Forty percent of Americans will face cancer. Instead of protecting us, Trump wages war on science itself, gutting research and gambling with every heartbeat, every family, every future.
It makes me cry thinking what's going to happen to people when they can't get care for cancer treatment or find new ways to save people. It's sickening on a level I've never felt before.
As a fellow Canadian....back up your words and make sure Trump North...Polliever and his Maggot North losers get nowhere faast. We can look south to the Orange nightmare......taking care of our nation is the priority.
WJB I don’t think one has to be exclusive of the other. We 🇨🇦 can protect our country from the fascism south of us, and provide support to some of them too. And I try to do whatever I can.
I don’t think many ‘woke’ 😅 Canadians have any tolerance for PeePee (Poilievre) His maple MAGA followers are loud, but the others are greater in number. I still don’t understand how he was re-elected with an 80% vote. WTF?? PM Smith is a fucking nutcase who knows nothing of the land she’s so freely wanting to give away for a photo op with trump. Albertans, I believe are getting more vocal in numbers about their distrust and disgust of her. To me, that’s where they need to stand up and be counted before she causes more MAGA harm.
Not to worry for the rich, though. They can always travel to other countries. Way to go WH Idiots, handcuff and assassinate the US's health leadership, a major strength.
I've survived cancer three times thanks to great hospitals and doctors. I was first operated on for cancer 20 years ago. I had chemo 17 years ago and though I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, it saved me the second time. All this was science fiction not that long ago, and thanks to the Dr.s and scientists who fight this awful disease everyday I've had twenty extra years on earth. Trump wants to make sure there are many fewer stories like mine!
I'm one of the millions of people who will be losing my ability to afford marketplace insurance at the wnd of December. after that I'll be uninsured, and therefor I wont be going to the doctor anymore.
Don't wait, go to your doctor, your district representative, and call Medicare/Medicaid even though we have been told there will be cuts. You will probably have to get on the telephone racetrack and call a lot, but there are efforts being made to cover people depending on where you live. You may feel really bad right now, but keep fighting!
i work all the time im not sleeping, all my income goes to paying off debts from school, medical bills, housing, transportation, and food. i literally don't have half an hour of free time to call the doctor, to fill out paperwork for finacial aid. It's not that im giving up, its that im already fighting with all of my time and strength just to stay above the rising tide of poverty
I am sad to hear you are already working so hard just to stay on top of things. I have been there, unemployed, husband also, 401K gone, etc. It is hell when you are tired all the time. You still need help and I hope you have a couple of relationships in the medical community or in the information tech community who can ease the burden of hours of calling. Best wishes to you!
I'm sorry to hear that. And I understand that fear, as I'm seemingly to be one of the new "eugenics" victims of this administration.
Anyone needing more pain relief than required for a tooth extraction (such as a lifetime with scoliosis) is gonna have a difficult decision to make, and soon. A decision already made by >50,000 American over the past decade, and just thrown into overdrive in the past few months by Mr. Trump himself, apparently.
I hope we both survive, dw, but millions of us won't.
Beautifully written, sadly this is all too common where the programs required to assist such individuals will be further defunded, pain patients further marginalized and those in desperate need of relief could end up on the streets, all too easily. I’m a retired pain physician and of the early pioneers but getting back into treating pain and addiction. I fought the Sacklers and multiple institutions
back in the early to mid 90’s, but sadly we haven’t evolved much , mostly due to greedy and incompetent physicians milking their cash cows (or calves) X big pharmacy X and lack of empathy, mostly in red states. Oye
Thank you for everything you did to try to protect us. I wish I had better words for how grateful I genuinely am.
I experimented with the 180 mme that Walmart expects/demands, and it's not likely survivable for me. (You can only hurt that much briefly. After a while the pain eats your brain, or at least your connection to reality.)
And since this sudden acceleration may ultimately be the result of a RAGE call from Trump to the CEO of Walmart concerning tariff costs on price tags, I'd guess this is both the coming limit, and something Trump will consider a "win".
