My world shattered just days after my 34th birthday.
I was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. I am not about to let this diagnosis define my whole life. I aim to live with cancer and with love and thankfulness in my heart. You see, I have so much to be thankful for.
God has given me a loving husband who is my rock and best friend, an amazing 3-year-old daughter who is our everything, a wonderful extended family that I could not have picked better, beautiful friends and colleagues and a dream job as a social justice lawyer that I am deeply passionate about.
It was easy to miss the signs. I had had a cough for two months prior to my diagnosis, but had dismissed it as a post-viral cough. As the days went by, further testing showed I had developed a rare form of lung cancer caused by the mutation of the ROS1 gene, a mutation that only 1-2% of non-small cell lung cancer patients have, and one often found in young non-smokers like myself. The target therapy drug Crizotinib (Xalkori) has been found in recent research to be an effective antitumor medicine for this type of mutation and also has minimal side effects compared to other types of chemotherapy.
In a situation where the prognosis is generally dismal, measured in months for advanced stage cancer, Crizotinib has shown potential to extend the prognosis to years. Unfortunately, this medicine is not on the PBS and as there are no current trials available for my mutation type. It will cost us approximately $7,400 a month to access the medication that I need.
I look to this medicine as my hope. I hope to be there to send my daughter off on her first day of school with tears in my eyes, I hope to celebrate many more birthdays with the people I love, and most of all, I hope to share many more years of tears and laughter with my husband, the love of my life, as we navigate this journey together.
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