Better!

The beautiful thing about a new cancer drug discovery is that it has just begun. Patients have only just started to use it, so it's healing potential is just in it's infancy.

While almost every medication had side effects, cancer meds are the ruling class in side effects. They can rend asunder even the most fit of bodies - that's why when people call us "survivors", they mean it!  

A news story today caught my eye. The famed Herceptin has been a life saver (yes, literally) to many many people. But now there is another new kid on the block, following in her footsteps.  

This one, as advancing medicine often is, just has a few more bells and whistles. This one has lessened some of the tricky side effects! Now that may not seem to be a Herculean accomplishment or big news to many of you, but to me and my fellow patients, it's huge. Because it just shows we can all just keep doing the same thing.

Keep.doing.better.  :)

Photo: Getty Images

Warnings

USA - This, my friends, is a piece of paper I get once a month. It has big, scary words and I'm convinced that I am one of perhaps only 3 people that have actually read it in its entirety.

It's the warning label from my cancer meds; I get a refill once a month. I used to be averse to looking at it - I just didn't want to know what might be coming down the road.

When some weird things started happening to me, I decided I should take a peek just to see if they might possibly be normal side effects. Sure enough, there they were. Heart issues, bone pain, weight fluctuations - you name it, all there. Drat!

Now I have a decidedly different view on these warnings. I pop it open, see what's new and then breathe a sigh of relief on the ones I don't have. Phew!

I know that sounds silly to some of you, but hey, I take what I can get in the world of optimism. What else am I supposed to do with something that has more 'Oooh you'd better watch out, sister' kind of warnings then the TSA signs in the airports? :)