This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
Quakertrucker · 70-79, M
Not all cancers are curable - sometimes not at all, and sometimes not because of age or money issues.
One note: when I say money issues, there are two factors; someone might not have the money or the necessary insurance, or someone might just consider the cost unacceptably high socially and morally.
I fall into the latter class. I have Stage 4, Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia (CLL). I got into a 2 year clinical trial for CLL 4 1/2 years ago at the James Cancer Center at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. I would drive there every 4th Monday, have blood drawn and checked, and then be given 28 pills - 1 pill a day - to cover the next 28 days.
Although the study was only for 2 years, I was told when I began in December 2013 that, when the study was officially over after the 2 year period, as long as I kept coming every 28 days and allowed them to draw blood and monitor my health, they would continue to provide the medication until the day that I die. I call what I am in now "post study".
The medication for the trial has done a wonderful job of suppressing the cancer cells. They did MANY tests prior to my beginning the clinical trial, as well as when it officially ended 2 1/2 years ago. The doctor overseeing the trial talked to me for over an hour after the study ended. He told me that when the study began, 76% of my immune cells were cancerous; while only 14% were cancerous when the study ended.
He also told me that, within a year, the cancer cells would be undetectable. However, as he further told me, that didn't mean that I should quit taking the study medicine. He said that there would still be some cancer stem cells floating around - just too few to detect - that would start to proliferate again if I quit taking the medicine.
That was a no-brainer: continue to take a drug which has dropped my cancer cells to undetectable levels with the NIH paying for the medicine; or, quit taking the medicine and wait until I die of cancer. According to the doctor, I will die of old age before I die of cancer.
Thus, this is not a cure for the CLL. I will have that until I die.
The only possible cure for CLL - a blood cancer - is a bone marrow transplant. Even that is not a 100% guaranteed cure. And with advanced age - I am 67 - it is less likely to be a total cure than it would be if I were younger.
As I mentioned above, I find the cost of a cure - a bone marrow transplant - too expensive socially or morally. Under any system of health care - single payer, or whatever - there is some limitation on the amount of funds available.
A bone marrow transplant is a very expensive procedure in any event, and would cost substantially more as advanced age brings in other medical complications - and, again I am 67.
Thus, the procedure would cost much less for a younger person than for someone my age - or for someone even older.
And, more important even than cost, is the fact, that for a young person, the operation would give them a life; whereas, for me, it would only add a few years. Most of my life is in the rear-view mirror.
I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 2015 to 2017 - keeping our house and 20 acres in northern Michigan while living there. I mentioned my belief that bone marrow transplants should be reserved for the young to middle-aged to one of my fellow workers. He was in his early 30's, with a wife and 3 children. He said that it was interesting that I told him that because he had exactly the cancer that I have when he was 16 to 17. He also told me that at age 17 - with the doctor's only giving him a few months to live - he had a bone marrow transplant, and has been cancer-free ever since.
He, at age 17, was the perfect candidate to receive the operation. It gave him a life - just as it did his 3 kids.
I have good health insurance, and it would pay for the procedure, but I would refuse to have it - regardless of whether I had the cash on hand, my insurance offered to pay, or if someone else offered to pay. Give a life ahead to someone young.
I have considered writing to my Senator or Congressperson, and to some insurance companies - including my own - to make a proposal.
I would like to be able to sign a waiver stating that I give up any right to ever have my insurance pay for a bone marrow transplant - and that this waiver would follow me for the rest of my life - even if I changed insurance companies at some point. In lieu of paying for the operation for me, the insurance company would pay for the procedure for a young person without insurance.
This would be a win-win-win situation for the insurance companies. First, by paying for the operation for a young person, the cost would be MUCH less than if paying for it for an older person. Second, since the operation is more likely to be successful with a younger patient, there liability for that health issue would likely end; whereas, for an older patient like myself, if the operation were a failure, the insurance company would still be in the hook for more medical interventions.
And, third, it would give the insurance companies GREAT PR! They could run ads stating that, "we care so much about the youth of this country that we paid for a bone marrow transplant to cure this child of CLL - even though they did not have any insurance with us". Add in a few pictures, and the insurance company is golden.
Did not mean to run on quite so long!
Best wishes for your cancer! If you haven't done so yet, check with your primary physician. And, if you do not have a doctor or insurance - or even if you do - check on the internet for clinical trials for your form of cancer.
