New day

It’s 20C today, and sunny!  How lovely, and just a beautiful introduction to spring!  Jerry is sulking a bit because his support worker spent time looking after me and not just playing with him 😜  He also got thrown off my lap for digging his claws into my one sore spot and then plunking his full weight on me.  Don is loving the warmer, but not humid, weather, and was out on the balcony for a long while this afternoon.  He has caught up on both his PVR and sports shows, so he’ll be wandering around like a lost puppy as he works out what to watch next… streaming services are still available, so we’ll see what he comes up with!

I’m sorry to report that I seem unable to eat Indian food still.  I had some small servings of Indian yesterday and today, and both times I had ‘digestive issues’ within an hour so it’s clear that it’s the food that’s to blame.  I’m not pleased by this, as curry is one of my favourites, but my system has been rejecting it since I’ve been on chemo for a while now.  

I’m going to admit a serious disappointment that I had recently.  I commented to someone at the Cancer Society that I wished that we were at the Star Trek stage of medicine where my tumours could be biopsied and used to develop a personalized treatment plan.  She said that she’d heard of a couple of researchers who were working on something like that — called the Personalized OncoGenomic program, or POG.  It purports to use a patient’s tissue to create a therapy that should reduce many of the effects of chemo and be more effective.  There was one study based in British Columbia which has been running for a while, but is only open to BC residents.  There was another one in Ontario, and my contact followed up for me.  We were hopeful that it could lead to a clinical trial for me.  Then she got a response saying that they had discontinued those trials as they were unsuccessful in actuality.  The technique is still being used to explore cancer progression and the tumour environment, although in a patient the environment is much more challenging than in vitro.  I’m disappointed that it doesn’t work, although it didn’t surprise my oncologist.  When we discussed it, he said that he hadn’t seen any published results, although the studies seem to have been running for a while.  We’ve all heard anecdotes about ‘miracle’ cures that haven’t been substantiated or studied

It’s led me to a couple of conclusions.  The first is that while there are so many wonderful ideas, they don’t always translate from the lab to clinical practice.  This is one of them, as the idea is fantastic, but the science isn’t yet at a point to respond to all the variables in reality. The other conclusion affects my review of grant applications.  Because of this, I realized that I have a bias towards new technology, and I tend to review more positively those that make use of things like genetic profiles, 3D printing and so on.  It means that my future reviews will be evaluated more strictly… I see that there is potential, and I love the concept that the newer technologies could reduce side effects, improve drug efficiency, and generally improve patient outcomes.  I know that the researchers will continue working to improve the science — I’m still blown away by the sheer number of different cancers and how different they can be — so that patients can have better quality of life and good outcomes. 

I’m going to find something for dinner; my tummy is still less than happy, so it will need to be gentle.  Jerry is curled up on Don and pretending to sleep (with his eyes open, watching to see what I do) Good night!