Would you rather know?

[Unknown Entity]

If you became ill with cancer, or anything you could think of which could take your life away in a matter of weeks, would you want to know?

A friend of mine is, and has been ill for a long time. Her daughter knew what was wrong with her, but never told her mother she had cancer. Now she knows, now that she has only three weeks at best to live.

Personally? I wouldn't want to be told, but simply ask how long I had left. If there was something that could be done to lengthen my time alive, I'd grab at it, and go along with it. I wouldn't want my family carrying around a burden, and I'd want them to be as normal as possible. I'd hate knowing my kids, friends and relative were grieving before I passed away - I'd want them to celebrate while I was still alive. Even when I die, I'd want them to celebrate my passing, and welcome new life onto the earth.

I don't think I'd even want anyone to know if there was something wrong. Obviously I'd tell my close relatives (maybe my partner, mother, kids).

What do you think?

[Fate]

I suppose that under these circumstances, I would like to know the whole truth. Yes, I know that it is scary to face reality, but what's going to happen will happen. I figure, if I'm going to die anyway, I might as well make the most out of it. If I don't know - and I die the next day - I wouldn't be able to rest easily because I know that I've wasted the precious time that I had yesterday.

[Neo Necron]

Personally? I wouldn't want to be told, but simply ask how long I had left.

How could you know how long you had left without being told you were terminally ill in the first place?

Myself, I'd want to know if I was dying as early as possible, so I could make the most of the remaining time. The knowledge of death wouldn't ruin my remaining time too much, because I'm not really afraid of death. It wouldn't trouble me to know what symptoms I was going to face as time progressed, either. I'd want that information so I could brace myself for what's coming.

This is not to say I'd take the whole thing well, either. Of course it would upset me, but I wouldn't let it destroy me.

[RamesesII]

I would want to know so i could plan my will and funeral etc if i haven't already done so plus if i knew that i had a certain amount of time left than i would like to spend that time with family and doing new things and just bide my time relaxing and chilling out instead of working.

I see your point though Entity that you would rather just know how long you had left and not what it was, but you would still have to know if they could do something about it and then you would have to know what it is to make a decision on that.
I also would like my family not to get depressed and sad before i go thats the last thing i want i want them to be laughing and partying and then i could happily go content with a beer in one hand and a steak burger in the other lol.

[Led Zeppelin]

If I had obtained a life threatening disease I'd like to know about it right away, and would like to know everything about the disease...And I for one woulf like to know how much time I have left to live to plan my will and what not...And I'd probably only tell my close relatives and best friends about it because I wouldn't want others to feel bad for me...I'd like it if they treated me like how they do everyday so I can have fun before I pass =]

[Calvan]

All things considered when a doctor tells you you dying, Give him the finger and stop eating food that you didn't grow yourself, Most if not everything you find in the grocery store has been laced with radiation.


Thats just my opinion though. In all reality i'd do everything i could to extend my life beyond that just to make the doctors feel stupid.

I wouldn't actually want to know, If they give you a time limmit your gonna start thinking it's real. And you WILL DIE in that case.
It's good for business.

But if it came down to it i'd spend as much time as possible with the one I loved, Not tell her of course, She'd leave if I did. I know this for a fact.

[Dr_Flea]

I personally would want to know if im dying becasue that way i can do things that ive always wanted to do before i die!!

Yeh sure if there is an experimental new treatment that could possibly save my life i might even do that because if i do that and live..hey theres a cure if not and i die whoops i was going to die anyway!!

And my funeral is going to be Outrageous, yes ive already planned my own funeral but i don't want a normal funeral with songs like amazing grace and sappy crap being played hell no i want lights and Good music i want people to have fun at my funeral not really mope around and be all depressed becasue thats not how i am.

~Dr_Flea~

[Clint]

There are cures for cancer, so yes, if I was dying from it, I would want to know, so that I could get the surgery done and have the cancer removed. It's the only logical choice. I mean, if I didn't want to know, the cancer would just kill me, and then I'd be dead. If I did find out, but instead of seeking the cure, I'd go and plan my funeral or my will or some crap like that, I'd also be dead. The cost of treatment would be very expensive, but (ridiculously) it costs a lot to die too, so there really isn't a big deal there. Of course, I have a big problem with cancer treatment centers. There are too many of them, and absolutely zero cancer prevention centers. The reason for that is because cancer is a business, and seeing how costly it is to survive cancer, and how many people the government gives cancer to, via cigarettes or high amounts of radiation, they make a hell of a lot of money. The reason why they refuse to create cancer prevention centers is the exact reason why they refuse to make a cure for AIDS; because they would lose money. Because in this world, everybody is expendable, because to the government, the only thing that matters is money.

