[Debbie L.]

Hi Snufi,

Thanks for letting us know your plans. I wish you good luck in finding an onc who is flexible. Did you try asking an ombudsman/patient advocate at a nearby cancer center, and/or networking with men and women in a local breast cancer support group? If you are wealthy,
"Cancer Treatment Centers of America" are known for their ability to customize and tailor treatment to individual preferences (even they are dissed on their cost and their lack of state-of-the-art care). Since there doesn't seem to be anyone on this list local to you with a connection to such an onc, I again suggest these local networking options as a place to start. (not CTCA)

I have soapbox about "national health care". I will try not to get carried away with it right now but my thoughts are that we US citizens are horribly spoiled and have an entitlement attitude that is going to have to change, if we want to offer equal and quality care to all. We're going to have to make some concessions and we are not going to be able to have access to every single treatment we might want, if this is going to work. Frankly, I am more concerned about basic health care for all than I am about a few more months of life for a very few. That sounds harsh, but I think that it needs to be said (and thought about). So I say it. I don't like it, but I see it as the truth. I do not think that it's "killing off people who would otherwise live". The cost of our technology has outstripped our ability to pay for same. Either we agree to make concessions now, or we wait for absolute crisis to force change. If we wait, I don't think we have long to wait, alas.

Debbie Laxague