• Home
  • Contact
  • Submit a News Release
Saturday, May 17, 2025
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Mainland Times — Breaking Continental European News
  • Climate
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Europe
  • Health
  • Education
  • Society
  • Sport
  • World
  • Climate
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Europe
  • Health
  • Education
  • Society
  • Sport
  • World
No Result
View All Result
Mainland Times — Breaking Continental European News
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

Cancer Journal: The Gift of Time

Michael Sanders by Michael Sanders
02/26/2022
in Health
Cancer Journal: The Gift of Time
15
VIEWS

I have recurrent head and neck cancer. A year ago, I received an end-stage diagnosis with a prognosis of months. The surgeons said that the tumour at the base of my tongue was inoperable.

Out in the Canadian winter. The wind causes the redness in my cheeks, but that’s also a side effect of pembrolizumab.

Yet here I am this morning, skiing down a trail by the Ottawa River. How and why?

Because we just got the report from my most recent CT scan. In the wretched prose they apparently teach in Med School, the radiologist begins:

The previously described tongue base lesion is not identified. No other soft tissue lesion of the neck identified.

Get it? THEY CAN’T EVEN FIND THE TUMOUR. How did this happen?

Here I should tell you an inspiring story of how I fought on the beaches, fought on the landing grounds, fought in the fields and in the streets, fought in the hills; how I never surrendered and never gave up.

Did I fight? I have worked out every day I’ve been sick (albeit, on the worst days, the workout was just a long dog walk). But all that did was keep me sane. My tumour shrugged off 35 sessions of radiation that killed nearly everything else in my throat. Possibly my pushups entertained it.

What’s killing my tumour is pembrolizumab, the immunotherapeutic drug that the chemotherapy unit drips into my veins every three weeks. It works by disabling the molecular mechanisms whereby the tumour evades my immune system. The drug works only with a small group of people whose immune system is calibrated in just the right way, and I am such a person. The remission is a pure unmerited gift.

How do I go forward from here? The odds are still that cancer will come back to kill me. There are likely a few cells somewhere, multiplying away. If they survive, these cells will eventually evolve a new way to counter my immune system that the pembrolizumab cannot fix. If so, cancer will return.

After having been through an extended period of facing death every day, I’d be a fool to think that “my life is saved.” I have an extension for which I am deeply grateful. I hope I can use it well.

  • If you know someone who has cancer, consider sending them a link to this post.
  • To read the Cancer Journal from the start, please begin here.
  • A table of contents for the Cancer Journal is here.
  • To get the Cancer Journal in email, subscribe here.

@Bill_Gardner

The post Cancer Journal: The Gift of Time first appeared on The Incidental Economist.

Recommended

Vivid, the all-in-one financial platform, launches in Romania

Vivid, the all-in-one financial platform, launches in Romania

3 years ago
Estonia remains emerging Europe’s leading tech ecosystem, but access to talent is an issue

Estonia remains emerging Europe’s leading tech ecosystem, but access to talent is an issue

3 years ago

Popular News

  • FineVPN Launches New VPN Service Using xRay Protocol for Enhanced Privacy and Security

    FineVPN Launches New VPN Service Using xRay Protocol for Enhanced Privacy and Security

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • EricMalley.com Explores AI and the Human Experience: Insights from Visionaries Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Andrew Ng on Its Impact on Individuals, Families, and Work

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ASST Capital – Alexander Whitmore’s Vision for Next-Generation Intelligent Investing

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • MilX Unveils Groundbreaking Study on How YouTube Creators Manage Their Money in 2025

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Filmmaker John Martoccia Unveils New Masterpiece: Critical Acclaim Premieres October 18-24 at Cinema Village, NY & Laemmle Theatre, Santa Monica

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Subscribe and receive the latest news to your email.

SUBSCRIBE

Category

  • Business
  • Climate
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Europe
  • Health
  • Latest
  • Society
  • Sport
  • World

Site Links

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

About Us

Mainland Times is an independent online outlet that publishes socially relevant news taking place on the European continent. Mainland Times aggregates news from several sources, and also provides coverage through a network of local correspondents.

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Submit a News Release

© 2021 All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Europe
  • Economy
  • Health
  • Climate
  • Climate
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Education
  • Society
  • World

© 2021 All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In