as best as he can manage, given his bad knees lol).

[bobbieinok]

22. ??????? my mother died at 92 in March---NO breast cancer

your comment is the first I've ever heard about this

[Celeborn Skywalker]

23. I've heard of it in men.

I read somewhere that by the time men are 90, most will have a slight cancerous growth on their prostate. However, it is usually very slow growing and doesn't require treatment.

[Pepperbelly]

15. because we will all die of something. nt

[REP]

25. Pap Test is for CERVICAL CANCER, Not Uterine Cancer

Cervical cancer can spread to the uterus, but not all uterine cancers are associated with cervical cancer. 97%+ of al cervical cancers are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV - something Anne Bancroft was extremely unlikely to have had, as HPV is a sexually transmitted virus, and Ms Bancroft had been married to the same man for over 40 years.

Hormone replacement therapy with either estrogen-only or estrogen-progestin combos have been linked in numerous studies (ACS, NIH, et alia) to an markedly increased risk for uterine, endometrial and ovarian cancers. Ms Bancroft was the right age to have been placed on ERT/HRT for 5 or more years, which would have significantly raised her risk of having a uterine cancer undetectable by a Pap smear, which only tests cells on the surface of the cervix.

[Skittles]

28. just pointing out

just because people have access to the best healthcare, doesn't mean they took advantage of it.