To the editor: As mentioned in the op-ed, a failure by doctors to communicate, navigate and promote equity could also mean a lack of up-to-date medical information (“Being insured in America is not the same as having access to care,” March 19). Yes, California ranks high in the rapidly growing field of cancer treatment, but sometimes, whether in our state or across the country, physicians might not be aware of the latest technology. I know this firsthand, as I was diagnosed with terminal cancer in November 2022.
My daughter was four months pregnant and expecting our first grandchild. Doctors didn’t expect me to see him based on my prognosis.
But my hospital, Cedars-Sinai, practiced state-of-the-art medicine and ran a biomarker analysis on the cancer, revealing a mutation. Further treatment using targeted medication after it spread has put me in the category of “no evidence of disease,” and now I have lived to meet not only one grandchild, but two.
In today’s world, you should visit a “center of excellence” where top doctors practice, even if they’re out of state. It could save your life.
Robin Clough, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: Guest contributor David Robles’ piece reminded me of my friend, Jessica, who at age 50 developed a thymoma — a tumor on her thymus gland. Trying to diagnose a cough, her doctor took an X-ray of her lungs, which showed a faint shadow above her lungs and heart. By the time a further scan identified it as a tumor, it was Stage 4.
Insurance paid for an oncologist who treated the tumor traditionally, with radiation and, I assume, chemotherapy. At her second-to-last meeting with the oncologist, he declared he had cured her.
Jessica had been researching and found that experimental surgery removing all the necrotic tissue around the tumor site was the only guarantee of the tumor not coming back. Her insurance would not cover the surgery. When she asked, “Well, now what do I do?,” the response was, “Palliative care?”
Sure enough, the tumor came raging back within a month or two. To this day, I wish she had simply paid out of pocket and fought with the insurance company afterward. She might be alive today.
Betsy Rothstein, Long Beach