Long story short, my best friend's younger brother was injured last year and suffered internal bleeding and fluid build up around his left lung which caused it to collapse. He was treated and later released after about a week in the hospital. A couple of weeks ago he was short of breath again while working and returned to the hospital. Same issue again. This time they also found fluid around his heart that needed emergency surgery to be removed. The fluid was tested and it came back cancerous. He was later diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 lung cancer. 
How the first hospital never caught it, I don't know. He's only 37 and has never smoked in his life either. Just one of those bad things that happens to very good people unfortunately.
How is this good news? It's not, BUT while visiting him today the Oncologist came in to tell us that his cancer tested positive for an ALK mutation. Roughly 3% of people with lung cancer have it, but there is a new medicine now that can treat it. Without getting all technical, since he has the ALK mutation, this new medicine can basically keep the cancer under control. It's not 100% effective, but there's a good chance this will help him. Obviously it's not a cure, as there is no cure yet for what he has, but anything that can help him prolong his life and have a better quality of life, I'm all for it.
For those that are inclined to do such things, any thoughts and prayers for him and his wonderful family (4 brothers that I'm very close with, just awesome people that'd give you the shirts off their backs with no questions asked) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and you can beat this Jeff! :rockon:
How the first hospital never caught it, I don't know. He's only 37 and has never smoked in his life either. Just one of those bad things that happens to very good people unfortunately.How is this good news? It's not, BUT while visiting him today the Oncologist came in to tell us that his cancer tested positive for an ALK mutation. Roughly 3% of people with lung cancer have it, but there is a new medicine now that can treat it. Without getting all technical, since he has the ALK mutation, this new medicine can basically keep the cancer under control. It's not 100% effective, but there's a good chance this will help him. Obviously it's not a cure, as there is no cure yet for what he has, but anything that can help him prolong his life and have a better quality of life, I'm all for it.
For those that are inclined to do such things, any thoughts and prayers for him and his wonderful family (4 brothers that I'm very close with, just awesome people that'd give you the shirts off their backs with no questions asked) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and you can beat this Jeff! :rockon:
