More money should be spent on cancer research.

patrickredeyes

This is my first time posting a thread on ''A Moving Train''. I think this is where this one belongs. I was told by my father that our neighbor three houses down passed away on Nov 30th. The day I left for Hawaii to see Pearl Jam. His name was Robert, but went by the name of ''cowboy''. Cause he was from Texas and loved the Dallas Cowboys football team. Living in Wisconsin he heard alot of shit from people about his Cowboys. We always joked back and forth and always laughed about it. He died of pancreatic Cancer, after a hard 6 month battle. I saw him maybe a week or so b4 he died and he always was in a good mood. Even though he was facing a very tough battle.

After being told of his passing I started to think about something. With all the money our goverment is spending on the war in Iraq. Why can't they spend the same amount or just some of that money on finding a cure for cancer? It's very sad thinking of all the people I know that have been affected by some form of cancer. I'm sure some money is spent , but its just not enough. I myself had a scare not too long ago. I was lucky and plan on going in for a check up every yr. I feel very sad for his family cause the holidays are near. He always put up alot of lites on his house for Christmas. I will miss that this yr. I plan to read more about what I can do to help and just help in any way. For anyone reading this that has lost someone from some form of cancer. I am very sorry for your loss. I hope someday a cure is found and no more people have to suffer. I should be happy after seeing PJ in Hawaii a few days ago. Today I'm very sad and shocked by my neighbor's passing. Thanks for listening.

Rest in peace ''Cowboy''


Patrick

norm

Sorry for your loss.

I've been saying this since my best friend died form a brain tumor almost 5 years ago. So far the US has spent over 370 billion dollars on the war and I'm sure plan on spending more regardless of the democrats or not.


But there is hope. My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer 2 years ago and just yesterday her doctor told her she is a miracle. No cancer what so ever. I guess that's why they named the hospital "City of Hope".

Abookamongstthemany

So many of us here ask the same question. The money is almost always wasted on the wrong things. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your neighbor. It's always so shocking and heartbreaking how it can happen so quickly. One week a person can seem so alive and vibrant and then next few weeks they're gone. My grandmother recovered fully from a heart attack and then two months later was diagnosed with lung cancer. She had even beat out breast cancer 5 years earlier. We all thought she seemed invincible, like she could beat anything thrown at her. Then she died two months after being diagnosed with the lung cancer. The day before she died she seemed to be doing so well... This is something that affects so many of us *our own Hippiemom has won her battle* and it deserves so much more time and money towards find a cure.

Thank you for sharing.

Abookamongstthemany

cutback wrote:

Sorry for your loss.

I've been saying this since my best friend died form a brain tumor almost 5 years ago. So far the US has spent over 370 million dollars on the war and I'm sure plan on spending more regardless of the democrats or not.


But there is hope. My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer 2 years ago and just yesterday her doctor told her she is a miracle. No cancer what so ever. I guess that's why they named the hospital "City of Hope".

Oh wow! That is truly amazing! What a relief!

norm

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

Oh wow! That is truly amazing! What a relief!

I have to say it truly was. Her liver was literally covered in cancer. A year of chemo and it was gone. Her doctor tells all her patients about her to give them a ray of hope.

Abookamongstthemany

cutback wrote:

I have to say it truly was. Her liver was literally covered in cancer. A year of chemo and it was gone. Her doctor tells all her patients about her to give them a ray of hope.

They say some people just have an amazing will to live. What joyous news for your family this holiday season!

norm

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

They say some people just have an amazing will to live. What joyous news for your family this holiday season!

Thanks:)

Right back 'atcha, sweetie:D

Abookamongstthemany

cutback wrote:

Thanks:)

Right back 'atcha, sweetie:D

Not a problem. Everyone loves to hear the happy endings!

hippiemom

cutback wrote:

Sorry for your loss.

I've been saying this since my best friend died form a brain tumor almost 5 years ago. So far the US has spent over 370 million dollars on the war and I'm sure plan on spending more regardless of the democrats or not.


But there is hope. My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer 2 years ago and just yesterday her doctor told her she is a miracle. No cancer what so ever. I guess that's why they named the hospital "City of Hope".

That's BILLIONS on the war, not millions. BILLIONS. And for what?

Your mom really is a miracle! Liver cancer is one of the worst. Liver and pancreas are where ovarian cancer is most likely to spread, so I've read a lot on both and there's not a lot of good news there. Give your mom a big hug from me, I'm so happy for both of you

tooferz

i'm very jaded when it comes to cancer from the research n pharmaceutical end. you would think if they can continuously 'discover' new meds that kill cancer cells or keep metastatic cancer stable with no growth they could find a cure for at least ONE cancer (tho i am aware each cancer has it's own cell make up and growth patterns).

honestly, i don't think there will ever be a cure in our lifetimes. drug companies make entirely too much money on cancer meds to come up with a cure. and drug companies have too many people in their pockets in the government and medical world to be 'forced' to find a cure. it's a financial boon to charge people unreal amounts of money indiscriminately and over time rather than one big payment and you're done. and trust me when i say cancer is EXPENSIVE. I go relatively cheap and mine's about 4000.00 a month...every month...as long as i live.

cutback - many many congrats to your mom and your family! it takes more than chemo to overcome stage 4 cancer...she has to be a fighter!

Ahnimus

They are getting pretty close to curing some forms of cancer. It's difficult though because cancer is typically caused by a series of genetic mutations. Some things like gene therapy can help, but that's a bit complicated.

They came up with a really genius way to cure people of tumors. They inject this weird virus into the tumor, and as soon as it comes in contact with oxygen it dies. Really cool stuff, but that also means it doesn't get rid of the whole tumore.

Anyway, I think much money is spent on cancer research, but not everyone wants to study cancer, so the bottleneck might be the number of people that are in the field.

norm

hippiemom wrote:

That's BILLIONS on the war, not millions. BILLIONS. And for what?

of course. dyslexia rears it's ugly head.

hippiemom wrote:

Your mom really is a miracle! Liver cancer is one of the worst. Liver and pancreas are where ovarian cancer is most likely to spread, so I've read a lot on both and there's not a lot of good news there. Give your mom a big hug from me, I'm so happy for both of you

Thanks, mom. I will do that. And I'm so glad you are feeling good.:D:D

Scubascott

I completely agree that less money should be wasted on war and more should be spent on research. But not just cancer research. In fact cancer research already gets far more funding than most other fields, at least in this country.

Environmental science is dismally funded in Australia. I've been struggling for three years with an underfunded project, whereas my colleagues who are involved in cancer research always have buckets of money to work with.

hippiemom

tooferz wrote:

i'm very jaded when it comes to cancer from the research n pharmaceutical end. you would think if they can continuously 'discover' new meds that kill cancer cells or keep metastatic cancer stable with no growth they could find a cure for at least ONE cancer (tho i am aware each cancer has it's own cell make up and growth patterns).

honestly, i don't think there will ever be a cure in our lifetimes. drug companies make entirely too much money on cancer meds to come up with a cure. and drug companies have too many people in their pockets in the government and medical world to be 'forced' to find a cure. it's a financial boon to charge people unreal amounts of money indiscriminately and over time rather than one big payment and you're done. and trust me when i say cancer is EXPENSIVE. I go relatively cheap and mine's about 4000.00 a month...every month...as long as i live.

cutback - many many congrats to your mom and your family! it takes more than chemo to overcome stage 4 cancer...she has to be a fighter!

Oh, don't even get me started on the drug companies, and on the American Cancer Society, which I despise. For all the money that's spent on research, only a pathetically small amount is spent trying to find causes. Of course, it would be wonderful to have a cure, but it would be even more wonderful not to need one! But if we find a way to prevent people from getting cancer, not only will a lot of people lose money by not being able to sell their dangerous products anymore, but they won't be able to hit folks like us up for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What's more, the American Cancer Society will not fund any research using embryonic stem cells, so they're allowing politics to interfere with their mission. No one knows if this technology will benefit cancer patients, but no one is ever going to know if the people controlling a huge amount of the funding won't research it!

Jamal

A guy from work (surfclub) studies for Industrial Engineer, field of chemics
He did an internship where he was part of a crew that researches ways to create anti-cancer agents, chemostuff, you know. He found a whole new way and will get a patent for it.
I'm really proud of him (he's also my best friend )

You're right though, more money should be invested in that research (and not only for cancer)

chopitdown

I agree that we should spend more money on medical research period. Cancer is just one of the many conditions/afflictions that needs studying. I lost an aunt and grandma to cancer (but my mom is 4 years cancer free right now). I also think money needs to be spent proactively on prevention and identification of risk factors (especially ones that can corrected...pollution etc...) I think we are terribly misguided in our country, in some respects, when it comes to allocation of funds. I mean we have talk of setting up a lunar base so that we can keep trying to eventually get to mars. Don't get me wrong, that would be real cool, but how does that serve the public interest? I'd rather see the private sector step up more (in all areas) and free up gov't money for more publically beneficial research / programs etc...
Part of me wonders though (politics of gov't and pharmaceutical companies aside) how feasible a cure really is. I mean, we can't even cure the common cold, we can manage it's symptoms well (just like HIV, herpes, etc...) but we can't cure it. I don't think the cure is as simple as throwing more money at more people; but I hope it is that simple.