Support for LateToSchool

DeniseC · April 25, 2008, 7:00pm

LTS,

You are a gift to our country on more than one level.

epistrophy · April 25, 2008, 7:25pm

and another

“Improvements in cancer treatment give hope”

John Anthony, 67, was preparing for a second honeymoon with his wife, Peggy, when a visit from his sick daughter gave him the flu. When the illness refused to go away, Anthony visited his family doctor. His wife, a nurse, suggested he get an x-ray to rule out pneumonia. But while checking for pneumonia, doctors discovered a strange spot on the upper lobe of his right lung. “I guess I was lucky to have gotten ill,” Anthony said. “We caught it early.” What the doctors caught was lung cancer, the result of Anthony’s lifetime, two-pack-a-day cigarette habit. Lung cancer is particularly aggressive, and, if not caught early enough, spreads like wildfire. And even when caught early, the odds for survival are not great. “The way they were talking, it all seemed pretty bleak,” Anthony said. The diagnosis threw the Anthony family’s daily life into chaos. The planned second honeymoon to San Francisco was canceled. But that was the least of Anthony’s concerns. Sixty-five years old at the time, Anthony’s role in the family was that of “Mr. Mom,” which meant he stayed home and cared for his two youngest children, 5-year-old Yianni and 7-year-old Victoria. “They were the first thing I thought of,” he said. “They were the biggest reason for me fighting this thing. It wasn’t going to get me, not for a long time.” Anthony went through 25 days of radiation and 12 days of chemotherapy. He also had surgery to remove the upper lobe of his right lung. He still has check-ups every three months, but now, two years later, the cancer has yet to return. And Mr. Mom has quit smoking too. Half a pack still sits in a box in his closet, a reminder of how close he came to death. . . .

[SURVIVORS</a>; Improvements in cancer treatment give hope. | The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) (May, 2001)](<a href=“http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-740338_ITM]SURVIVORS”>http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-740338_ITM)

mythmom · April 25, 2008, 7:34pm

Yes, I do believe prayer helps, too. We are all energy, the stuff of stars, and light drives the universe. Can be God if we’re so inclined.

Prayer is proactive. Very.

epistrophy · April 25, 2008, 8:45pm

LTS:

I’m glad to hear that you’ve continued to find the stories (and other links) I’ve posted here helpful. At the end of the day, I’m not sure there’s anything more meaningful than the stories that we hear and tell - about others and about ourselves.

(P.S. My federal conspiracy trial just concluded its ninth week. Today we had our “instructions conference” [that’s where the lawyers and judge discuss what instructions of law they think the jurors should be given at the conclusion of the case], and the end is finally coming into view - probably another couple weeks or so. Throughout this past week, my client was on the witness stand. Questioning a witness in a federal criminal trial for nearly two days - even [particularly?] when it’s your own client - is a draining [if satisfying, so long as it’s going well] experience.)

epistrophy · April 26, 2008, 1:42am

and another

**"Reel Survivor

Teen hopes to inspire others with her video ‘Story of Childhood Cancer’"**

Marisa Mirkes with her short curly hair and big brown eyes under sparkling blue eye shadow looks like a normal Albuquerque teen-ager. 

And she is a normal teen-ager except for one thing: She had to grow up fast, in case she didn’t grow up at all, thanks to two kidney transplants, a cancerous lung tumor and abdominal surgery. 

Marisa’s hair is curly because it fell out during chemotherapy and grew back in ringlets, a common side effect of cancer treatment. And a faint scar runs all the way up her torso, starting below her silver belly-button ring and disappearing under her ribs, a visible reminder of emergency surgery last year to remove a 6-inch portion of her small intestine. She weighs 98 pounds now, but last year, she weighed just 79. 

Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Comcast Cable, Marisa, 18, made a videotape called “We Don’t All Die A Story of Childhood Cancer” about an often-fatal disease that most people her age just whisper about. 

The Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfills the dreams of young people between the ages of 21/2 and 18 who suffer from life-threatening ailments. 

The half-hour video premiered Sept. 26 at the Hiland Theater with a special showing for 150 friends, family members and Make-A-Wish sponsors. Comcast Cable is working on airing the video at a later date on a cable channel, such as Discovery or Lifetime. 

Most kids wish for stuff like a trip to Disneyland or a shopping spree, but Marisa wanted to make a more lasting impression. She wanted to document the progress of her treatment to show other teen-agers with cancer that with a positive attitude and a sense of humor, they can be survivors, too. 