After all, the Trump WH has already saved 258,000,000 American lives by seizing drugs! Think how many BILLIONS of American lives will be saved(sic) by the meds we that we are already dying for lack of:
And there's this from "between terms" (2023), and it's far more serious now, with potentially >10M Americans that will be at grave risk between NOW and the next few months:
"Americans are Dying in Uncountable Numbers Because their Cause of Death Is Being Listed As “Suicide”, Not “DEA Dictated Pain Medication Deprivation” "
my sister is in the same boat. and she has type 1 diabetes...... trump ended the affordable insulin program instituted by Biden, and now is taking away marketplace insurance subsidies and medicare. basically what's going to happen is my sister will either have to skip buying groceries, heating oil, electricity, and her auto payment, or die from lack of insulin. so essentially an incurable illness she's had since childhood, through no fault of her own, is now going to drive her into debt, bankruptcy, homelessness, and likely death.
I suppose we’ll be the jews in 1939 Germany, those remembered for being lynched in pre-civil rights America, and the children of The Children’s’ Crusades; only valued or appreciated in our absence, as a lesson for the next generation to forget and ignore.
Seems absolutely mad that these issues (statistically) effect almost EVERY household...yet no action.
I know that you and your sister are NOT merely statistics, but now that an American government is choosing who lives and who dies, one might expect SOME reaction.
I suppose when Trump started out by killing 1,000,000 Americans (overwhelmingly his own supporters) that sort of ended all conversations about compassion.
As a mental exercise, let me count the ways Trump wants me gone:
1. Autistic
2. Disabled
3. Scoliosis
4. Dependant on opioids
5. Old-ish
No matter that I worked enough to max out both disability, then social security benefits.
We're not statistics, but we may as well be...
"One death is a tragedy. 50,000,000 deaths is a wonderful gift to Trump and Friends."
Churches don't have enough money to keep their doors open, let alone provide expensive medical treatment for the seriously ill. There isn't enough go-fund-me money out there, except when it comes to lining the pockets of people like kirk's grifter widow who has so far amassed over $5 MILLION!!! in donations to her "indigent" family with a "barely able to get by" worth of only $12 Million!
Strong family support? How does that help unless one is of wealth?
Sorry I find your comment both dismissive and obtuse, no better than "just hold a bake sale". Cancer costs huge amounts of money aside of the treatment: loss of wages, cost of copays, parking, travel. Our grandson had cancer. It cost his young parents over $500 in one week between food, travel, turnpike fees and lost wages. And his mother was fortunate to stay in a Ronald MCDonald house nearby. God only knows what a 10 day stay in a Boston hotel near the hospital would have cost. We aren't wealthy but contributed what we could, yet his father was still left with $2500 co-pay due to our grandson "maxxing out" his medical insurance coverage for the year. Fortunately the hospital continued the radiation treatment even though the insurance was no longer covering it and Massachusetts "Free Care" covered the balance owed so his blue collar father wasn't left with this debt. As a young adult our grandson had no insurance at his low end job. His affected limb, left forearm, was swelling and extremely sore. He had no insurance to cover an MRI to see if his cancer returned. As grandparents my husband and I looked into paying for the MRI with money pulled from his 401K. Fortunately our grandson was able to get coverage through CTs Medicaid program, Husky, due to the ACA. Others, I'm sure, have not been so lucky and things are only going to get worse with trump's proposed cuts to this vital program. These are real people, our fellow citizens that you're so callously seeming to advise to just find the money for treatment themselves. Maybe it sounded better in your head?
One of the government's responsibilities, per the Constitution, is to promote the general welfare of the governed people. One shouldn't have to hope to live on the charity of private individuals. Our government has a responsibility to help the least among us. They shouldn't have to go begging for help from the generosity of strangers who could never contribute enough money to save them all.
i may have no choice but to beg my community for support, however, as a single adult with no chidlren, there are struggling families in my community who will need that support as well, and I would rather they have it than me. I can't afford to see a doctor, let alone have children.
i have a family, many of whom are well-off, all "liberals", but literally all of them believe homeless people are homeless because they are lazy or made poor choices. they would not help me if i was hanging of the edge of a cliff (they'd say "you got yourself into this situation, get yourself out"). my only family, friends, community who have enough empathy to help me, lack the means to help me and are dealing with the same issues themselves.
fortunately I at least have a roof over my head right now, which is more than many people have.
I think we need to change our thinking. We may no longer have the choice to live as a group of people with a common problem, but only to fight for our own individual (or family) survival. (And that feels much the same as failure to me.)
