[Jackie07]

Thank you, 'Angel', I'll try that. (Be ready, it's going to be 'long')

I did some research on the links on GD's posting.

First, they are all '.com's. One thing we have to remember is that any web address ends with '.com' is a commercial site. Commercial sites exit because they want to make money. They are not 'non-profit' (that will be the ones ending with '.org') nor are they government site (ends with '.gov') So, we do need to be aware of their 'agenda'.

A better place to go for information is the database provided by the National Institute of Health - National Cancer Institute - National...
Use a web search engine like Yahoo or Google, and type in "PubMed", that is the best medical database in the world. And it is paid for by our tax dollars.

The governement (and many foundations) invest quite a bit money - though never enough - on cancer research. When something was discovered, drug companies start making new drug, going through clinical trial ...we all know that. It might be 5-10 years before a 'miracle' drug is invented (discovered).

The doctor who has a lab (the 2nd link on GD's last posting) has not published any research article since at least 2002. And the $3500.00 his lab requires (by the way, he has decided not to accept Medicare/Medicaid?which further tells us his 'agenda' - Perhaps he just wanted to have freedom to do his own research. But the fact that he has not published anything since at least 2002 tells us something. However, he may well publish one next week to surprise us.) to do the functional analysis (assay) is reasonable. However, isn't that what we paid our oncologists for?

Our oncologists are supposed to be the ones to have read all those research articles, gone to all those seminars, and treat us with the state-of-the-art medicine/procedure. They know us personally (if they don't, we need to force them to and they know our medical history and current condition. They are supposed to weigh all the information available and give us the best options out there. They are the one to counsel us, to walk with us...

We are desperate. Doctors are desperate. Family members are desperate. Scientists are desperate. Everyone involved in this battle are looking for something to cure our cancer. And it is a long battle.

I feel very, very privileged to be here with all the wonderful fighters. You give me hope and inspiration; you provide fellowship. But we've got to remember we are just a support group. We can exchange information, we can provide our opinions. But our ultimate goal is to support each other.
That's what we do best. And let's continue doing it.

(End of my speech - blame Angel, she's the one showed me how to type long message...