What Are the Odds of Being Me?
Population of the world: 6,497,421,500 (as of whenever I checked it)
Approx. Female Population of the World: 3,086,275,212 (1.05 Male: Female)
Approx. Women Who Will Get Ovarian Cancer During Their Lifetime: 54,145,179 (1 in 57 women)
Of Those, How Many Will Be Germ Cell: 10,829,035 (~20%)
Of Those, How Many Will Be Cured by First-Line Therapy: 10,612,455 (~98%)
Leftovers (Like Moi): 216,579
Therefore I represent .0033% of the population. Someone once said I was one in a million, but it turns out it's more like 1 in 30,000. Now where are you my 216,578 kindred sisters?? Speak up!
Well, when I started this mathematical stunt, it seemed like I had a purpose to it all. It just shows that statistics, while amusing, don't prove a damn thing. Sure, 98% of people with the same diagnosis as me are cured with first-line therapy. But I wasn't, so that 98% isn't really keeping me warm at night. Then on the other side of the coin, there are people who were told to get their will together, and they are still going years later with no recurrances.
If I could go back in time and tell anything to my just-diagnosed self, it would be not to listen to any sentence that begins with, "Studies have shown that..." Either something will work for you, or it will not work for you. It's 50/50 no matter what the fancy number-crunchers came up with to sell it to you. Oh, and I probably would have given myself some future winning lottery numbers, too.
P.S. In my thirst for accurate statistical data, I found this cool thing. World Population Clock
Of Those, How Many Will Be Cured by First-Line Therapy: 10,612,455 (~98%)
Leftovers (Like Moi): 216,579
Therefore I represent .0033% of the population. Someone once said I was one in a million, but it turns out it's more like 1 in 30,000. Now where are you my 216,578 kindred sisters?? Speak up!
Well, when I started this mathematical stunt, it seemed like I had a purpose to it all. It just shows that statistics, while amusing, don't prove a damn thing. Sure, 98% of people with the same diagnosis as me are cured with first-line therapy. But I wasn't, so that 98% isn't really keeping me warm at night. Then on the other side of the coin, there are people who were told to get their will together, and they are still going years later with no recurrances.
If I could go back in time and tell anything to my just-diagnosed self, it would be not to listen to any sentence that begins with, "Studies have shown that..." Either something will work for you, or it will not work for you. It's 50/50 no matter what the fancy number-crunchers came up with to sell it to you. Oh, and I probably would have given myself some future winning lottery numbers, too.
P.S. In my thirst for accurate statistical data, I found this cool thing. World Population Clock
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