I have tricks and tips to deal with pain that I can share, but getting hold of meds that are no longer being manufactured in sufficient quantities is the greater problem, and that won't end. (And it's very intentional.)
As long as half of America values luxurious comfort for billionaires over the very lives of their own children, nothing will change, and we can only hope that midterms take place, that we last until then...and then 2 more years.
Only then will there be any real point in even checking on us.
Robert Greenberg, a retired anthropologist whose Substack has become one of my go-tos, calls this "necropolitics." He argues that to the oligarchs and techbros, any human who is not productive needs to be weeded out of the field. They are not interested in prolonging our lives beyond the point where we can be retired and replaced. Society shouldn't have to support the non-productive. (Thank you once again, Ayn Rand.)
Since cancer is the leading killer of the elderly, it's in their interest to allow it to continue to serve that role.
Well, then...I will cross my fingers and hope that every damned techbro and oligarch gets a diagnoses of some kind of cancer. After all, I wouldn't say that most of them are terribly productive either.
Why am I not surprised? Actually, I don't care if they are "changed" by their ordeal (or death) by cancer or not. It just would be better for the world in general to be rid of these parasitic arseholes.
the elderly... and the orders of a near 80yo potus & Congress that is far older than US population.
Bizarre that Republicans think they are above getting Cancer (anywhere in their body).
The shock when they find a lack of new options to diagnose, treat, or monitor recurrence.
"As of 2025, the average and median ages of the 119th U.S. Congress are significantly higher than the median age of the general U.S. population.
--House of Representatives: median age 57.5 (half are above that; half below)
--Senate: median age 64.7 years old.
In contrast to the elected officials,
the general U.S. population is much younger:
USA national Median Age: 39.1 years in 2024." (google AI)
Younger population = population needs ongoing research. many more years to live in which Cancer could strike.
WE can't give up, that the smarter & more caring people in the USA WILL prevail.
But it will take ACTION from all of us... protests, calls/email to mass media and to all Congress. And encouraging local level candidates to step up to the plate immediately.
Your post reminded me of Star Trek. Found this: """Half a Life" is the 96th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 22nd episode of the fourth season.
Lwaxana Troi falls in love with Timicin, a scientist who is participating in an experiment to test his theories of stellar ignition. Timicin hopes to use the technique to save his world's dying star, but the experiment fails. Although Lwaxana encourages Timicin to continue his research, the scientist reveals that he can't. It's time for him to go home for "Resolution"- a ritual suicide invoked at the age of sixty to save children from the burden of a parent's aging."
One poster commented: "Instead of getting rid of old people, let's start with the truly useless members of the population. So politicians, lawyers, door-to-door salesmen...."
I used to work at the Cancer Institute- NCI at the NIH, bedside research (now retired). Extraordinary hard work to see what treatment modalities worked for certain cancers. Many of the current standard treatments wouldn't be available if it wasn't for the work we did, from the doctors, nurses, lab techs, radiologists and radiology staff, respiratory therapy dept, hematology. I can't begin to tell you what an extremely coordinated effort it was by everyone. To see that most of that has been destroyed breaks my heart and it saddens me that this insanity is going to lead to increased mortality rates. You'd have to be inhuman to stop that important work, or any of the lifesaving treatments going on.
Thank your for saving my life--twice so far. I'm still treating but so far so good.
Your research helped my friends and I survive the same breast cancer that took our grandmothers. Thank you so much for all your work. It breaks my heart to see it thrown away.
This regime delights in cruelty and I understand they intend to have most of us die rather than spend one penny to better anyone's lives. They intend to grift everything for themselves.
Yet, they are against abortion, using their religion as an excuse, only because they claim there will not be enough workers over the next 30+ years. Russia is stealing Ukrainian young children for the same reason. Very sick people running Russia and now the US.
It must make you physically sick to your stomach sometimes when you think about what we had and what Elon Musk and Big Balls with Trump's approval took away from us. I bet it does make you sick to your stomach sometimes.
I was diagnosed with a terminal blood cancer, multiple myeloma,nine years ago and if not for medical technology I would be dead by now. I’m not cured but I woke up this morning. 😎 Cutting cancer research funding to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy is something that our government should be ashamed of.
A cancer diagnosis was already a financial worry. With Trump and the GOP shutting down research, universities and hospitals in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy, it will be very hard to be diagnosed and treated effectively no matter what the cost. Cancer, any cancer, will once again become a death sentence.
