Quiz: What Do You Know About Cancer?

It is one of the most feared diseases, but what do you really know?

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It�s been a rough year.

For those of you dear readers who have been following my ongoing health drama, you may recall that in December 2017, a new little brain met showed up, a known weakness of my 4 year awesome medicine, Xalkori. Rather than use the fancy SRS I had the previous 3 times this happened, we decided to take the leap and join a clinical trial of a new ROS1 inhibitor designed to include the brain in its field of treatment, as it is designed to cross the BBB. You may recall the agonizing washout period required by the trial (and of questionable value) plus the added complication that my liver values shot into the stratosphere and forced me to be off all cancer treatment for an awful 18 days. You may recall that I happily popped those first clinical trial pills (good old RXDX-101) on December 26, 2017. You may recall that there was a huge clusterf&@$ in March when my brain MRI was misread and I was unceremoniously ejected from the trial without a follow up plan. And you may recall that I fought ...
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When Cancer Gets Political

When you get a cancer diagnosis, your whole world flips upside down. Your focus shifts to treatments, side effects, scans and statistics. Sometimes, however, politics creep in. The Food and Drug Administration has just announced that it plans to begin a new level of oversight for laboratory developed tests (LDTs). I, and many others with cancer, think this is a terrible idea. But wait, you say, isn't FDA oversight a good thing? We all want to stay safe! Absolutely! I want to know that I am safe, and oversight is necessary and beneficial! However, there already is oversight. These laboratories currently undergo a certification process by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, as well as other accreditation agencies. This new FDA regulation adds an additional, time-consuming hoop that will slow down testing of things like cancer mutations. Those of us with metastatic cancer don't have years to wait for FDA approval of these genetic tests. I have a rare mutation that dri...
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Recipe for Living with Metastatic Cancer

Some of these ingredients may seem hard to find, especially if you are newly diagnosed. But with a little searching (and soul searching), you can create something wonderful to sustain yourself through the hard times. First, you will need three heaping cups of support . This support can come in a variety flavors, and many blend well together. The first cup includes your close circle : spouse, parents, family, friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, religious groups, community groups. These people are all around you, and are the first to jump in. Since too much support can spoil the recipe, it helps to use a website like Lotsa Helping Hands , or an organized friend to coordinate your support. The second cup is your cancer people . It begins with the medical staff, such as your doctors, nurses and social workers. I have found it enormously helpful to include the support of other people with cancer, because they know what I am going through both emotionally and physically and can serve ...
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