Hi Vin,
just to show nothing tends to be as bad as it looks up front!
I've just downloaded this from Steve Dunn's web site:
I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in late 1989, at age 32. I had my kidney out, and then a month later was horrified to learn that the cancer has spread to both lungs and to multiple bones in my spine. After several weeks of frantically searching for options and stumbling awkwardly through the system, I found a clinical trial of High Dose Interleukin-2, a powerful immune stimulant, combined with Interferon Alpha, another immune stimulating drug. I traveled across the country to get the treatment that I thought was best, and was very fortunate in that I have gained a long term remission from my disease. I have been well enough to return to work, get married, father a child and climb the high peaks of the Colorado Rockies. Cancer is a strange and terrifying land but nonetheless my motto has become, "Anything can happen in this country." If you'd like to read about my experience in more detail, see my story in CancerGuide's patient stories section.
Following my recovery, I realized that I had been fortunate to be able to figure out how to negotiate the system, and that actually I had hardly done a good job, but I also realized that many people with cancer never find out about promising new options for their cancers, and that many doctors offer only what is available locally, so I did some more homework, and started to teach a class on clinical trials for other patients. I absolutely believe that "Knowledge is Power", and have become an information pack rat on my own behalf, as well as providing information to other patients in any way I can.
FOR MORE from his site:
cancerguide.org/
Remember the Big C stands for Challenge
When the night is full of dark thoughts tune in to your favourite Talk Radio station and run it quiet enough that you have to concentrate - it is surprising how soon the most interesting of subjects can put you to sleep ;D
Regards,
Greg L-W.