Crimes against humanity. And not just Americans. All over the world the Monster regime has cut back on health related activity. Please, ICC in the Hague, open up a case against Trump and all his lackeys.
And it us clear that if you are a Trump supporter, you DO NOT LOVE your family. Harsh words but sure seems that way.
My dream: Jack Smith goes back to the ICC as a prosecutor. One morning he goes to his office. There is a new case folder on his desk. He opens it. And smiles.
I see Trump’s attacks on research as part of the far right’s enduring effort to discredit and diminish anything supported by government funding. It’s all part of a cynical effort to undermine legitimate authority….and substitute the word of Trump in its place.
Donald Trump is a deliberate holocaust creator, a mass murderer, a slaughterer of humanity. He must be held accountable. Life imprisonment in solitary in Max.
Same place as Kohberger is. Now in addition to all his complaints about harassment through the air vents : noise all day and night, etc. , he's claiming sexual harassment.
This hits super close to home for me. I've had cancer 2 X (am ok now thankfully. 4 years out.). My daughter has had it, one friend had breast cancer, fortunately both will survive. But another friend is literally on her way out right now with an aggressive multiple myeloma. She was hoping to be in a clinical trial to save her life, but unfortunately it went too far and is too aggressive. She's got days left.
So yeah this hits super close to home for me. We need to continue cancer research!!!!
It's unfortunately not something that has a quick fix. It's literally different and unique for everyone that has it because it's our own cells and our own DNA. More research is needed!!!!!
I'm so ticked off and frustrated with this administration I can hardly stand it.
I had 2 types of cancer by age 47, Including being a statistic to bring colorectal screening age down to 45 (tho not far young enough).
Makes me sick to hear this.
There is ZERO reason... to harm Americans AND
to put USA to the bottom of the list of countries making strides in medical research.
The only point I can see:
DT's extreme egomaniacal narcissism to delete any good thing a former president (esp Dem) has done.
Wonder if Repub idolatry of DT is so much that the Cancer patients & family members will now say... oh well, who cares about getting well.
Are they ALL willing to die - actually die from disease- for a random potus (who himself is a malignancy). Or, are they continuing their cancer treatment (ONE THAT RESEARCH FOUND!)
Cancer is 100+ diseases (across bone, organ, tissue, blood, lymph nodes, brain & spinal cord).
There is no '1 and done' as its about cells that mutate.
It takes a planet full of the smartest, most dedicated, science and medical minds.
The success is in lives saved, and in lives made (somewhat) easier during the painful process.
Science does not have a completion date... not as long as humans live here.
Research must be ongoing... Not isolationist. Not partisan.
I am a 3 time cancer survivor. Still here because *research*. This year, I lost two very dear friends to cancer. The fight is not over and should never be over! This is beyond stupid and infuriating. The cruelty is always the point with this evil administration.
It makes me cry thinking what's going to happen to people when they can't get care for cancer treatment or find new ways to save people. It's sickening on a level I've never felt before.
It's going to happen to them too. Just like the gun violence that just took one of them.
I agree. I am from Canada and just feel so saddened that people are suffering.
As a fellow Canadian....back up your words and make sure Trump North...Polliever and his Maggot North losers get nowhere faast. We can look south to the Orange nightmare......taking care of our nation is the priority.
WJB I don’t think one has to be exclusive of the other. We 🇨🇦 can protect our country from the fascism south of us, and provide support to some of them too. And I try to do whatever I can.
I don’t think many ‘woke’ 😅 Canadians have any tolerance for PeePee (Poilievre) His maple MAGA followers are loud, but the others are greater in number. I still don’t understand how he was re-elected with an 80% vote. WTF?? PM Smith is a fucking nutcase who knows nothing of the land she’s so freely wanting to give away for a photo op with trump. Albertans, I believe are getting more vocal in numbers about their distrust and disgust of her. To me, that’s where they need to stand up and be counted before she causes more MAGA harm.
Thank you.
Thank you, Kecia!
Thank you for caring
Not to worry for the rich, though. They can always travel to other countries. Way to go WH Idiots, handcuff and assassinate the US's health leadership, a major strength.
I am right there with especially as a retired RN
And this is in addition to cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), SNAP, and so many other programs that save lives.
This is on the makers of project 2025 which just so happen to be members of this regime.
