03/07/16 - Oh my... After my earlier post, I decided I should make a long overdue appearance on the Liposarcoma Survivors Facebook group I belong to, and I stumbled upon this gem!
The Sarculator App - an iOS & Android app for predicting sarcoma survival rates at five & ten years! Now I truly have heard it all! There is an app for EVERYTHING, LOL!
It's intended only for physicians, but YOU KNOW any sarcoma patient or survivor who's also an information sponge will download it anyway! ;) Unlike the MSKCC nomogram my oncologist dismissed because it's based on only one treatment centre, this app is based on data from three treatment centres! I literally laughed out loud when I saw this! If only I'd checked the group the day before, I could've brought this into my oncologist as well! I have a feeling he would've said the same thing he did about the other nomogram, but still... I think I'll send him the link just for fun! ;)
Interestingly, the five-year survival rate results are identical to the MSKCC nomogram, but the 10-year survival rate is quite a bit higher in the app than the MSKCC's 12-year survival rate, which supports what my oncologist was saying about trusting the five-year results but being wary of the 12-year results.
The app also gives five & ten-year probability of distant mets, which the MSKCC nomogram doesn't specifically get into. We're discussing on the FB group whether or not one would want to know this kind of stuff. Some people would rather not know, while others have the same line of thinking as I do, and that it's useful for making some important long term decisions, but don't let it run your life. Take for example, saving for retirement. Before I had cancer, I was saving & planning like someone who had another 40-50 years to live & another 25-30 more years till retirement. Now, I know, there's a higher probability I'll have to retire sooner, etc... So, obviously, I'm going to be more cautious in how i plan for retirement. Another thought I had was about pets. I currently have several dogs. When the older ones pass on, I had originally planned on getting another one to keep the younger company. Now I may not do that, because they're the type of breed that lives a long time. If I draw the unlucky end of the straw, I want to make sure he can easily find a home if my family isn't able to have him for whatever reason. Much easier done with one dog rather than two or more.
Then again, I am a planner, and knowing the stats gives me some sort of comfort. Although I can't control what the future holds, I can control how I live my life & the decisions I make, an as they say, knowledge is power. Planning has allowed me to keep a roof over my head, despite being faced with cancer AND losing my job all in the same year, so it's worked for me so far! Better to be prepared than burying my head in the sand & pretending life is all ice-cream & lollipops!
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