Report: Venezuela's Chavez 'Only Has Two Years to Live'

[Teh One Who Knocks]

NewsCore


HAVANA – Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez likely has less than two years to live, his former doctor said, as the ailing firebrand traveled to Cuba for a checkup following cancer treatment.

Chavez, 57, has been through four rounds of chemotherapy in Cuba since revealing he had a cancerous tumor removed in June. But Venezuela has provided few details about the exact nature of the cancer, aside from that it was in the pelvic area.

Salvador Navarrete, his former personal surgeon, told Mexican newspaper Milenio Semanal on Sunday that the leader's condition likely was worse than publicly admitted.

The doctor described the prognosis as "not good." He added, "When I say this, I mean that he has no more than two years to live."

Navarrete said Chavez likely was suffering from either a tumor in his pelvis or a sarcoma, which would explain the intensive course of treatment.

Navarrete was the personal surgeon for Chavez from 2002 until earlier this year, when Chavez changed his medical staff to exclusively Cuban doctors.

Before departing for Havana, Chavez told Venezuelan TV that the visit was routine, but he did not disclose any details of his condition. Earlier reports said the visit was for a checkup, to see whether there were any malignant cells in his body, AFP reported.

Chavez has been in power since 1999 and has maintained that he will recover in time to win re-election in 2012.

[Muddy]

He aint gonna last 2 years.

[DemonGeminiX]

You know, if someone put a bullet between his eyes, he'd probably have even less time.

[FBD]

2 years too long

[Deepsepia]

NewsCore


HAVANA – Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez likely has less than two years to live, his former doctor said, as the ailing firebrand traveled to Cuba for a checkup following cancer treatment.

A very unlikely prognosis.

Docs have very little ability to accurately predict mortality that far out. If they say "six weeks", they're likely to be right . . . "two years" -- uh uh.

"Two years" means:
1) no critical organs compromised today
2) no evidence of disease in critical organs.

A person in that state, but who's had metastatic cancer could be dead in six months, or alive in five years.

About the only diagnosis I can think of where the two year line might make sense is something progressive, like kidney failure.

Put another way, in October 2009, there's no way Steve Jobs' doc would have said "two years". He'd have said "this will probably come back and get you, but no idea when"

[JoeyB]

You know, if someone put a bullet between his eyes, he'd probably have even less time.


2 years too long

You realize that if anyone in Iran or North Korea or, really Mexico or even Canada said those things about someone in America...you'd think they were evil and backwards and dangerous and be all up in arms and want to see them dead.