More On Excuses
In response to my entry of April 19, "Excuses, Excuses," a reader responded that he heard the same excuse from his doctor that I wrote about in that entry - that is, he was a candidate for RIT but would be back soon for a transplant. The patient I initially wrote about and the reader who made the comment live in different parts of the country, hundreds of miles apart.
It is difficult to find words to express my frustration when I hear stories like these. The top lymphoma experts in this country know that RIT can give patients years of remission. Many of them have repeatedly stated their conviction in scientific journals and in articles for patients. And yet outside of larger academic institutions, many patients are never offered the chance to take RIT. Many patients continue to hear lame excuses which are not based on scientific evidence.
How can the war on cancer ever be won if doctors refuse to make use of excellent treatments like RIT? It's awfully sad to think that this is the state of our medical care, but sadder still is the fact that many patients continue to undergo longer, more toxic and less effective treatments. Please don't let this happen to you.
Betsy