Only in America can the logic of "Make Cancer Great Again" gain a purchase with politicians on the Right...smfh.
I've survived cancer three times thanks to great hospitals and doctors. I was first operated on for cancer 20 years ago. I had chemo 17 years ago and though I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, it saved me the second time. All this was science fiction not that long ago, and thanks to the Dr.s and scientists who fight this awful disease everyday I've had twenty extra years on earth. Trump wants to make sure there are many fewer stories like mine!
I'm one of the millions of people who will be losing my ability to afford marketplace insurance at the wnd of December. after that I'll be uninsured, and therefor I wont be going to the doctor anymore.
Don't wait, go to your doctor, your district representative, and call Medicare/Medicaid even though we have been told there will be cuts. You will probably have to get on the telephone racetrack and call a lot, but there are efforts being made to cover people depending on where you live. You may feel really bad right now, but keep fighting!
I agree, keep on fighting.
Excellent!
i work all the time im not sleeping, all my income goes to paying off debts from school, medical bills, housing, transportation, and food. i literally don't have half an hour of free time to call the doctor, to fill out paperwork for finacial aid. It's not that im giving up, its that im already fighting with all of my time and strength just to stay above the rising tide of poverty
I am sad to hear you are already working so hard just to stay on top of things. I have been there, unemployed, husband also, 401K gone, etc. It is hell when you are tired all the time. You still need help and I hope you have a couple of relationships in the medical community or in the information tech community who can ease the burden of hours of calling. Best wishes to you!
Agree
dw,
I'm sorry to hear that. And I understand that fear, as I'm seemingly to be one of the new "eugenics" victims of this administration.
Anyone needing more pain relief than required for a tooth extraction (such as a lifetime with scoliosis) is gonna have a difficult decision to make, and soon. A decision already made by >50,000 American over the past decade, and just thrown into overdrive in the past few months by Mr. Trump himself, apparently.
I hope we both survive, dw, but millions of us won't.
“New eugenics victim”….damn that was loud!
Beautifully written, sadly this is all too common where the programs required to assist such individuals will be further defunded, pain patients further marginalized and those in desperate need of relief could end up on the streets, all too easily. I’m a retired pain physician and of the early pioneers but getting back into treating pain and addiction. I fought the Sacklers and multiple institutions
back in the early to mid 90’s, but sadly we haven’t evolved much , mostly due to greedy and incompetent physicians milking their cash cows (or calves) X big pharmacy X and lack of empathy, mostly in red states. Oye
Mike,
Thank you for everything you did to try to protect us. I wish I had better words for how grateful I genuinely am.
I experimented with the 180 mme that Walmart expects/demands, and it's not likely survivable for me. (You can only hurt that much briefly. After a while the pain eats your brain, or at least your connection to reality.)
And since this sudden acceleration may ultimately be the result of a RAGE call from Trump to the CEO of Walmart concerning tariff costs on price tags, I'd guess this is both the coming limit, and something Trump will consider a "win".
After all, the Trump WH has already saved 258,000,000 American lives by seizing drugs! Think how many BILLIONS of American lives will be saved(sic) by the meds we that we are already dying for lack of:
"STAT debunks AG Bondi’s drug bust claims"
https://drugfree.org/drug-and-alcohol-news/stat-debunks-ag-bondis-drug-bust-claims/
Sorry, Mike. I'm really tired, and I no longer have anyone here to rant toward...
I'm done. Thanks.
You should hear the echoes in my house...
And there's this from "between terms" (2023), and it's far more serious now, with potentially >10M Americans that will be at grave risk between NOW and the next few months:
"Americans are Dying in Uncountable Numbers Because their Cause of Death Is Being Listed As “Suicide”, Not “DEA Dictated Pain Medication Deprivation” "
https://medium.com/@foofaraw/i-beg-you-to-consider-reading-what-i-desperately-hope-wont-be-my-last-medium-article-bf5cb5052a2c
I'd love to be wrong, but the meds we need to live no longer exist in adequate numbers, and not by accident.
my sister is in the same boat. and she has type 1 diabetes...... trump ended the affordable insulin program instituted by Biden, and now is taking away marketplace insurance subsidies and medicare. basically what's going to happen is my sister will either have to skip buying groceries, heating oil, electricity, and her auto payment, or die from lack of insulin. so essentially an incurable illness she's had since childhood, through no fault of her own, is now going to drive her into debt, bankruptcy, homelessness, and likely death.
