Wellbeing
Crucial Gaps in Research Funding May Compound the Stress of Living with Percentages
Three weeks ago, during my quarterly visit with my oncologist, we were pleased to hear that my PSA was “imperceptible.” Good news indeed. I also pressed him for some prognostic indicators. Given the world in which I work, I need data–real numbers that can help me wrap my arms around my reality. I already know that I have to wait five years before I hear those magic words, “cancer-free.”
Dr. Lowe responded by saying that, at this juncture, there is a 40 percent probability that my treatments have been effective and a 60 percent probability my cancer would recur. Now you might not think that 40 percent is that big of a number, but for two people who have lived in the Pacific Northwest for twenty years, it had the same effect as if someone had told my wife and me we had a 40 percent chance of seeing the sun within the next thirty days. We were very pleased… almost ecstatic!
As a patient, that 40 percent is another milestone within grasp, a goal filled with promise. It allows me to sustain a positive outlook. Believe me, we are living clearly in the 40th percentile and are taking stock in the belief that I will remain well. As for the 60th percentile, we are having relative success in keeping it at bay. I have no interest in crossing into that that realm. It encompasses additional treatments that can be effective as well as a trail of successive treatments that may work for a period but eventually stop working. On the way home from the doctors, I was able to enhance our spirits by reminding ourselves that we are making scientific advances against this disease at an accelerated pace. Surely, if I require additional treatments in two, five or ten years, there will be remarkable new therapies I can access.
Hold that thought… Current talk of drastically cutting federal funding for medical research at both the NCI and Department of Defense are making it harder for men like me and families like mine to keep that 60 percent beast in its cage. In fact, it is making it harder for any family that is faced with a potentially life-threatening disease. As a society, we need to keep medical research alive.
This is not about just keeping hope alive. It is about investing wisely so we can find cures and preventive measures that will help us reduce the financial burden of living healthy and productive lives. It’s about enabling us to cure more and overtreat less. We can all live with a few more potholes, and perhaps we could even shell out a few bucks worth of admission fees while visiting our national museums. But, we can’t live with more cancer. Going forward, we need to carefully prioritize our decisions.
Josh Wolfe, managing partner of Lux Capital and a frequent contributor to Forbes.com, recently provided an important perspective on investing in research and our scientists. While his video addresses the benefits of investing in PCF-supported research, I believe his thoughts also provide higher level guidance for our future.
We need to maintain our momentum. We must not give up our fight.
Three weeks ago, during my quarterly visit with my oncologist, we were pleased to hear that my PSA was “imperceptible.” Good news indeed. I also pressed him for some prognostic indicators. Given the world in which I work, I need data–real numbers that can help me wrap my arms around my reality. I already know that I have to wait five years before I hear those magic words, “cancer-free.”
Dr. Lowe responded by saying that, at this juncture, there is a 40 percent probability that my treatments have been effective and a 60 percent probability my cancer would recur. Now you might not think that 40 percent is that big of a number, but for two people who have lived in the Pacific Northwest for twenty years, it had the same effect as if someone had told my wife and me we had a 40 percent chance of seeing the sun within the next thirty days. We were very pleased… almost ecstatic!
As a patient, that 40 percent is another milestone within grasp, a goal filled with promise. It allows me to sustain a positive outlook. Believe me, we are living clearly in the 40th percentile and are taking stock in the belief that I will remain well. As for the 60th percentile, we are having relative success in keeping it at bay. I have no interest in crossing into that that realm. It encompasses additional treatments that can be effective as well as a trail of successive treatments that may work for a period but eventually stop working. On the way home from the doctors, I was able to enhance our spirits by reminding ourselves that we are making scientific advances against this disease at an accelerated pace. Surely, if I require additional treatments in two, five or ten years, there will be remarkable new therapies I can access.
Hold that thought… Current talk of drastically cutting federal funding for medical research at both the NCI and Department of Defense are making it harder for men like me and families like mine to keep that 60 percent beast in its cage. In fact, it is making it harder for any family that is faced with a potentially life-threatening disease. As a society, we need to keep medical research alive.
This is not about just keeping hope alive. It is about investing wisely so we can find cures and preventive measures that will help us reduce the financial burden of living healthy and productive lives. It’s about enabling us to cure more and overtreat less. We can all live with a few more potholes, and perhaps we could even shell out a few bucks worth of admission fees while visiting our national museums. But, we can’t live with more cancer. Going forward, we need to carefully prioritize our decisions.
Josh Wolfe, managing partner of Lux Capital and a frequent contributor to Forbes.com, recently provided an important perspective on investing in research and our scientists. While his video addresses the benefits of investing in PCF-supported research, I believe his thoughts also provide higher level guidance for our future.
We need to maintain our momentum. We must not give up our fight.