Cancer breakthroughs are being announced daily

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/meet-the-woman-who-beat-cancer-with-historic-new-treatment/ar-BBJsHHo?li=BBnb7Kz

$475,000 price tag to save your child. Without a profit motive would research stop in America? I have run out of time, and like the person pulling into the parking lot to catch a train, in my case the train has left the station. More and more people are dying from cancer, and how can a nation pay a half million dollars per citizen to save them. We need innovation and research. It takes capital to do the same. Investors want return on their capital, but a half million seems to be price gouging no different than the two thousand dollar generator being sold after a hurricane from the back of a pick up. We can regulate disaster price gouging, but we cannot address medical price gouging. I would bet the farm that the drug production is less than five thousand dollars per shot, yet American citizens will be paying one hundred times the cost of production. This is shameful.

Agreed. Unfortunately, thus has it always been. You'd think there'd be enough cancer-ridden family members and friends of Big Pharma muckety-mucks that they'd somehow find a way to make these breakthroughs reasonably affordable. Nope.

I feel terrible for you. I wish that you were free to choose any medicine or procedure... even early trials.

But bureaucracy is a hellofa drug.

Do not feel sorry for me. I have the best medical care in America. They have kept me alive for four years beyond when I was supposed to die. I was given a six percent chance to live ten years after my left lung lobe with the tumor was removed in July 2008. We all die. It is no more sad than the birth of a child. If you are a person of faith, this simply is not a big deal, and the only sadness I have is for the pain of family and friends, but they will get back to living because they fully understand that I have never been happier in my life.

The liver tests were not good. I have not heard from the doctor, but no more surgery or chemo. The liver failure is advancing. Fatigue is increasing daily, but I just enjoyed a great burger on the beach and will sleep the rest of the day.

I know you don't want/need sympathy but it is what it is: I am darned sorry about the tests. Still, glad you were able to enjoy that burger on the beach and hope today's sleep is restorative. Check back in when you can.

Ditto what Linds said. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

After lunch my wife and I slept until around six, and I decided I would try to play in the poker tournament at 7. I got stuck in downtown which was hopping. I could not believe the young people and older people filling the streets. What a vibrant downtown, but I did not get to the poker room until 730, so I played in a cash game. I felt pretty good for about an hour and a half, and won 350 when I just got up and left. It is rare when I win in Pensacola since the decline. However, I found that I usually just put a hundred on the table and present no threat for a collusion or bluff. I have said for the last five years that I believe the poker room needs to monitor team play. I picked up a team where the person who does not have the hand makes a 15 dollar bet, two people before me put the 15 in as I do, and then the partner raises up to fifty with a pretty good hand, and usually pulls in the bet as everybody folds. That chit piszes me off and a good room just does not allow it and the dealers monitor the same.....so just like the plan everybody folds, and even though I have nothing the team figures to sweep the table, but I bet a hundred, which when I was only starting with a hundred I could not stop the collusion, and the person folds thinking nobody would bet a hundred unless they could beat the team

Now the partner does the same thing about six hands later with a fifteen dollar bet which I bet, but again the partner instead of the 50 bet she now bets 100, and just like clockwork everybody folds, and this time they think they can bully me out, and I immediately raise the bet to 200, and this time she stays with me, and river is dealt which gives me a straight and I bet 100......she folds, and I just took 4 hundred from the team. About ten minutes later they both disappear from the table. I will no longer play in Pensacola and believe that folks who are teaming are being monitored.

I did find my way home easily by simply paying attention to the 98 signs which I missed the right turn fork, and always seemed to go on the left fork. Smooth as silk getting home, and liver pain was reasonable all evening.

The only question I will ask the doctors now is for an educated range of time left. They have for ten years told me it is "variable", but now the trend is established and they will not be doing any more procedures. I will be pushy on this one.

2seaoat wrote:The only question I will ask the doctors now is for an educated range of time left.  They have for ten years told me it is "variable", but now the trend is established and they will not be doing any more procedures.  I will be pushy on this one.

On January 26 in your first post on your "Time is getting short" thread you told us:

"...based on my growing high hormone numbers, flushing, lost [sic] of weight and growth of the tumors on the liver, they finally gave me a time frame after years of asking when will this take me down. They always said it was variable. Once the liver starts to fail, they figure three to six months." Then after talking about your plan to take regular saunas, you added, "I really feel bad for doctors and my PA. We have grown close over the last four years and I could tell in their words and body language they were very uncomfortable telling me the truth..."

And all this reminds me to ask you, what happened to the every-other-day sauna plan? Just wondering.

The doctors only told me the liver was beginning to fail. The literature gives the three to six months. I will get an answer in my case from the doctors who wanted to review the recent labs which I have received results. No more variable as they had told me if the liver functions keep rising they would not do anything more on the liver. They rose. We need to do some final plans, and variable does not cut it any longer. On some days I think it could be that day, but my decline when I graph the labs shows a steady rise of proteins.........I need to know with all the consistency of the rising proteins how much time is left......they absolutely hate giving a range of dates......It is like MED 495 How to tell your patient nothing at the end.....ignorance is bliss.

I will check out a sauna next week. I found that after three, each time it was less effective in making me feel better the next day. It has been close to three weeks since the last one, and I hope this will work better with collected toxins. I am really concerned on the bacteria and virus contamination because I was not real thrilled on the condition of the Sauna in Illinois.