“You can’t give up. Be positive,” said Marisa recently while playing in the back yard of her Northeast Heights home with her pint-size pooch, Demi. 

Demi has a bit part in the video. 

Marisa and her mother, Monica Mirkes, a Montessori teacher, star in the video, as do Marisa’s doctors in Minneapolis. Her older brother, Aaron Mirkes, 23, is in the video too. He donated a kidney to Marisa, the third of four siblings. 

The story of her illness began the day she was born with just one stunted kidney, not the normal two. Doctors told her parents she would need a kidney transplant when she was older, so in March 2000, when she was 17, she traveled to the Fairview University Medical Center in Minneapolis. 

No medical facility in New Mexico could perform her organ transplant. 

Her mother donated a kidney, but within two hours, Marisa’s body rejected it. 

Aaron quickly offered his, which Marisa’s body seemed to accept. She appeared to be on the mend until her lung collapsed and doctors discovered a grapefruit-size tumor in the upper lobe of her left lung. Apparently, the medication she was taking to prevent rejection of the kidney had allowed a virus-activated cancer to grow. 

“I was very ****ed off,” recalls Marisa during her half-hour video. “I just had two kidney transplants and then this …” 

Unbeknownst to doctors in New Mexico and Minneapolis, a second tumor was growing in her stomach, which caused a serious lesion in her small intestine. She required emergency surgery to remove the damaged portion of her gut while undergoing chemotherapy for the lung cancer. 

These days, doctors won’t use the term “cured” for Marisa, but she seems to be disease-free. After a bout with pneumonia this fall, she is being home-schooled until next semester. In January, she plans to return to La Cueva High School to finish her senior year and graduate with her class. 

And after that? She wants to study nursing and specialize in oncology, the treatment of cancer. Her goal is to return to Fairview University Medical Center and work in the ward where she was treated. 

The long bout taught Marisa not to take anything for granted, but at the same time, not to sweat the little stuff. 

When her friends complain about bad hair days, she reminds them to be thankful they have hair. Losing her hair was one of the worst aspects of being sick. 

“Now I’m kind of like the mom of all my friends,” she says, laughing.

[Reel</a> Survivor. | Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM) (October, 2001)](<a href=“http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-2017295_ITM]Reel”>http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-2017295_ITM)

epistrophy · April 26, 2008, 7:30am

and another (this one in Ireland)

“The last gasp saloon”

Time is running out for Ulster’s smokers as they have just two days left to enjoy a puff in the comfort of a pub or restaurant.

This weekend marks the last time that anyone will be able to light up in enclosed public or work places across the province. After 6am on Monday, it will be illegal.

Businesses across the province are today making last-minute preparations for the biggest change in public health laws seen in decades. It is a radical move which has overwhelming public support and will see Northern Ireland fall into line beside the Republic, Scotland and Wales.

While the laws affect all work and public places, they are expected to have the hardest impact on the hospitality sector. From Monday, smoke-filled pubs, clubs and restaurants will be a thing of the past.

Some Ulster bars are ushering in the landmark changes with special ‘smoking nights’ tomorrow to mark the big stub out in style.

Gerry McElwee, head of cancer prevention with the Ulster Cancer Foundation, said Monday will “herald a new chapter in the health of our population” .

"We are absolutely confident that it will be an overwhelming success. All around the world smoke-free legislation has improved health, been implemented easily and had no negative economic impact.

“The only harm done is to the tobacco industry, which both dislikes people smoking less and their products being shown for what they are - lethal.”

Mr McElwee said that recent research showed that more people in Northern Ireland are aware of the legislation than anywhere else in the UK and that there is an even higher degree of public support here (95%) than in GB (81%).

"However, we still face a huge challenge for smoking and health in Northern Ireland. Every day, eight local smokers die from diseases caused by tobacco; most are hooked before they reach the age of 16 and one in five babies are born to a mother who smoked through pregnancy.

“Despite the triumph of going smoke-free in public places, the appalling truth is that smoking still kills too many people. The reality is that tobacco kills half of all smokers and leaves many others with long term illnesses.”

Pedro Donald, manager of The John Hewitt bar and restaurant in Belfast said Monday will “forever be the most significant day in the history of the hospitality industry for all the right reasons”.

