More Fringe Leftist Tolerance
Lovely. The T-shirt, about Tony Snow, reads:
My colon may be gone,
But I haven’t lost my Asshole!
By the way: liver cancer? People generally don’t survive it:
Because it is a fast-growing tumor rarely diagnosed in the early stages, liver cancer is typically fatal within a year of diagnosis.
[UPDATE: DRJ says I am mixing up primary and secondary liver cancer. I hope so. I’m no expert in this area and don’t claim to be.]
God, I’m getting sick of these people. There are so many of them who are so self-righteous about their beliefs that they feel comfortable wishing death on their political opponents — or at least having the thought.
Scum, pure and simple
EricPWJohnson (695c44) — 3/28/2007 @ 9:40 pmYeah, but I don’t want to be lumped in with some of the nutty characters on the Right, so I just ignore the trash.
Ray G (50194a) — 3/28/2007 @ 9:43 pmSickening. Although I am by no means a fan of the Bush Administration, Tony Snow has my best wishes for a speedy recovery and a long, happy life.
Some vermin of the leftist persuasion pulled the same stunt with Cathy Seipp when she discussed her lung cancer.
Bradley J. Fikes (1c6fc4) — 3/28/2007 @ 9:47 pmYour link discusses primary liver cancer where liver cancer is the first cancer, but Tony Snow has secondary liver cancer because the cancer started in his colon and spread elsewhere. (The correct term is actually metastatic colon cancer because cancer is named for the primary site. The term metastatic shows it has spread elsewhere.)
I hope Tony considers MD Anderson in Houston TX. It’s long been the number 1 treatment center for cancer and its 5-year survival rate for metastatic colon cancer after liver resection is 71%. Those who remain disease-free at 7 years are considered cured.
DRJ (c4368f) — 3/28/2007 @ 9:59 pmI’m updating the post. Hopefully you’re right: there’s a big difference. I’m no expert on the subject.
Patterico (04465c) — 3/28/2007 @ 10:03 pmI hope I’m right, too! Mostly for Tony Snow’s sake but also because I don’t want to look like a medical moron. I think I’m correct, though, because I have a family member who is currently an MD Anderson patient and I’ve learned some of the terminology.
Cancer is unusual compared to some diseases because the success rates vary considerably between medical institutions. Where you go for treatment matters with different types of cancer. My wish is that every cancer patient could find the right place for treatment but it’s not always easy to do.
DRJ (c4368f) — 3/28/2007 @ 10:14 pmI heard a doctor yesterday who was quite encouraged by the fact that the only way they discovered the presence of the cancer in his liver was through a biopsy — in other words, no tumor was visible.
The fact that the cancer in the liver remains at the microscopic level apparently improves the chances of effective chemo treatment substantially, allowing the liver to continue functioning normally.
wls (c2d31f) — 3/29/2007 @ 2:05 amI personally felt a great deal of sadness for Tony Snow and his friends and family upon hearing of his liver cancer. He doesn’t deserve it – nobody does. I wish him my best.
I think the t-shirt is pretty funny, regardless.
The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2) — 3/29/2007 @ 3:20 amDRJ is correct. He has colon cancer that has metastasized to the liver. Metastatic cancer is never good news, but as noted, some forms are less problematic than others (based more on the cell type of the cancer, not the location of the metastasis, though that can have some role also.)
DRJ is also correct that different institutions can have different success rates in treatment, though many, many things go into this. (This is true for some things other than cancer, BTW). M.D. Anderson is very good with great staff. But also, as it is well known, many highly motivated patients go there for treatment which boosts success rates. On the other hand, they also get some of the toughest cases which would be expected to lower the success rate, all other things being equal. (Just like lawyering, I imagine. Some defense attorneys or DA’s are better than others, giving them better success in court, but it also sometimes mean they take cases that are the toughest, and hard to win.)
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/29/2007 @ 4:36 amAnd you’d find it equally rib-tickling if it was about, say, Elizabeth Edwards.
kl (867a4f) — 3/29/2007 @ 4:53 amSome people will put anything on a t-shirt if they think it will sell.
Damn capitalism…
Leviticus (3c2c59) — 3/29/2007 @ 7:24 amWell, here is how our friends at Pandagon reacted to Katie Couric’s “harsh” questions for Senator Edwards and his decision to remain in the race.
Dana (3e4784) — 3/29/2007 @ 12:08 pmYou didn’t think that Couric’s questions/statements with regards to the Edwards’ decision to continue the campaign weren’t weird, Dana?
The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2) — 3/29/2007 @ 7:22 pmgreat post on colon cancer
Colon Leaf (4f8f8f) — 9/6/2008 @ 7:50 am