Thinking about Valarie Harpers situation got me to thinking - if I were seemingly very healthy, fit and feeling good but were suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness, one that only had a survival rate of 10% or less even with very agressive treatment (surgury, chemo, radiation, etc..) what would I do? Would I tell friends and family? Would I try any treatments even if they probably wouldn't work and left me very ill during the time I had left? Would I get into debt or spend all my savings and assets in search of a cure or for treatment if insurance didn't cover it? If I were working would I quit to do some things I always wanted to do? Would I go out in search of some "miracle cure" or just go gently into that good night?
For myself I probably wouldn't tell family or friends until I started feeling ill or needed help. I wouldn't do any treatment that made me ill feeling. I wouldn't go into debt or use my savings or assets to pay for treatments. I would quit my job or whatever was holding me down and start doing as many of my "bucket list" things asap. I wouldn't go in search of a miracle cure.
So what would you do? Do you feel it is irresponsible or mean not to tell familiy members or friends? Do you think it's wrong not to try everything possible treatment-wise and/or cost-wise to get better even if there is only a small chance? What percent of survivability would you need to do treatments 20%? 50%? higher? And would you do anything drastic (like sell the house and run off to Fiji?) before the end?