**UCF lobbying activist and lung cancer survivor Mary Hill, from east Belfast, said: "I don’t think that people realise the harm that they are doing to themselves and to others when they smoke.

"It is a terrible thing to live with lung cancer and, to be honest, I never thought that it could happen to me.

“This new legislation is a milestone in improving the health of local people and I applaud UCF who have campaigned for many years on this issue.”**

Mr McElwee added that his charity has worked closely with environmental health, local businesses, unions, health and education sectors “to ensure that all smokers who want to stop have access to information and support, where and when they need it”.

“This is a great opportunity for local people to stop smoking. From our support work with local communities we know that there is a huge desire to break free from tobacco and our stop smoking teams are here to support smokers in their decision to go smoke-free,” he said. . . .

[The</a> last gasp saloon - Local & National - News - Belfast Telegraph](<a href=“http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2491924.ece]The”>http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2491924.ece)

latetoschool · April 26, 2008, 9:13am

Epistrophy, thank you, and especially for continuing to be here even while your professional workload must be at a point of high demand. Will you let us know what the jury does and how the trial turns out?

epistrophy · April 26, 2008, 10:10am

Sure.

(I have a feeling [certainly the hope] that once the jury gets the case, they’ll be out for a while. The government has introduced so much evidence - including discs containing thousands of pages of documents, for instance [there will be a computer in the jury room] - that it will be nearly an overwhelming task for the jurors simply to consider all the evidence, much less to agree unanimously on a verdict. [A big part of our job as defense lawyers, in closing argument, will be to try to get the jurors to distinguish between the quantity of the evidence and its quality.])

epistrophy · April 26, 2008, 10:26am

and another

**“Emory University Receives Largest Private Donation in Georgia History to Fund Lung Cancer Research”

Today, the largest donation from a single event to benefit lung cancer research in Georgia was provided to Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta. The $130,000 gift was made possible by the inaugural Every Breath You Take Golf Tournament, which was founded and organized by lung cancer survivor Tammy Willett and the Georgia Chapter of Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA-GA). The donation will fund research in the field of lung cancer, the nation’s leading cancer killer.

“As a survivor, I am keenly aware of how this disease has been so stigmatized and neglected,” said Willett. “That is why I felt compelled to put together this important event. Increased research funding is absolutely critical to finding better treatment options and I am proud of what we have achieved this year to help those impacted by this disease.”**

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death nationwide and in Georgia, contributes to 30 percent of all cancer deaths. This year alone, 6,260 Georgians will be diagnosed with lung cancer – 4,790 will die from this disease. That is more than breast, prostate, colon, kidney, and skin cancers combined. Moreover, the majority of those now being diagnosed with lung cancer quit smoking decades ago or never smoked at all. Yet lung cancer research funding and support for early detection has lagged far behind all other major cancers.

“This is an historic moment for Georgia’s lung cancer community, as this kind of donation has never been received anywhere else in the state”, said Ed Levitt, LCA-GA chapter director. “This sets the stage for future public and private collaboration to secure the necessary resources to address lung cancer with compassion and support, as is done with every other major disease. We have put lung cancer on the map in Georgia.”

The gift was presented to Dr. Fadlo Khuri, Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Winship Cancer Institute, and Deputy Director for Clinical and Translational Research. The funds will be directed exclusively to Dr. Khuri’s lung cancer research.

[Emory</a> University Receives Largest Private Donation in Georgia History to Fund Lung Cancer Research. | PR Newswire (January, 2007)](<a href=“http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29128825_ITM]Emory”>http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29128825_ITM)

curiousmother · April 26, 2008, 10:37am

Happy Belated Birthday, LTS!!! I just caught up on the posts of the last few days, and you just made me smile. I love it that you approached the two smokers, and I do believe they’ll be thinking about you when they reach for their next cigarette. And your thoughts on prayer are simply beautiful. I need to print them out and make them a part of my prayer life.

Have a wonderful time at Old Ebbit Grill. What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

Churchmusicmom, I will pray for your friend.

churchmusicmom · April 26, 2008, 2:17pm

Thanks to all for the prayers for my friend’s bro.

LTS, I copied your thoughts on prayer and sent them to my friend (who whose brother is a minister, by the way). He appreciated it greatly and will share them with his brother. He also shared the following with me, and it is from a book called “Unrelenting Prayer”:

latetoschool · April 26, 2008, 3:17pm

Churchmusicmom, that’s interesting; when I was first diagnosed, my daughter wondered out loud if God was trying to pull us back in closer to where we used to be, before college and my non stop travel schedule and regular church attendence went by the wayside.

