Why Beating Cancer is a Lottery

You can’t win if you don’t play.

And sometimes, you can’t win even if you do.

Does that title sound weird? Apologies ahead of time, but the more I deal with this disease and the more I hear of other people’s struggles with it, the more like a lottery cancer seems. One of the most interesting, but cruel, things about the Big C is that it isn’t choosy who it kills and who it spares. I call it “the great equalizer.”

Earlier in the week, we learned that the lovely Kelly Preston, John Travolta’s wife, was secretly battling breast cancer for two years. Alex Trebek has been beating the pancreatic cancer odds for about as long. And we know that Steve Jobs, in spite of being a billionaire, lost the fight after eight years. Yet, a poor chick like me can get some top shelf medical care and do okay.

On June 22nd I had my third PET scan, three months after pinpoint radiation to my lung. My radiation oncologist at Dana-Farber felt as though she would be able to cure my lung tumor…and did. My scan was nearly clear, and I have Stage IV lung cancer, the biggest cancer killer by far. Granted, my metastasis is very limited and, in fact, does not include any other major organs. Even so, good luck finding a case like mine out there in medical land.  This doesn’t happen on a regular basis. I have been extremely lucky. I’m not supposed to be here and wouldn’t be if I didn’t go to a comprehensive cancer center for my care. So yes, I’m winning the cancer lottery!

The cancer lottery has little to do with money. Buy your ticket, pick your numbers carefully, and hope for the best.

Back to that PET scan for a minute. One small sight was still lighting up, a node in my right shoulder muscle. Currently, I’m in Boston undergoing fifteen treatments of radiation to rid my body of the last traces of a disease that normally kills people much stronger than I.  I fully expect that my next scan will be clear.

Sigh.

How did this happen?

First, let me point out that I didn’t get lung cancer because I was a smoker. Yes, I smoked when I was a teenager, but the cause of my disease is what my oncologist refers to as a “genetic accident.” No one knows when it started, but there’s a fair chance that it had been growing for many years, and wasn’t discovered until last September, when a tumor started to appear in the area of my sternum. As horrendous as it was to have a visible tumor, the fact that I could see it is yet another way that I got “lucky in an unlucky situation.” Lung cancer rarely has signs that can be seen. As I sit here typing this I’m overwhelmed by how things could have been so different for me.

I also won the treatment lottery. Because of a mutation in my tumors, I bypassed chemo and was able to take a pill to shrink my cancer down to a size where radiation could be used to eradicate the remainder. Cutting edge treatment, folks. Of course I’m really simplifying it. The fact that the medication worked so well was another miracle. Jeez, did I ever hit the jackpot!

As I walk the polished floors of Dana-Farber and Brigham & Women’s in Boston, I see little old ladies just out of chemo bent over in wheelchairs, and little kids with bald heads taken from appointment to appointment by their vigilant and exhausted parents. No one wants to lose this battle.

A growing number of cancer patients become long-term survivors. We know what happens to the rest. But what’s the deciding factor?

Luck definitely has a lot to do with it, and a fortunate roll of the dice. But making good decisions has a major chapter in the plan book, too.

Here’s what worked for me.

First and foremost, the best medical care that I could get. After that, a predominantly positive attitude. Prayers and good vibrations from whomever was offering. Sidestepping negativity. Fighting to keep my mind and body strong. Educating myself as much as I could in all things lung cancer, and cancer in general. Getting back to doing the things I love to do sooner than could have been predicted. Being in very good physical shape to start with. Having a decent diet. Finding the joy in life again. Asking questions and getting answers. And relishing the miracle.

Are there people who do all these things and don’t get positive results? Unfortunately, yes. But don’t be one of the ones who doesn’t try.

As Americans, we love talking about who wins the Super Bowl and the World Series. We marvel at athletes in the Olympics and Wimbledon and the Indy 500. But here’s what a cancer survivor knows: There’s no bigger fight than the fight for your life. And when you win the cancer lottery, you’ve done something pretty special.

Play to win.