Here's an excellent article by Roni Caryn Rabin in the New York Times by about living with metastatic breast cancer. Hidden in the middle is an excerpt about one patient:
When they find a drug their tumor responds to, they can achieve a remarkable degree of stability. Pat Strassner, 61, of Severna Park, Md., had breast cancer that spread to her lung and hip in 2007, but she has had success with a chemo pill called Xeloda for the past three years. The drug has side effects, including drying out the skin on her hands and feet so much that they crack and bleed....
What a shame that Ms. Strassner did not know about a simple treatment for that syndrome, published by Monique Doyle Spencer, author of The Courage Muscle.
What a bigger shame that she and others have not been told by Roche Pharmaceuticals about this approach, presumably because of some corporate fear of running afoul of FDA regulations.
I cite Monique's blog all the time now in my speeches - a perfect example of how it's no longer correct to think the most accurate, useful information will be found in the establishment.
ReplyDeleteAs a former search engine marketing guy, I also think it's wicked cool that her blog shows up on the first page of Google search results for "xeloda side effects."
Until recently she even outranked WebMD for that search, which I say is good, because WebMD doesn't have a thing when you search it for hand foot syndrome (the name of that side effect).
My mom used to live in Severna Park. I wonder if anyone's pinged Ms Strassner.