Note: Among other things, this longish post addresses the anxiety of knowing something’s very wrong with a key part of your body after you thought it had been fixed; the state of kidney cancer treatment now and in the future, the cost conundrum; and the psychological toll that having advanced stage cancer takes on us and our families.
The setting is the 2016 Kidney Cancer Symposium, co-sponsored by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute, and Harvard Medical School. Think of this as a bonus chapter to Immunopatient. Who knows, there may be more. Thanks for reading. As always, I welcome your comments.
I walked slowly to mask my slight hobble into the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Newton, a suburb of Boston. I found my event – The 9th Annual Kidney Cancer Symposium – listed on a flat panel television screen next to the reception counter. The medium-sized room turned out to be in a far corner of the hotel’s sprawling first floor. Down one long carpeted hallway after another, I tried to focus on maintaining a stride with good form.