In the Fall of 2017, when I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, I began chemotherapy treatment almost immediately - in an effort to aggressively begin eradicating the equally aggressive rampant growth of Myeloma cells in my bone marrow. The clinic where I was and still am receiving treatments, was only 6 months old. It was a state-of-the-art facility that boasted nearly three dozen infusion pods ("chairs"), a few additional private rooms with beds, and a feng shui that took into consideration the best of patient needs and treatment efficiency - for the available space. On my most recent visit, I noticed a large excavated hole in the ground (where an elementary school once stood - which is a commentary in and of itself) across the street from the main hospital. The sign associated with this obvious new construction heralded the coming of a comprehensive cancer center. When I inquired from the staff about that plan, it was explained that they had outgrown the two separate infusion clinics that existed (one being our new center), and were bringing the disparate factions of two buildings (solid tumor and blood-borne) under one roof (nine floors) with bigger treatment facilities, a larger lab, and myriad additional, much-needed support/administrative capabilities.
To say that cancer is "big business" seems a little bit over-simplified and unjustly mercenary, but the reality is that cancer is an expanding disease state in the US (second leading chronic disease after Heart Disease). Is it because modern medicine has conquered the majority of the easy diseases and all that's left are the hard ones like cancer? Is it because cancer diagnostics has gotten so much better and therefore more people are being identified earlier? Is it because new therapies are being discovered every day; giving health and hope to more people than ever before?
It's probably a combination of all of these factors. We all seem to know someone near and dear who has joined the Club. You know me. A few very close relatives of mine have also had their run in. And the list of family and friends grows daily. As does the list of successes and extended lives that are increasingly more common; almost expected.
The business of cancer is developing early detection diagnostics, allowing for tailored and targeted treatments, proactively suppressing severe side effects, and providing positive prognoses for all of us. I can live with that kind of business - and actually am living because of it.