The five year survivor and I have gone over this ground extensively. We both strongly believe that there is some higher reason why we have cancer. Our speculations have run a bit wild - ranging from he thinks that he was allowed to survive in order to support me through this, because I am supposed to be somehow instrumental in preventing the next 9/11; because we think we’re supposed to take on big tobacco; because I’m supposed to hire him (he’s former military and knows something about national security issues); because we’re supposed to have some impact on the health care system; because we’re supposed to intersect with other people in desperate situations and help them; because we are supposed to refocus on serving God - and so on. These speculations all sound grandious and perhaps even silly of course and in my mind perhaps it’s as simple as lots of actionable data ending up on CC thanks to Epistrophy and company and lots of unseen, unheard persons benefitting.

We have discussed this extensively, sometimes for hours at a time, and one thing we are certain of is that this is NOT random: there is a reason for this trial by fire, (and, yes, intense heat and pressure is a pretty good description) and since we cannot figure it out, the best thing to do is get busy living and try to make positive things happen out of this; also, to be realistic and who we can help, and what we can do, and otherwise recognize what is beyond our ability (like trying to do anything about the health care system right now).

Curiousmother thank you, - I tried to find more smokers yesterday but got to my office too late - chemotherapy took eight hours by the time I got fluids, both drugs, etc., so, it was late afternoon by the time I got to my office and then it was late at night when I left. I will try again next week; maybe one person at a time it will be possible to be a little bit more impactive.

anon94785555 · April 26, 2008, 3:30pm

Bravo for stopping smokers on the street. My mother died suddenly of an MI at 53- she was a smoker. I have no qualms about spoiling someone’s day with a nasty comment about the stinky air I pass through or in telling teens to quit as they walk home. As a physician I’ve seen too many consequences of smoking, and those times like yours when life isn’t fair. I don’t feel sorry for you/pity you (sympathy to the max, yes, but I can’t look down at you to feel sorry/pity when you are so far up there) because from this thread I can tell you are having a much fuller life than most of us- may you continue to enjoy and participate in everything for a long, long time. PS- some of that may seem garbled, but I think you understand.

epistrophy · April 26, 2008, 6:12pm

“Lung Cancer Survivor Shares Story”

Ed and Barbara Netter have seen cancer take the lives of a number of their loved ones. Ed Netter lost both parents to cancer, and the Greenwich couple most recently lost a daughter-in-law to breast cancer.

Then one day a leading pathologist friend took Ed Netter to a conference on gene therapy. “It blew my mind,” said Netter. He began reading and talking with scientists and learned, “All cancer is caused by missing or defective genes.”

And what was odd, he said, was that "in the world today, they’re fixing it afterwards with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

“Gene therapy doesn’t have any collateral problems,” he said, “no after effects. Gene therapy just goes after bad cells.”

Netter, a philanthropist and entrepreneur in the health, medical and educational fields, asked a friend, Dr. Savio Woo, chairman of New York’s Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, if any group in the world was funding innovative cancer gene therapy. The answer was “no,” and Netter was on his way.

Founded in 2001 by the Netters, the nonprofit Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, based in Stamford, has granted nearly $19 million to leading scientists around the world to push this life-saving therapy.

To spread the word about the positive effects of gene therapy on one of the deadliest forms of cancers, the Alliance hosted a symposium last Wednesday at the Bruce Museum: “The Promise of Cancer Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Lung Cancer.” Barbara Netter, a therapist and facilitator at the Den for Grieving Kids at Family Centers, said in her introduction, "In 2008, there are 1.4 million new cases of cancer, the second most common cause of death after heart disease.

“By altering genes in a tumor,” she said, the course of the disease could be altered, leading to “a longer and better way of life.”

**With a 75 percent mortality rate, there are few lung cancer survivors. Of 200,000 cases in a year, only 15 percent are living after five years.

That made a visit by Texan Connie Burnett-West all the more special. To many, Burnett-West is a living symbol of hope as she survived cancer in both lungs after receiving gene therapy treatment in 2000.**

Her savior, Dr. Jack Roth, was the featured speaker Wednesday. Roth directs the W.M. Keck Center for Innovative Cancer Therapies at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one of three medical centers in the country targeting lung cancer. Roth introduced gene therapy treatment in his clinic.

Netter introduced Roth as “one of the leading cancer specialists in the nation, and a pioneer in repressing tumors in lung cancer.”

“Lung cancer is the silent cancer,” said Roth, “and silent because symptoms appear when the cancer is large.” To illustrate one of the main causes of lung cancer, he showed an image of two cowboys in a spin-off of a Marlboro cigarette ad, with one man saying to the other, “I miss my lung, Bob.”

Roth called tobacco “as addictive as cocaine.” Strikingly, though, 15 percent of lung cancer victims “have never smoked.”

Treating lung cancer with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have side effects. “We’ve got to develop gene therapy as it is more effective with less side effects,” Roth said.

But, he added, there was less funding for gene therapy “than for any other treatment in the world.”

In a series of slides, Roth explained the gene therapy treatment, how cells are extracted and then altered and reinserted into the tumor. “We target the DNA,” he said.

“We replace the p53 in a cancer cell. It kills the cancer cell, and leaves the normal cells alone.”

The technique was first tried by the Chinese. “They will be completing random trials this year,” he noted.

Slides of tumors before and after the reinsertions revealed the dramatic recession of the tumors. “These tumors couldn’t be removed by surgery,” he said, “and radiation doesn’t work very well.”

Of 19 patients Roth has treated, 63 percent were tumor free in three months.

“I’m a nine-year cancer survivor,” said Burnett-West, adding, “You’re a survivor from the day you’re diagnosed.”

Burnett-West, who’d given up smoking 12 years prior to her diagnosis and whose father died of lung cancer, said she first thought she’d come down with a cold. But a chest X-ray showed tumors in both lungs.

“I couldn’t have surgery or radiation,” she said.

Then began her “odyssey,” a clinical trial of six doses of chemotherapy. “It’s not as bad as they say it is,” she said. She lost her hair. “That’s not so bad; hair is hair.”

In the second clinical trial - “the cancer was growing again” - she took a pill. “It made me so sick,” she recalled. The third clinical trial brought a bit of surgery but also a vaccine. “It was made specifically for me,” she said.

One shot of altered gene therapy - “and no side effects,” said Burnett-West. “Because of that therapy, I’m standing here talking to you.”

Burnett-West is now a patient advocate where she was treated at the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, helping more patients get this life-saving treatment.

**Throughout Burnett-West’s odyssey, she carried and still carries a piece of paper with a quote that sustained her. “Ernest Hemingway wrote it during World War II,” she said. “‘We won’t always win but it’s important to put up a great fight.’”

She penned her own words of encouragement on the paper beneath the quote: “Never quit. Never give up.”**

[Lung</a> Cancer Survivor Shares Story - Greenwich Citizen - News](<a href=“http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_9053296]Lung”>http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_9053296)

astrophysicsmom · April 26, 2008, 8:18pm

LTS, a belated happy b-day from me too…Just catching up—keep on keeping on!

ADad · April 26, 2008, 8:36pm

poetsheart · April 27, 2008, 4:33am

Happy Birthday, LTS. I’ve not posted since you first told us about your battle, but I’ve been keeping up with this thread and praying for you every chance I get. You are my hero, LTS. And I thank God for your life.

Poet

epistrophy · April 27, 2008, 7:29am

and another

“Cancer patients share close bond at Lake Martin Camp”

Bobby Powell stepped forward on the dock and gently dropped a white carnation in the water. The flower honored his wife, Margaret.

They had come here together the past four years for support, for hope, for friendship. The others at Camp Bluebird understood what Margaret was going through, what it was like to be an adult with cancer.

Last year, Margaret died of breast cancer. Then, Bobby found out he had cancer.

This year, he returned to Camp Bluebird alone.

I never regret it by coming up here, he said. Im planning on coming back next year if Im able.

Nearly 26,000 Alabamians will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone, according to an estimate by the American Cancer Society. The number is up slightly from last years estimate of about 25,500.

Typically the numbers increase as the population ages and reporting is improved, said Justin George, an epidemiologist with the Alabama State Cancer Registry.

Ovetta Caver was diagnosed when she was 80. Now shes 86 and the oldest cancer survivor at Camp Bluebird.

For three days last week, Carver soaked up the sunshine, relishing the bond she has with the 15 other campers. It is a place they are able to cry and be understood, a place they can talk and be heard.

