Objective Facts

[Andrea]

I was just thinking and something came to me as I was strolling through my office. All this talk of doctors and stats and stigma and rudeness of conventions for excluding us, etc...................it can't mask the objective facts that there ARE new treatments for lung cancer and we have to see how it goes. We are guinea pigs.

My personal disclaimer: even before my mom was diagnosed, if someone had the "flu" and a high fever and night sweats for a week, I wondered if it was Hodgkins or lymphoma. I am not sure when or why I became cancer neurotic, but I did long before my mom was diagnosed. SOme say it was my neurosis that got her diagnosed b/c only a lunatic would have demanded a chest xray for her when I did. However, I am a pessimist in general, it is my disposition.

Regardless of opinion and my glass is half empty disposition, I think these facts are INDISPUTABLE:

The issue of advancements in lung cancer and statistics are really all a guessing game now b/c many, if not most, of the new agents to treat Lung Cancer are new. Ie, gemzar and taxol and I now forgot the list I read, but these chemos are new to the market!! As much as 5-10 years ago not only did they not have those new agents, but they didn't do chemo, radiation and/or surgery!!! So how can we have accurate statistics????? CLEARLY there are advancements or these NEW DRUGS would not be out.

We need to point this out to people who say otherwise at conventions and be blunt and put them on the spot. All we see right now is HOPE--we have Snowflake, Heather, Joe, my mom, etc, etc, undergoing this treatment, surviving and waiting to be the NEW BETTER statistics b/c their treatment is NEW. This is GOOD NEWS!!!!!

And then while like gemzar is new and did good for my mom, we have Iressa which seems to help many and is good for maintence....and new clinical trials. So the longer we keep things at bay, the more new stuff there is.

Henceforth, I don't see how ANYONE can say there has not been much advancement when all of this stuff is UNDISPUTABLY new.

And I have no idea if I made sense, but I gotta work :) So I am done