Day 1497: "234"

Day 1497: "234"

This is a tough topic but a really good article. I am not a fan of 'False Hope' because there are just too many factors. Science is so particular it can be maddening. Cancer, even a same diagnosis, is different in various people. The way the disease responds or does not respond.

Hope is hope.

Perhaps one needs to better manage expectations, did you, the patient, go to a specialist, do you understand your diagnosis. You have to be your own advocate or find someone to help.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/27/cancer-treatment-hype-gives-false-hope-many-patients/100972794/

Cancer treatment hype gives false hope to many patients

Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News Published 12:36 p.m. ET April 27, 2017 | Updated 12:55 p.m. ET April 27, 2017

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Even the MD Anderson logo on buses and buildings — with "Cancer" crossed out in red, above the words "Making cancer history" — made the family's battle seem winnable.

"I thought they were going to save him," said Uvanni, an interior designer.

Patients and families are bombarded with the news that the country is winning the war against cancer. The news media hypes research results to attract readers. Drug companies promise "a chance to live longer" to boost sales. Hospitals woo paying customers with ads that appeal to patients' fears and hopes.

"I'm starting to hear more and more that we are better than I think we really are," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. "We're starting to believe our own bullshit."

The consequences are real — and they can be deadly. Patients and their families have bought into treatments that either don't work, cost a fortune or cause life-threatening side effects.

"We have a lot of patients who spend their families into bankruptcy getting a hyped therapy that (many) know is worthless," Brawley said. Some choose a medicine that "has a lot of hype around it and unfortunately lose their chance for a cure."

Although scientists have made important strides in recent years, and many early-stage cancers can now be cured, most of those with advanced cancer eventually die of their disease.

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Me: I just got home, visiting our buddy in hospice. Emotionally I am fried, my 'cancer advocacy' nuclear fuel tank is filled so full now.

We three guys, stayed in a hotel, they gave us this room:

So? I met my buddy, the one in hospice at then Mankato State University, in 1983, Crawford, they called us the "A2 Zoo" and my buddy's dorm room number?  234

Janice texted me something wonderful before we went, she said it would be beautiful and sad.

We got to say goodbye. It was beautiful and so, so sad.