Being at the camp is inspiring, she said. It makes me feel good when Im at home, Im not always feeling good. Yes, Lord, its nice at the camp.

Retirees and employees of AT&T Telecom Pioneers established the cancer program about 20 years ago at YMCAs Camp Chandler. In 2005, the three-day program moved to Childrens Harbor at Lake Martin. This year, Faith and Grace Hospice Inc. became a co-sponsor.

Each year, the camp attracts 20 to 30 cancer survivors from those newly diagnosed to those undergoing treatment to those in remission to those in hospice care.

Theres not many lives not touched by cancer, said Mona Burdick, who heads the AT&T Telecom Pioneers.

Burdick finds herself touched by campers and their courage.

Im very honest when I say this I get just as much or more out of this camp as the campers do, she said.

In the beauty of the outdoors, Burdick wants campers to find peace as well as lasting friendships.

Most of these people do not know each other, she said. And they form a bond. And we have our sad times we lost seven campers from last year. But you know what? They were here last year, and it was just amazing, they said it was the best medicine they ever had in their lives, better than all medicine in the world.

To remember the seven, their loved ones dropped flowers in the middle of a wreath placed in the lake.

Unless you come to this camp, you dont understand it, said Betty Parker, 76, in remission from both lung cancer and carcinoma cancer. Were all one big family, one big cancer family.

Being thankful for the gift of life is the message that hospice chaplain Dean Finch delivers to the campers.

Not everybody gets to get up every day, Finch, of Horizon Hospice Care, said at a devotional. We are not destroyed it does not matter what happens to our bodies physically. Our faith is not destroyed because we know that the Lord is faithful, that he is just, and that he is going to watch over us.

For Valerie Pritchett, in remission from breast cancer, looking out at the water and being able to fish re-energizes her.

The cancer, and the thought of it returning, she said, is something beyond my control. I just try to live every day like my last day because I never know when my last day may be.

**To Parker, the camp is the understanding and the love from her one big cancer family.

When you first find out you have cancer, its a very hard thing to understand on a personal basis, she said.

And when we come up here and share our experiences and what the Lord has given us, even though we are cancer survivors, hes blessed us in so many ways.**

[montgomeryadvertiser.com</a> | Montgomery Advertiser](<a href=“http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/NEWS/80427001]montgomeryadvertiser.com”>http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/NEWS/80427001)

latetoschool · April 27, 2008, 10:16am

wis76, thank you for your post and especially for not pitying me; I cannot stand to be pitied and I refuse to consider my situation in anything other than the most productive, position way possible. The lung cancer issue is more than just smokers though; Friday, information crossed my desk that a 31 year old mother of two and never-smoker died of non small cell lung cancer. Her children were just two and five years old. Just like the 29 year old lawyer who was also a never- smoker, these situations give the word “unfair” a whole new meaning. Whatever is the outcome of my situation, at least I have been given the gift of a life long enough to see my daughter through college and into career launch, to have a wonderful career of my own, etc. To be 29, 31, etc. and never smoke and die from lung cancer…this is just so wrong…

epistrophy · April 27, 2008, 11:27am

A few miscellaneous observations, for whatever they may be worth:

–While it’s clear that a small but significant percentage of those who develop lung cancer never smoked (15% is the figure I usually see), I believe that it’s a mistake for the lung cancer “community” to focus so much attention on them. The problem with doing so, in my view, is this: if the nonsmokers are “innocent” and “blameless,” the necessary corollary of that view would appear to be that all the smokers (or former smokers) who develop lung cancer are “guilty” - and are, in a sense, simply getting what they deserve.

–As has been discussed previously on this thread, the separation of those with lung cancer into two camps - the “innocent” over here, the “guilty” over there - is very reminiscent of the way the conversation about AIDs initially played out. Children who had contracted the disease through, say, a blood transfusion were of course “innocent,” whereas gay men, on the other hand, were “guilty.”

–While I’m no expert in this area, I think that the physiology and psychology of nicotine addiction may be a bit more complex than is sometimes believed. Evidence for a more complex view of this particular addiction would include, I think, the fact that the exact same drug (buproprion) is sold, under different names, as both an antidepressant (Wellbutrin) and as an aid to quitting smoking (Zyban).

[Bupropion</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupropion]Bupropion”>Bupropion - Wikipedia)

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