Four percent

I found out today that one of the guys I work with is sick. He's been in the hospital two or three times over the past eighteen months or so with pains in the belly, severe constipation,etc. Initially he was diagnosed with pancreaitis. Yesterday he was told he had pancreatic cancer.

He's 40.

He called me tonight and asked me to get on the computer tonight and find him some good news, because the doctors hadn't given him much hope. And I found some. I found web sites with survival stories and passed them along to him.

Along with the survival stories I found out about this type of cancer. Because of it's nature, it's rarely diagnosed until it's in its advanced stages. Blacks have higher incidences than whites, and men higher than women. Andy is a black male. Most patients have a life expectancy of three to six months after initial diagnosis. The survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 4% overall, and maybe 1 to 3 % survive past 5 years.

Count your blessings, as I'll be counting mine tonight.