Having had breast cancer does not define who I am now.
But, as with every single life event, it changed me.
Forever.
Not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
SO, the last post isn't my last post.
As tempting as it is to delete it, I am keeping it as a reminder to me.
That at one point I was too afraid of getting cancer again, I didn't want to think about cancer.
I wanted to mark that I had moved on.
And move on.
Well, I am not too afraid now. Honestly, still a little afraid at times.
But not too afraid.
I can think about it.
I want to help the cause.
I will keep on posting on this blog.
Went to National Breast Cancer Coalition's (NBCC) July La Jolla LEAD conference, a six day immersion in the science of breast cancer biology and treatment development. Fascinating. I didn't know much in-depth cancer biology, immunology, drug approval process, history of breast cancer, etc. Absolutely fascinating.
The NBCC stresses evidence-based decision making on breast cancer issues. Brilliant. How much of our good-intentioned research money is spent on goals emotionally driven, or purely profit motivated. Neither is wrong or bad at all. Thank you to everyone who has donated money to breast cancer in honor of a lost loved one. And the reward of profit is a fabulous driver for entrepreneurial endeavors, so research to tweak existing drugs and treatments to be just a little better is tempting. But doesn't cure cancer.
The point is, let's change the conversation (taking words from NBCC.) We have thrown millions of dollars on breast cancer research, and the results in the past ten, twenty years are not impressive. Deaths from breast cancer are slightly trending downward. And number of breast cancer diagnoses are slightly trending upward.
So let's have the goals not be slightly better treatments, slightly better diagnosing. Let's have the goal be less deaths (end metastasis) and less breast cancer to begin with (vaccines.)
NBCC's Artemis Project on vaccines started three years ago. Getting the folks together to get this done.
I am reading a text book, The Biology of Cancer by Robert Weinberg. We know SO MUCH more today than we did even three years ago, twenty years ago when Mike had t cell lymphoma, or forty years ago when I took freshman biology. But we have so much more to learn.
But, as with every single life event, it changed me.
Forever.
Not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
SO, the last post isn't my last post.
As tempting as it is to delete it, I am keeping it as a reminder to me.
That at one point I was too afraid of getting cancer again, I didn't want to think about cancer.
I wanted to mark that I had moved on.
And move on.
Well, I am not too afraid now. Honestly, still a little afraid at times.
But not too afraid.
I can think about it.I want to help the cause.
I will keep on posting on this blog.
Went to National Breast Cancer Coalition's (NBCC) July La Jolla LEAD conference, a six day immersion in the science of breast cancer biology and treatment development. Fascinating. I didn't know much in-depth cancer biology, immunology, drug approval process, history of breast cancer, etc. Absolutely fascinating.
The NBCC stresses evidence-based decision making on breast cancer issues. Brilliant. How much of our good-intentioned research money is spent on goals emotionally driven, or purely profit motivated. Neither is wrong or bad at all. Thank you to everyone who has donated money to breast cancer in honor of a lost loved one. And the reward of profit is a fabulous driver for entrepreneurial endeavors, so research to tweak existing drugs and treatments to be just a little better is tempting. But doesn't cure cancer.
The point is, let's change the conversation (taking words from NBCC.) We have thrown millions of dollars on breast cancer research, and the results in the past ten, twenty years are not impressive. Deaths from breast cancer are slightly trending downward. And number of breast cancer diagnoses are slightly trending upward.
So let's have the goals not be slightly better treatments, slightly better diagnosing. Let's have the goal be less deaths (end metastasis) and less breast cancer to begin with (vaccines.)
NBCC's Artemis Project on vaccines started three years ago. Getting the folks together to get this done.
I am reading a text book, The Biology of Cancer by Robert Weinberg. We know SO MUCH more today than we did even three years ago, twenty years ago when Mike had t cell lymphoma, or forty years ago when I took freshman biology. But we have so much more to learn.
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