[Carolyns]

Hi Steph,

It is changing as we speak and not due to the government, right now but insurance companies. We already saw Sheila get denied Tykerb unless she took it with Xeloda (which she didn't need). On 60 minutes the other night there was a discussion about end of life care and just how costly it is... the picture was of a 90 year old woman hooked up to machines. The next statement is that Avastin has a cost of $45k and only extends the life of an advanced breast cancer patient by an average of a couple of months... Those are statistics but we all know that there are many like me living from treatment to treatment extending life for many years. Yes, each one may only take us a few months but then we go on the the next.

Well I am headed off to my Miami Dolphin cheerleader reunion this weekend... after 14 lines of treatment and I don't look or feel anything like that poor old woman in the bed. No one will have any idea what my "cancer life" is like... I will just be one of the girls having blond moments. The only way I am at the end of my life is if they determine that my treatment is too expensive.

I hope that my non mets sisters will fight just as loud and hard over this issue as they / we all did over the mammogram. It really worked!

I think that it is a false choice to say that we can either get these expensive drugs or die. If the AIDs / HIV community could get this worked out than so can we.

Carolyn