Lung Cancer Education Day

November is Lung Cancer month. As part of this, some doctors who are connected with the BCCA, organized the Lung Cancer Education Day. Apparently, it took 2 years to put this event together. The day was very informative and beneficial. The people who shared their knowledge and experience were 2 respirologists, 2 oncologists, a radio oncologist, a thoracic surgeon, a dietition, 2 nurses and 2 lung cancer patients (one of which was me.) Yup, I had a gig on the weekend! My bit was important. Comic relief. Each one of the speakers was very informative but not so entertaining. I was asked to share my perspective on cancer treatments and the clinical trials. I tried to do that but there was just so much comedy that needed to be pointed out. People showed their appreciation with heart felt laughter and some asked when my next speaking engagement would be. We will just wait and see.
What I learned from the professionals was that they are looking to the studies and trials to teach them more. There is a derth of research being done on lung cancer because of a stigma. The old school thinking is lung cancer is caused by smoking so stop people from smoking and stop lung cancer. I don't smoke. The other patient who shared at the Education Day never smoked and was very cautious of second hand smoke. There is not much information out there on lung cancer. When you look at the statistics, lung cancer is more deadly than prostrate, colon, and breast cancer combined. Shocking. The nature of lung cancer is that it doesn't show symptoms until it is well advanced. I was in stage 4 when I was diagnosed. That means the lung is the primary site but there is cancer in other parts of the body. This is what makes it deadly. More research will help in early diagnosis.
One of the organizers of the event was one of the oncologists who spoke.This was Dr. Ho. If you have been reading my blog, you may remember Dr. Ho is my oncologist. She will be moving on to a higher calling within a couple of weeks. She will be missed at the clinic but we all understand that there is one person who needs her more. Happy parenting Dr. Ho.