I suppose we’ll be the jews in 1939 Germany, those remembered for being lynched in pre-civil rights America, and the children of The Children’s’ Crusades; only valued or appreciated in our absence, as a lesson for the next generation to forget and ignore.
Seems absolutely mad that these issues (statistically) effect almost EVERY household...yet no action.
I know that you and your sister are NOT merely statistics, but now that an American government is choosing who lives and who dies, one might expect SOME reaction.
I suppose when Trump started out by killing 1,000,000 Americans (overwhelmingly his own supporters) that sort of ended all conversations about compassion.
As a mental exercise, let me count the ways Trump wants me gone:
1. Autistic
2. Disabled
3. Scoliosis
4. Dependant on opioids
5. Old-ish
No matter that I worked enough to max out both disability, then social security benefits.
We're not statistics, but we may as well be...
"One death is a tragedy. 50,000,000 deaths is a wonderful gift to Trump and Friends."
Dee, do you live in a community, affiliated with a church, have a strong family support system. Initiate a GoFund if feasible.
@Diana Feather-
Churches don't have enough money to keep their doors open, let alone provide expensive medical treatment for the seriously ill. There isn't enough go-fund-me money out there, except when it comes to lining the pockets of people like kirk's grifter widow who has so far amassed over $5 MILLION!!! in donations to her "indigent" family with a "barely able to get by" worth of only $12 Million!
Strong family support? How does that help unless one is of wealth?
Sorry I find your comment both dismissive and obtuse, no better than "just hold a bake sale". Cancer costs huge amounts of money aside of the treatment: loss of wages, cost of copays, parking, travel. Our grandson had cancer. It cost his young parents over $500 in one week between food, travel, turnpike fees and lost wages. And his mother was fortunate to stay in a Ronald MCDonald house nearby. God only knows what a 10 day stay in a Boston hotel near the hospital would have cost. We aren't wealthy but contributed what we could, yet his father was still left with $2500 co-pay due to our grandson "maxxing out" his medical insurance coverage for the year. Fortunately the hospital continued the radiation treatment even though the insurance was no longer covering it and Massachusetts "Free Care" covered the balance owed so his blue collar father wasn't left with this debt. As a young adult our grandson had no insurance at his low end job. His affected limb, left forearm, was swelling and extremely sore. He had no insurance to cover an MRI to see if his cancer returned. As grandparents my husband and I looked into paying for the MRI with money pulled from his 401K. Fortunately our grandson was able to get coverage through CTs Medicaid program, Husky, due to the ACA. Others, I'm sure, have not been so lucky and things are only going to get worse with trump's proposed cuts to this vital program. These are real people, our fellow citizens that you're so callously seeming to advise to just find the money for treatment themselves. Maybe it sounded better in your head?
One of the government's responsibilities, per the Constitution, is to promote the general welfare of the governed people. One shouldn't have to hope to live on the charity of private individuals. Our government has a responsibility to help the least among us. They shouldn't have to go begging for help from the generosity of strangers who could never contribute enough money to save them all.
i may have no choice but to beg my community for support, however, as a single adult with no chidlren, there are struggling families in my community who will need that support as well, and I would rather they have it than me. I can't afford to see a doctor, let alone have children.
i have a family, many of whom are well-off, all "liberals", but literally all of them believe homeless people are homeless because they are lazy or made poor choices. they would not help me if i was hanging of the edge of a cliff (they'd say "you got yourself into this situation, get yourself out"). my only family, friends, community who have enough empathy to help me, lack the means to help me and are dealing with the same issues themselves.
fortunately I at least have a roof over my head right now, which is more than many people have.
I've said for decades that half the world would gladly trade places with me, sight unseen, just for a roof, food and a bed.
I haven't said that in months, and I doubt I ever will again.
I think we need to change our thinking. We may no longer have the choice to live as a group of people with a common problem, but only to fight for our own individual (or family) survival. (And that feels much the same as failure to me.)
I have tricks and tips to deal with pain that I can share, but getting hold of meds that are no longer being manufactured in sufficient quantities is the greater problem, and that won't end. (And it's very intentional.)
