Cancer Comes Home

Most of the time I will type while emotional, so you grammar Nazi's can suck it.

About a month ago my fiance came home and said he needed to see a doctor.  I was immediately alarmed because my man does NOT do doctors.  Many years ago he cut his thumb off.  We're talking hanging on by a tiny thread here.  He would have sewn it back on himself had it not been his dominant hand.  He's the kind of guy who would crawl to work, sick as a dog, over broken glass before he would set foot in a hospital.  So, for him to volunteer I knew there was a problem.

Fast forward through doctor's appointments, CT scans, and a biopsy.  Michael has cancer, Hodkins Lymphoma to be exact.  "Oh, that's the cancer you want to get.  It's the lesser of all cancers.  We'll fix him right up."

Uh-huh.

That doesn't stop the ice-cold finger of fear from going straight up your bum.  No one ever wants to hear the word CANCER, and certainly not attached to a loved one.  I went through a gambit of emotions, all while trying to keep a stiff upper lip, and the one I keep coming back to is anger.  Not because my baby has cancer.  But because cancer is no longer a disease.  It is a business.

I started looking up treatments.  I knew Michael would probably go through Chemo, so I wanted to be as educated as possible.  I found plenty on administering the drugs, how one goes about it, where they can get it, and what the nasty side effects are.  I was feeling pretty hopeless until I found out there is a Chemo pill.  What?  So I looked it up.  Less side effects, less expensive, and taking it doesn't disrupt your life.  Eureka!!  We'd found a happy answer among a lot of bad news.

It didn't last long.  The pill is expensive as hell, in the thousands of dollars range.  And that's even if you have insurance.  Why?  Most insurance won't cover it.  Now I know insurance companies, if questioned, will offer all sorts of excuses on why they won't cover it.   These reasons sound good but basically it's all bullshit.  The reason they won't cover it is because if they do, the drug companies will lose money.

Yeah, money. 

Just today I read an article on a Canadian researcher who has found a possible cure for cancer.  Read about it here.  The drug is effective, cheap, and has no side effects.  Sounds great, right?  This man is having a hell of a time trying to continue his research.  Why?

Because no pharmaceutical company will support him.  Why?

Because they won't make a profit.

Yeah, money.

Yep.  Screw your family, your loved one, your safety, and everything about your life.  Your loved one is not a person, they are a commodity, and if big business can't make money off commodity then they won't do anything to help them.  They are not people, they are dollar signs.  Say goodbye to Daddy, kids, his insurance just ran out and we don't have a use for him anymore.

The CEO of the Susan B. Komen Foundation makes nearly $700,000 a year.  How?  Because most of the money collected for CANCER doesn't go to CANCER RESEARCH.  It goes into the pockets of those who work for the association.  Read about it here.  Just give me five minutes alone with her so I can introduce her to all her organs, one at a time.

Cancer is big business.  Don't think so?  How many people would lose their jobs today if cancer just disappeared?  I'm betting millions.  How much money would this world save if all the money we pumped into cancer wasn't necessary anymore?  Billions.  Here's the thought that struck me.  Cancer will never be cured.  In fact, cancer is going to continually grow until everyone in the world gets one form or another. 

We pollute everything with artificial crap and unnecessary chemicals.  We have more cancer cases every year.  Coincidence? 

Every company in the world slaps a pink ribbon on something they sell and promises to give money to cancer research.   Oh, they do.  But not much.  Most of the profits from their pink products goes right back in their own pockets.  And we're stupid enough to fall for it.

I saw a commercial the other day with an actor going around thanking everyone for kicking cancer.  How much did that cost?  You have the actor (who may have donated his time), but there are location fees, permits, b-actors, lighting, editing, CG, advertisement costs, so on.  How much?  Let's just say it cost $100,000 to make that one stupid commercial.  How many cancer pills would that have bought, Hollywood? 

Dealing with cancer is hard enough - The fear, the uncertainty, being helpless against something you can't fix, dealing with doctors who don't give a crap about how long it takes to give you results or information, the night sweats, the pain, the swelling, and the realization your future plans have been shot to hell.  Forget depression, the panic can kill you all by itself.  And the tears.  Good God, the tears.  It's a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone.

But the real slap in the face is realizing there are CEOs, corporations, foundations, and insurance companies clapping their hands and slapping each other on the back, singing in loud voices, "We got another one!  We got another one!" 

My man is not a dollar sign.