TotalBiscuit has cancer. (not really tech news)

WhatTheQuack · May 26, 2014

I feel soo hard for TotalBiscuit. My sister died in January because of a rare bone Marrow cancer (1 in a Trillion, It's called paediatric myelodysplastic) Nobody had ever had the exactly the same form as she had . I really hope that TotalBiscuit makes a full recovery unlike my sister did.

I hate to have to bring this up, but I'm so sorry for you loss

I'm sure TotalBiscuit will be fine, he says it is one fo the more treatable forms of cancer

BalloonZaptor · May 26, 2014

I hate to have to bring this up, but I'm so sorry for you loss

I'm sure TotalBiscuit will be fine, he says it is one fo the more treatable forms of cancer

I appreciate it, She was only 16 she died on the 16/1/2014. I know TotalBiscuit will more than likely be fine but I just hope that he will.

EDIT: I don't want to put too much detail in but she went through everything fine her Chem everything I was the donor for the Bone marrow and Everyone thought she would make it through but she got pneumonia which was a side effect of the Chemo and it killed her. There was nothing the doctors could do as the specific cancer was soo rare they were not expecting it to hit the fan so to speak

nicehat · May 26, 2014

Hate to bring this up, but getting yourself screened for cancer can also be a bad thing believe it or not. Screening tests all have something called false positives, which can lead to expensive and unnecessary treatment. Screens by nature have high sensitivities, akin to a massive fishing net that not only captures fish, but crabs, dolphins, snails etc. This is then followed up by tests with high specificity (having fishermen manually sort fish from non fish). Sometimes, the sorters arnt perfect and non fish end up in the wrong pile.

This is why self breast exams are falling to the way side. Prostate exams are notorious for turning up false positives, which lead to countless removals that turn up to be benign on pathology (When you have your prostate removed, you cant control your voids, and have to wear a diaper for the rest of your life). This is why the American Cancer Soc and others recommend screens start at age 50 (its statistically significant to start doing so at this age).

Rather than looking at a couple of tests, the whole picture of the patient needs to be taken in consideration. In TBs case, he had lots of diarrhea (bloody) which turned out to be colorectal cancer (3rd most common cancer, 3rd most deadly in the US, most patients are > 50 years (or around that age), 25% have a family history)

All of those things were taken in consideration in addition to the biopsy is what led to the diagnosis. What I am saying (and everyone else) is dont go get tested for the sake of getting tested. Get tested if you think something is really off, something doesnt feel right, or if you have a family history etc. I wouldnt advise an anemic 20 year old with constipation/diarrhea to get expensive genetic tests, blood tests and a colonoscopy as the first set of tests. Colon cancer is statistically an elderly disease (>50) and usually has environmental, genetics and fam history interwoven with it if it happens earlier. Also remember, self diagnosing with Google may seem awesome, but sometimes, its can be more harm than good. Best to let your Doctor figure it out.