Quakertrucker
One note: when I say money issues, there are two factors; someone might not have the money or the necessary insurance, or someone might just consider the cost unacceptably high socially and morally.
I fall into the latter class. I have Stage 4, Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia (CLL). I got into a 2 year clinical trial for CLL 4 1/2 years ago at the James Cancer Center at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. I would drive there every 4th Monday, have blood drawn and checked, and then be given 28 pills - 1 pill a day - to cover the next 28 days.
Although the study was only for 2 years, I was told when I began in December 2013 that, when the study was officially over after the 2 year period, as long as I kept coming every 28 days and allowed them to draw blood and monitor my health, they would continue to provide the medication until the day that I die. I call what I am in now "post study".
The medication for the trial has done a wonderful job of suppressing the cancer cells. They did MANY tests prior to my beginning the clinical trial, as well as when it officially ended 2 1/2 years ago. The doctor overseeing the trial talked to me for over an hour after the study ended. He told me that when the study began, 76% of my immune cells were cancerous; while only 14% were cancerous when the study ended.
He also told me that, within a year, the cancer cells would be undetectable. However, as he further told me, that didn't mean that I should quit taking the study medicine. He said that there would still be some cancer stem cells floating around - just too few to detect - that would start to proliferate again if I quit taking the medicine.
That was a no-brainer: continue to take a drug which has dropped my cancer cells to undetectable levels with the NIH paying for the medicine; or, quit taking the medicine and wait until I die of cancer. According to the doctor, I will die of old age before I die of cancer.
Thus, this is not a cure for the CLL. I will have that until I die.
The only possible cure for CLL - a blood cancer - is a bone marrow transplant. Even that is not a 100% guaranteed cure. And with advanced age - I am 67 - it is less likely to be a total cure than it would be if I were younger.
As I mentioned above, I find the cost of a cure - a bone marrow transplant - too expensive socially or morally. Under any system of health care - single payer, or whatever - there is some limitation on the amount of funds available.
A bone marrow transplant is a very expensive procedure in any event, and would cost substantially more as advanced age brings in other medical complications - and, again I am 67.
Thus, the procedure would cost much less for a younger person than for someone my age - or for someone even older.
And, more important even than cost, is the fact, that for a young person, the operation would give them a life; whereas, for me, it would only add a few years. Most of my life is in the rear-view mirror.
I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 2015 to 2017 - keeping our house and 20 acres in northern Michigan while living there. I mentioned my belief that bone marrow transplants should be reserved for the young to middle-aged to one of my fellow workers. He was in his early 30's, with a wife and 3 children. He said that it was interesting that I told him that because he had exactly the cancer that I have when he was 16 to 17. He also told me that at age 17 - with the doctor's only giving him a few months to live - he had a bone marrow transplant, and has been cancer-free ever since.
He, at age 17, was the perfect candidate to receive the operation. It gave him a life - just as it did his 3 kids.
I have good health insurance, and it would pay for the procedure, but I would refuse to have it - regardless of whether I had the cash on hand, my insurance offered to pay, or if someone else offered to pay. Give a life ahead to someone young.
I have considered writing to my Senator or Congressperson, and to some insurance companies - including my own - to make a proposal.
I would like to be able to sign a waiver stating that I give up any right to ever have my insurance pay for a bone marrow transplant - and that this waiver would follow me for the rest of my life - even if I changed insurance companies at some point. In lieu of paying for the operation for me, the insurance company would pay for the procedure for a young person without insurance.
This would be a win-win-win situation for the insurance companies. First, by paying for the operation for a young person, the cost would be MUCH less than if paying for it for an older person. Second, since the operation is more likely to be successful with a younger patient, there liability for that health issue would likely end; whereas, for an older patient like myself, if the operation were a failure, the insurance company would still be in the hook for more medical interventions.
And, third, it would give the insurance companies GREAT PR! They could run ads stating that, "we care so much about the youth of this country that we paid for a bone marrow transplant to cure this child of CLL - even though they did not have any insurance with us". Add in a few pictures, and the insurance company is golden.
Did not mean to run on quite so long!
Best wishes for your cancer! If you haven't done so yet, check with your primary physician. And, if you do not have a doctor or insurance - or even if you do - check on the internet for clinical trials for your form of cancer.
Quakertrucker