scifiknitter

How many people have fully wrapped their heads around the recent change in the standard of care for advanced lung cancer? This change has rolled out bit by bit since May of 2015 (less than two years ago!) with FDA approvals of three new drugs, and now includes nearly all types of lung cancer. It’s part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for care, which means oncologists should know about it, and insurance companies should pay for it without a fight. When I look at the short amount of time in which this change has happened and the number of lung cancer patients who are potentially affected, it seems to me that this really is big, big news. I’m talking about the newest innovative treatment for lung cancer - immunotherapy. It doesn’t work for everyone - in fact, it won’t work for most of us. No one treatment yet does, probably no one treatment ever will. But 40% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer respond for a while, and 20% respond for a lon...

As a new year approaches, I have a new platform for some of my posts. I am now a Community Blogger for the Free to Breathe site on the HealthUnlocked platform. HealthUnlocked  is an international site bringing together non-profit groups dedicated to helping people with serious and chronic illnesses, and offering a place for people to connect with others, be they survivors, patients, or caregivers. While I'll be posting regularly on the Free to Breathe site, I'll also continue to post here from time to time. I still need a place to post about my knitting, and I also have some long form pieces I want to do that more properly belong here. A post about the new standard of care for lung cancer is done now, and I will put it up in the next few days. My first two posts for Free to Breathe are: A meditative piece on how I have in effect skipped ahead a generation due to my diagnosis of lung cancer, and I now stand with my elderly parents, with much the same concerns and outlook ...