A lot of people seem angry and confused because they think you either have cancer or don't. Some types are more like a chronic condition where you need to live with constant monitoring or adjustment of treatment.
I'm not sure this is the reason; it appears people are angry as a result of being confused and frustrated by the lack of basic information. As someone pointed out, Tiffany's scan results were given during a much-anticipated appointment and it took three videos for her to mention them. I don't believe her team forgot to mention the scan results when that was the purpose of the appointment, but Tiffany presented it as if she didn't know because she didn't ask. Most people, rightfully, don't find this believable. In this instance, the dissemination of information to her viewers seemed deliberately slow to accumulate more views.
A quick Google search reveals that Tiffany is most likely in "partial remission" which also applies to her type of cancer AND the treatment she received. This means there is no sign of active disease at the time and the tumour is still there but has not grown. If there are still zero changes after 4 weeks then the patient can be declared in full remission, although this doesn't necessarily mean they are cancer free. This probably explains why both the oncologist and surgeon feel it makes most sense to wait a bit, and she will possibly get the good news in 6 weeks (4 weeks by now).
Google search results derive from a variety of sources, all of which originate back to Tiffany's channel or an interview with her. The information she provides is what turns up in articles about her, and little write-ups here and there. If you've watched all her videos (or kept up with the general timeline), you'd know there's conflicting, incorrect and missing information that doesn't flow from one to the next, making her an unreliable source. Without her showing some scans or medical records, we can't know the status of her cancer.
These are a few other points that people are confused about but are pretty easy to decipher if you've been watching her for a while:
- They apparently found something suspicious in her lungs in the first hospital, however an ensuing scan at the Marsden showed it was not cancer. There probably is a nodule or some tiny lesion and she was referring to this in the last video. However this wasn't fully explained and made it sound far more serious to those who missed the original lung vids.
Correct, most likely. It sounds like a benign module that's being monitored due to having aggressive cancer elsewhere.
- How did she go from inoperable tumour not responding to chemo & radiation to NED? The most likely theory is that the scans done after radiation showed the tumour was still there and hadn't shrunk. This was what caused the urgency for surgery. However the tumour might ALREADY have been scar tissue at that point but they had no way of knowing. This is why the team wanted to run PET, MRI and biopsies. The biopsies obviously came back showing it was scar tissue so that alleviated the urgency for surgery.
1. There was no mention of her being NED; Tiffany relayed information in a way that implies this, but if the doctor had said this on the phone or in appointments, it would be puzzling to not include it in the vlogs as it would be a massive milestone.
2. The team did PET, MRI, CT as a matter of routine (and biopsies) to verify whether or not she was a candidate for surgery, as it's the only curative treatment for her T4B tumour. The biopsies were most likely of surrounding areas, rather than the tumour itself.
3. The urgency of surgery would not hinge on biopsies alone, as they only show whether the samples collected were cancerous. If they were cancerous, it would tell the surgeon that the cancer has spread further, but them being negative wouldn't cause the urgency to subside. Tiffany is
telling us the surgeon and oncologist want to wait, but she never plays the recordings long enough to hear directly what is said. If you take her word for it, then surgery is not as urgent, but from a medical standpoint, the urgency would remain the same with clear biopsies because it would mean she's still a candidate for surgery and that window of opportunity tends to close rather quickly.
- The surgeon agreed on the surgery BEFORE she got C.Diff. She was incredibly ill during that time which probably played a role in his decision that delaying the surgery (in light of no active cancer) might be wise. In the first video about not having surgery, I assumed the surgeon may have gotten cold feet as a result of the C.Diff infection but the later videos showed this has reasonable medical indications as well.
Again, if you take Tiffany's information as being correct (and believe the surgeon wants to wait), the C-Diff infection is a viable reason for him to be concerned about her physical state before undergoing a major operation. I won't assume anything else about the surgeon (cold feet) because I've read enough about him to know his reputation is well-earned and he likely gives highly detailed information that Tiffany's audience doesn't receive. He's painted as rather incompetent, but I don't believe that for a second.
A few things that are being glossed over is that she is earning very well with her channel and merchandise. Socialblade numbers are usually in the middle of the range so around $3500 a month ad revenue, plus merch on top. She almost definitely earns more than the job as an optometrist but at the same time, good for her. She works incredibly hard putting videos out while being very ill or in hospital and deserves further respect for not taking on sponsorships. Literally nobody wants to see a product placement or Hello Fresh discount code during a video about cancer scans, and there's plenty of that on YouTube as well.
There is nothing inherently wrong with being a Youtuber as a job or selling merchandise. The issue people seem to have is the lack of transparency and the premise of a "loving family" as a sales pitch. There's also a lack of clarity about the purpose of her revenue; personally, I don't believe anyone has to donate to charity if they don't want to, but when profits are solely for personal income, there should be clarity for the patrons. Additionally, Tiffany's channel - unlike every other cancer vlogger - is marketed as a cancer channel, yet has so little information on the actual data of her cancer, that it's seen as clickbait. The content should reasonably match what's advertised.
There's plentiful information on how to buy her shirts and how to follow her on social media, but very little on the cancer journey itself. Together, this creates the impression it's a sympathy channel, rather than a medically-focused vlog where people can keep reasonable tabs on the person's condition. People don't have to share anything and Tiffany doesn't "owe" her audience much, but when you advertise your channel and business model around having cancer, there should be some coherent information that people can follow to justify the business.
The audience is meant to become emotionally invested in this deeply personal story/business, which makes the drips of information and carrot dangling a bit unsettling. When someone uses the state of their life/death to lure you into caring, but then fail to deliver a coherent timeline, it can damage trust about the creator's intentions. The questions contradictions people have asked about could've been sorted in a matter of minutes, yet despite hundreds of comments asking for this clarity, the response is habitual ambiguity. [/QUOTE]
If all goes well, and truly hoping this for her, her channel will just run on as everyday vlogs with the occasional checkup. In 4 weeks they'll probably tell her she's in full remission because the tumour hasn't changed so that will be a big celebration video. It honestly seems unlikely that there will be need for surgery, as the surgeon also mentioned if the cancer comes back as stage 4 then there's no point operating.
If Tiffany's diagnosis was correct, and they're still going for curative treatment, surgery is both required and inevitable. I don't know if you understand the seriousness of her cancer and how aggressively it can spread. In four weeks time, the hope is that it won't have got worse, but the "wait and watch" is waiting and watching for the cancer to return. With colorectal adenocarcinoma, stage IIIC with T4B tumour, this is almost a certainty. It's just a matter of when, which is why the notion of remission has an entirely different implication than someone whose prognosis is good without surgery. Tiffany will need the operate to have a chance of long-term survival, assuming she's not already stage IV.
nodule*
