Quote:
Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
My onc father in law says something similar. "I can give you stats if you like, but in practice, I've seen them proved wrong as much as right."
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We are all impressed by everyone's doctor relatives. And while what you say is absolutely true, knowing whether the stats are 10% survival rate over 3 years versus 90% survival rate over 3 years does, to me, help manage anxiety. Not if I were sick or a direct family member were sick, because either way I'd be very focused on putting my energy on having them or me be in the surviving part, but with generalized worry for people I don't know as well or the kind of third-hand support type stuff. Managing expectations. We all know that even if there's a 90% complete remission rate, any particular person might die -- it's not like every person ends up 90% alive or whatever.
But whatever. The only medical people in my family are an aunt who was a public health nurse but now has Alzheimers, and aunt (not blood related) who is a GP, and a cousin who is a GP, but the only one I've seen in the last 15 (or possibly even 20) years is the Alzheimers one. Haven't gathered a lot of wisdom from them. What can I say, we're proles.