Awareness

You know those pink plastic grocery bags we all saw last month, the ones that proclaimed that the store proudly supported the Fight Against Breast Cancer? It was a great way to promote public awareness to the disease during October, which was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Have you seen any special grocery bags for lung cancer? Have you seen anything in the media about lung cancer?

I decided to Google that subject, without much success. But I did find a report on new research concerning Avastin (the drug I am currently taking) published in the Nov. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. “The anti-cancer drug Avastin increases the risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs by 33 percent.” The risks varied according to the type of cancer involved – affecting almost 15 percent of those with non-small cell lung cancer. Of course there are risks with any cancer treatment, and I have to hope that the benefits outweigh the risks. "It is a tough choice. Avastin is a very effective drug, no question about it. It certainly impacts on survival by a significant amount of time," said Khorana (Dr. Alok Khorana, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center). "Even though this report is concerning, it doesn't make me stop wanting to use Avastin. It's more of an awareness issue, and making sure both patients and providers are aware of the side effect."

Awareness can be a problem though, as I have discovered. And people with lung cancer don’t live long enough to pose for a “Critters for the Cure” calendar, or to become emblematic survivors walking or running for public awareness of their disease. It is the loved ones we leave behind who must spread the word… Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, killing more people each year than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney and melanoma cancers combined.

... PLM