I received a video from an episode of Americas Got Talent, the popular TV program that features up-and-coming performers.
A slender young woman with an angelic face, a kind demeanor and very short hair stepped onto the stage. As she introduced herself, the host inquired about her background and the song she would be performing.
When the question turned to what she did for a living, she said she had not been working. She stated very calmly that she was battling metastatic cancer. Taken aback, the host asked “Are you OK?” “Well not exactly” she said as she explained that her cancer had “returned to her lungs, spine and liver”.
She performed her composition “It’s OK”; the recurring chorus being “It’s OK, It’s OK, It’s OK”, a soft reminder that even in the worst of times, one must look to the bright side and not allow life’s hardships defeat you.
(Image generated, not the original singer or show.)
I then found out that she died in San Clemente, California in 2022 at the tender age of 31 from metastatic breast cancer.
I found the TV segment so touching and sad that I shared it with my staff. But, the more I thought about it the more disappointed I felt.
How could this young woman have died from a disease that we can almost always treat and often cure?
How could this young woman fail when there are so many new treatments being developed?
How could my laboratory group been denied the opportunity to help her?
Tragically, she died on February 19th, 2022 just 35 miles south of my laboratory in Southern California.
I have no idea whether I could have helped her. I have no idea what her cancer might have responded to but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I will never have the chance to find out.
How can we be so complacent, when a young talented woman dies? Shouldn’t we do all in our power to find a solution or at least try? Shouldn’t this young woman have been tested and treated according to her unique biological features? Did we miss the opportunity to save or, at the very least, extend her life?
Every patient is their own story in the making. Every patient deserves the right to receive the best treatment for them. I find myself deeply saddened by this young woman’s death.
If you or someone you know find themselves in a similar situation; Call us. We will make sure that you don’t fail for a lack of trying.
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