[Unknown Entity]

How could you know how long you had left without being told you were terminally ill in the first place?

I wouldn't want to know what was wrong with me, because it would upset and scare me. I'd just want the doctor to tell me how long I had left.

EDIT:

Thought about it and I've changed my opinion. I'd want to be told what was wrong with me, but I wouldn't want anyone else to find out.

[Neo Necron]

There are cures for cancer, so yes, if I was dying from it, I would want to know, so that I could get the surgery done and have the cancer removed.

This is a good point, and makes me think that even if you're told your case is terminal, it's still worth knowing because for all you know, research could actually find a cure between the space of you finding out and your predicted death date. If research pulls it off in that time, then your case would not be terminal any more and you may just survive after all. However if you live in ignorance, you may well miss this turn of events.

[Fate]

Well, I think that the more you know about something, the better your chances are of surviving it. Though some diseases have only treatments and no cures, there's always hope. There are people who have suffered from sever diseases but end up living because they believed so much. As long as you have faith, I think that anything would be possible. Who knows, one day they might be able to cure something like Huntington's disease.

[ladysilver]

I would want to know and if there was even a slim chance I could fight it I would with everything I have, even if it was a losing battle I would still go down fighting. If I didn't know about it i wouldn't have time to get everything in order and make sure that if something did happen to me that my family would be looked after. So in my case, definately better to know then not. i would also tell my family and friends about it so they could prepare themselves for the worst - not that it would be any easier and in a selfish way I would also want their support even if it was just them sitting down for a cuppa with me and chatting.

[Chez Daja]

If I were actually dying without hopes of a cure, I would probably carry on as normal, with fits and starts of emotional breakouts. Honestly? I don't know how I'd react to that. But I would like to know the truth, I think.

I would have to know anyway, because I'm the one that receives all of my results.

[Kilala]

Gosh that is a tricky one =X
I think it depends on how happy I am at the time. For example... if I was to be told around now I'd want to know. Why? Well lately I've just been loitering around the house. Not being too productive. Knowing that I'm wasting my life but being to ignorant to change that. If I only had 3 weeks to live and I continued to just waste it like that I would be incredibly upset. To think I could have been living life to the fullest instead of being on a diet and wasting my time.
But. If I was happy... as in doing all of the stuff I want to. Surrounded by my friends and family... then no. I wouldn't want to know. <3

[winterborn86]

I think I would want to know, that way I can spend every waking second spending what little time I have left with my family. And they would be prepared for what was going to happen aswell, instead of waking up and finding me dead in my bed.

[Rikkuffx]

Well Entity you already know what's going on with me. But I still haven't made an appointment to see a doc to see if it is cancer or anything but I think part of me wants to know if it is and part of me doesnt. Don't worry I will be making the appointment soon just been busy the last few weeks. But if it is cancer and if it is terminal a part of me would want to know that way I can get things in order and say my goodbyes. The other part wouldn't because I wouldn't wanna upset anyone. So I may decide to know just so I know but I may keep it quiet for a while just so I don't disapoint anyone further.

[Halie]

This might sound strange, but I've already accepted the fact that I could very well end up with cancer. I've a huge family history with it, I'm contantly surrounded by secondhand smoke, and it's possible for anyone. A couple of weeks ago, I found out my Aunt has cancer in her lungs, heart, blood and brain, and she's someone who you'd least expect to have cancer. Never smoked, drank, and she's always taken such good care of herself.

So if I were to be told that I was terminally ill with cancer, I wouldn't be surprised. I'd be upset, but I could come to terms with it very easily. I may be young, but I'm not afraid of death, so I think I'd be okay with knowing. I'm an optimist at heart, so I'd make the most of what time I had left instead of wasting it by moping around.

[Sinister]

I'd like to know maybe in the week...but having like a couple months to countdown? **** no... None of us know how that feels, hopefully. A friend of my father is dying of cancer... Granted that though my father isn't my greatest joy in life, I actually do like this guy. I feel for the guy. I really do.

I'd like to imagine that I could deal with it in a mature and adult fashion... But added to all the other things I've imagined in my life...it's probably not any more realistic.

-Sin