As long as half of America values luxurious comfort for billionaires over the very lives of their own children, nothing will change, and we can only hope that midterms take place, that we last until then...and then 2 more years.
Only then will there be any real point in even checking on us.
Not a bad idea.
Someone I know from Medium has raised >$200K with GoFundMe, but she's had a very serious need for years now.
And she's likely not in any better position than any of us...now.
I'm so sorry!
Robert Greenberg, a retired anthropologist whose Substack has become one of my go-tos, calls this "necropolitics." He argues that to the oligarchs and techbros, any human who is not productive needs to be weeded out of the field. They are not interested in prolonging our lives beyond the point where we can be retired and replaced. Society shouldn't have to support the non-productive. (Thank you once again, Ayn Rand.)
Since cancer is the leading killer of the elderly, it's in their interest to allow it to continue to serve that role.
Well, then...I will cross my fingers and hope that every damned techbro and oligarch gets a diagnoses of some kind of cancer. After all, I wouldn't say that most of them are terribly productive either.
When one of the Koch Brothers developed cancer, it really changed him.
He went from being a right-wing, liberal-hater trying to undermine social security...
To a right-wing, liberal-hater trying to undermine social security, who donated to cancer research.
All while making >$15M EVERY DAY!
Why am I not surprised? Actually, I don't care if they are "changed" by their ordeal (or death) by cancer or not. It just would be better for the world in general to be rid of these parasitic arseholes.
Fair...
15 million a day? I can hardly believe that number.
That's an old number, and it was for EACH of the 2 brothers.
Apparently it was/is the 2nd largest company in America...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch,_Inc.
the elderly... and the orders of a near 80yo potus & Congress that is far older than US population.
Bizarre that Republicans think they are above getting Cancer (anywhere in their body).
The shock when they find a lack of new options to diagnose, treat, or monitor recurrence.
"As of 2025, the average and median ages of the 119th U.S. Congress are significantly higher than the median age of the general U.S. population.
--House of Representatives: median age 57.5 (half are above that; half below)
--Senate: median age 64.7 years old.
In contrast to the elected officials,
the general U.S. population is much younger:
USA national Median Age: 39.1 years in 2024." (google AI)
Younger population = population needs ongoing research. many more years to live in which Cancer could strike.
WE can't give up, that the smarter & more caring people in the USA WILL prevail.
But it will take ACTION from all of us... protests, calls/email to mass media and to all Congress. And encouraging local level candidates to step up to the plate immediately.
Your post reminded me of Star Trek. Found this: """Half a Life" is the 96th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 22nd episode of the fourth season.
Lwaxana Troi falls in love with Timicin, a scientist who is participating in an experiment to test his theories of stellar ignition. Timicin hopes to use the technique to save his world's dying star, but the experiment fails. Although Lwaxana encourages Timicin to continue his research, the scientist reveals that he can't. It's time for him to go home for "Resolution"- a ritual suicide invoked at the age of sixty to save children from the burden of a parent's aging."
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/65163/star-trek-episode-where-old-people-have-to-die
One poster commented: "Instead of getting rid of old people, let's start with the truly useless members of the population. So politicians, lawyers, door-to-door salesmen...."
I used to work at the Cancer Institute- NCI at the NIH, bedside research (now retired). Extraordinary hard work to see what treatment modalities worked for certain cancers. Many of the current standard treatments wouldn't be available if it wasn't for the work we did, from the doctors, nurses, lab techs, radiologists and radiology staff, respiratory therapy dept, hematology. I can't begin to tell you what an extremely coordinated effort it was by everyone. To see that most of that has been destroyed breaks my heart and it saddens me that this insanity is going to lead to increased mortality rates. You'd have to be inhuman to stop that important work, or any of the lifesaving treatments going on.
Thank you for your dedication to cancer treatment.
Thank your for saving my life--twice so far. I'm still treating but so far so good.
Your research helped my friends and I survive the same breast cancer that took our grandmothers. Thank you so much for all your work. It breaks my heart to see it thrown away.
This regime delights in cruelty and I understand they intend to have most of us die rather than spend one penny to better anyone's lives. They intend to grift everything for themselves.
Yet, they are against abortion, using their religion as an excuse, only because they claim there will not be enough workers over the next 30+ years. Russia is stealing Ukrainian young children for the same reason. Very sick people running Russia and now the US.
Yep!
