Well, I’m still not ON the drugs. I’d expected it this week (because last week the doctor told me to expect it this week). But when you are taking a relatively new, hard core cancer drug, there are papers to file and bureaucratic procedures. First, there’s insurance. I have insurance through Quebec, but private insurance …
Category Archives: Cancer
Back in the cancer saddle
Headlines: I’m going on a new cancer drug. It’s called lenvatinib (the brand name is Lenvima). It’s meant to be permanent, but there are side effects, and they need to see which ones I get and how I’m affected. So I’m cancelling all my travel for the next 3 months (my hope/goal is to be …
2015 in Review
Like most years, 2015 was mixed with both good and bad. It was a tough year for a lot of my friends, and lots of terrible stuff happened in the world, but I’m not one of the “good riddance to 2015” people. On a personal level, I have a lot of good memories. My travel …
More Suspended Attention
Since last fall, I’ve been on an every three months regime of getting scanned. Two have been chest and abdomen, other was just my lungs. They are tracking the speed of spots in my lungs, looking for anything to get bigger. The last scan, done at the end of June, showed my largest lesion at …
Health Update: Suspended Attention
After last November and December’s adventures in cancer world, it isn’t surprising that I get a lot of questions about my health and emails wishing me well, often based on incomplete information. Of course since I have incomplete information, that’s no wonder. So here’s some slightly more complete information. We’re back to watch and wait. Ideally, …
More on Cancer, Luck, and Behavioural causes
A day later, I’ve been pointed to some nice writings but scientists and statisticians. See here: http://pb204.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/science-by-press-release.html A few things become clear: 1) the coverage is of the press release, not the actual paper but 2) there are still major problems in the assumptions of the paper. The “luck” appears to be mostly an artifact of …
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Medical Research as Ideology: Cancer is Luck
A new Johns Hopkins study finds “luck” as a major cause of cancer. This is a great example of how medical research turns social conditions into inevitability and writes ideology (the order of things is given and unchangeable) as if it were science. While there is talk of personal responsibility as a possible cause for …
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