There is a moral here somewhere

What is that moral I can't quite recall? The tortoise and the hare? But not the early bird gets the worm.

Once a new drug is developed, there is a rush to get it to the market to help as many as possible. Patients who are very ill who might benefit from the new drug are quick to request access to it. But time is telling us that:

1. Rushing drugs through approvals isn't necessarily the best idea. The side effects and additional issues caused to patients actually cause more cost to the health care system and do not necessarily help the patients.
2. The drug developers are supposed to continue their research but do not always comply.
3. The FDA is not equipped to monitor the drug developers and review their additional study results.

So rushing the drugs through approval is not a good thing. Slow and steady wins the race here. But not too slow. Yes research studies take time but there has to be a happy medium to get drugs to market sooner with out risks to patients and additional costs. The tortoise did keep moving steadily to get there in theend.

The Costs of Cancer

So you get diagnosed with cancer and all of a sudden you put your entire life on hold and you grapple with side effects, hair loss, constant aches and pains, surgical recovery, and giant medical bills. You rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak every month as you juggle your bills. You take time off work to cope with treatment and your income tanks and money is even tighter. You try to save for retirement as you wonder if you will be there for retirement.

But picture this if you were in college or just out and didn't really have a job. You are dependent on your parents for money. You alternate between your dorm room, your parent's sofa, and the infusion room. You try to figure out how you are ever going to have a career, if you are going to have a career. You hope you do not have to declare bankruptcy before 30 just to stay solvent because you have student loans and medical bills. At the same time you wonder if you will be around to turn 30.

I have been in both situations. At 19, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, but was still on my parent's health insurance and it took a summer to deal with the bulk of treatment, but have had follow up's every year or more often since. Medical bills and student loans were not as sky high back then but I did go through a lot of angst as a result of my diagnosis.

Then at 45 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and wondered how to pay bills as I job hunted through treatment. I haven't worked full time since. Money is much tighter now. Saving for retirement has been less important. With two cancer diagnoses, retirement looks a bit iffy at times.

At some point I learned about a wonderful organization called The Samfund. This group helps those young adult cancer patients figure out their financials and provides some grants. How do they know how to do this? The founder has been through this herself. I just wish they were around for me decades ago.

Being told you are cancer free only makes you find out about all the costs you still have to pay - financial, emotional, and physical.

We are supposed to be eating better

We means those of us who are post cancer. A new study claims that all of us who get through cancer develop crappy eating habits.

"Cancer survivors are a bit less health conscious in their eating habits, a large U.S. population-based study found.

Compared with the general population, cancer survivors consumed more empty calories in the form of solid fats, alcohol, and added sugars, reported a research team.... 

In addition, cancer survivors' intake of fiber, vitamin D, and other important nutrients was lower on average than recommended levels, Zhang and colleagues reported in the journal."

Um, first of all I must state that I think I am a relatively good eater. I don't eat a lot of prepared food, I like home made food not premade crap out of the freezer or a can. I like fresh fruit and vegetables.

But, why am I eating healthy to prevent future health issues when I already have them so many? On many levels it doesn't make sense. I do try but then sometimes I wonder why I do. I mean why do I worry about things like cholesterol when one of my other ailments is going to lead to many other issues where cholesterol may end up being so far down the list in impact on my health.

Once you get through cancer many other things become less important. The medications you are given cause so many side effects that  healthy eating during chemo is changed to only eating what will stay in your stomach.

A cancer diagnosis changes everything so let's have our cake now and eat it too.

Stinking after droke

As stated before, I'm not a big fan of drinking after stroke. I found some interesting statements here about the issue:

The effects of alcohol may put you at further risk after a stroke, and you will need to review your drinking and consider cutting down, especially if you were a heavy drinker beforehand.There are a number of factors you need to consider – talk to your GP for more advice: 

• Following a stroke you may be more vulnerable to alcohol and its negative effects such as sleep disturbance, poor balance and impaired speech. 
• Alcohol may worsen mood swings and depression, which are common after a stroke. It may affect your memory and thinking, making you forgetful and less able to make sound judgements. 
• If you are out after dark, you should remember that alcohol can reduce night vision by 25 per cent and slow down reaction times by 10-30 per cent. 
• Alcohol acts on the kidneys, creating excessive amounts of urine, which may make you dehydrated. If you are suffering from headaches, the dehydrating effect of alcohol is likely to make them worse. 
• Alcoholic drinks are high in calories that have no nutritional value. If you are less active than before your stroke, you will need to reduce your calorie intake (especially these ‘empty’ calories) to avoid becoming overweight. Alcohol may make it harder for your body to absorb essential nutrients such as vitamin B1 and calcium. If you are less active and not absorbing calcium properly, your bones may become weakened. 
• Drinking alcohol may be harmful when taking medicines that are sometimes needed after a stroke. Ask your GP or pharmacist about whether you may drink at all and if so, what the sensible limits are for you. You may be advised to stop drinking for the first month or two after starting a new medicine so that your body can get used to its effects. 
• If you are taking blood-thinning medications such as warfarin, it may be important to establish a routine of what you eat and drink. If you do drink you should ask at your anticoagulant clinic about your alcohol intake and how much you can safely drink on a regular basis.

 By: "stroke recovery blog" "stroke blog"

The rush to (over) treat

We all know the two groups of people:

The ones who get a booboo and say 'no big deal' and clean it later, even if just in the shower later on, vs. the ones who rush for the antibacterial soap, alcohol, bacitracin or neosporin, and bandaid. Well maybe they aren't two solid groups but there are two sides to the equation with scatterings in between. 

With breast, or any type of, cancer, there is often a rush to say 'get it out of me!' But that is starting to change, especially in view of concerns with overtreatment of DCIS, that some people say 'I'll wait'. I can see that.

I think the typical patient has lemming traits where they agree basically with what the doctors tell them, and if they do not agree, they find another doctor who they agree more with. How often do we stop and say, 'now that I know what it is, I can wait and make a decision'. I think we need to stop and think with a diagnosis and say 'what are my choices?' and 'can I wait?'  And not to skip 'what are the pros and con's of immediate treatment'.

Doctors are also starting to change their train of thought as well.

We have learned so much about the side effects of treatment that I think they need to be a big part of our medical decisions. And we should consider no treatment among the options. Its my body and my choice.