It must make you physically sick to your stomach sometimes when you think about what we had and what Elon Musk and Big Balls with Trump's approval took away from us. I bet it does make you sick to your stomach sometimes.
Thank you for what you did to save people with research
trump and maga absolutely are qualified for that!!
I was diagnosed with a terminal blood cancer, multiple myeloma,nine years ago and if not for medical technology I would be dead by now. I’m not cured but I woke up this morning. 😎 Cutting cancer research funding to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy is something that our government should be ashamed of.
Damn straight!
Hear you Kirk. Every morning when I wake up I say thank you for one more day.
A cancer diagnosis was already a financial worry. With Trump and the GOP shutting down research, universities and hospitals in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy, it will be very hard to be diagnosed and treated effectively no matter what the cost. Cancer, any cancer, will once again become a death sentence.
Crimes against humanity. And not just Americans. All over the world the Monster regime has cut back on health related activity. Please, ICC in the Hague, open up a case against Trump and all his lackeys.
And it us clear that if you are a Trump supporter, you DO NOT LOVE your family. Harsh words but sure seems that way.
My dream: Jack Smith goes back to the ICC as a prosecutor. One morning he goes to his office. There is a new case folder on his desk. He opens it. And smiles.
Thank you for my first smile through reading this article and comments!!
I see Trump’s attacks on research as part of the far right’s enduring effort to discredit and diminish anything supported by government funding. It’s all part of a cynical effort to undermine legitimate authority….and substitute the word of Trump in its place.
Donald Trump is a deliberate holocaust creator, a mass murderer, a slaughterer of humanity. He must be held accountable. Life imprisonment in solitary in Max.
And send Melania along with him. To keep him company 😂
And the sons.
LOL....Melania will be banging her secret servicing man.......The Sloveinan Sphinx wants nothing to do with a shriveled Orange mushroom.
Same place as Kohberger is. Now in addition to all his complaints about harassment through the air vents : noise all day and night, etc. , he's claiming sexual harassment.
https://globalnews.ca/news/11344000/bryan-kohberger-prison-transfer-idaho-sexual-harassment/
This is unbelievably horrifying
This hits super close to home for me. I've had cancer 2 X (am ok now thankfully. 4 years out.). My daughter has had it, one friend had breast cancer, fortunately both will survive. But another friend is literally on her way out right now with an aggressive multiple myeloma. She was hoping to be in a clinical trial to save her life, but unfortunately it went too far and is too aggressive. She's got days left.
So yeah this hits super close to home for me. We need to continue cancer research!!!!
It's unfortunately not something that has a quick fix. It's literally different and unique for everyone that has it because it's our own cells and our own DNA. More research is needed!!!!!
I'm so ticked off and frustrated with this administration I can hardly stand it.
Janis, Considering your circumstance I bet you are.
Cutting cancer research is just part of Trump‘s revenge tour. He knows how important cancer research is/was to Biden
I hadn't thought of that but I bet you are right.
More detail about the cuts made to research:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-cancer-moonshot-trump-cuts-harvard-columbia/
I had 2 types of cancer by age 47, Including being a statistic to bring colorectal screening age down to 45 (tho not far young enough).
Makes me sick to hear this.
There is ZERO reason... to harm Americans AND
to put USA to the bottom of the list of countries making strides in medical research.
The only point I can see:
DT's extreme egomaniacal narcissism to delete any good thing a former president (esp Dem) has done.
Wonder if Repub idolatry of DT is so much that the Cancer patients & family members will now say... oh well, who cares about getting well.
Are they ALL willing to die - actually die from disease- for a random potus (who himself is a malignancy). Or, are they continuing their cancer treatment (ONE THAT RESEARCH FOUND!)
Cancer is 100+ diseases (across bone, organ, tissue, blood, lymph nodes, brain & spinal cord).
There is no '1 and done' as its about cells that mutate.
It takes a planet full of the smartest, most dedicated, science and medical minds.
The success is in lives saved, and in lives made (somewhat) easier during the painful process.
Science does not have a completion date... not as long as humans live here.
Research must be ongoing... Not isolationist. Not partisan.
I am a 3 time cancer survivor. Still here because *research*. This year, I lost two very dear friends to cancer. The fight is not over and should never be over! This is beyond stupid and infuriating. The cruelty is always the point with this evil administration.