Living Proof
I watched “Living Proof” on LMN about the doctor and his development of the cancer drug Herceptin, with my mother. Swoosie made me cry when she displayed a torturous agony of desperation while BEGGING the doctor to help her daughter. He knew the drug worked on the daughter. She knew the drug worked. But the funding entity did not allow room for continued treatment for her in the next phase of the study. You could feel the distress and misery of a mother, desperately wanting to save her daughter. Of course I was teary eyed when Bernadette received her good news that she was cured. But it wasn’t easy watching as time went by those treatment chairs become empty from the deaths occurring.
While the movie did illustrate difficulties in getting a good drug pushed through the system, I don’t think it quite captured the severity and true nature of what the doctor really goes through to get it done.

October / Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I know we are all actually aware of breast cancer.
But what I never realized is it is a cancer like other cancers.
I thought it was just in the breast. You get it taken out or the breast off and you are done with it. However that is not the case. It can spread. It spreads to your lungs or brain which is a natural pathway through the lymph nodes and how they drain. It travels into the bones or to any distant organ in the body. One that is necessary to be alive. There are also different types of it, different receptors etc. Some are cured, if you are lucky, after enduring grueling and punishing treatments. Many are not.

This Saturday, on Lifetime Network (I don’t usually watch Lifetime) is a movie based on Dr. Dennis Slamon (portrayed by Harry Connick, Jr.) detailing his hand in the development of the drug Herceptin. This is the drug they use on breast cancer patients that are HER2/NEU positive. Not long ago, being HER2/NEU positive was a hopeless death sentence. I’m 0.2 points away from being positive for HER2/NEU, so currently I won’t be receiving this drug. Today, doctors actually consider it a good thing to be positive because this drug WORKS. Anyway, the movie, “Living Proof” showcases the difficulties in getting this drug passed for a clinical trail, and the struggles of the first women to take it. The cast is an interesting out of the ordinary mixture and could prove to be quite powerful, among them Bernadette Peters, Amy Madigan, Regina King, and who doesn’t love Jennifer Coolidge or Swoozie. (At times Swoozie looked a lot like MY MOM).

"LIVING PROOF" - 8 pm / Saturday October 18th.

Lifetime Movie Network

My next posts I hope to share pictures of radiation effects (burns) to explain how that is all going, and share what I've learned about lymph nodes & lymphedemia.

THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME DURING THIS.... JOURNEY.