In the fall of 2021, 我发现自己收到了无数我的病人曾经收到过的同样的消息:那是癌症.
作为一名医学肿瘤学家，我认为我知道乳腺癌诊断会带来什么. Viewing it from the vantage point of a clinician, my immediate thoughts were: “This looks like a straightforward case. I’m lucky it was caught early and it’s likely curable. We just need to get a couple more facts, and then we can come up with the treatment plan and get started.“接受我现在是病人的事实，嗯，这是一条我不太确定的道路.
From oncologist to patient
Right after my diagnosis, 我把注意力集中在与我的医疗团队合作上，以确定我的癌症的最佳治疗方案. 作为一名肿瘤学家, 我感到非常幸运，因为我对我的两种疾病都有深刻的了解, prognosis and how the healthcare system works. I had an outline in my head of what my treatment plan would be, 我开始考虑哪一两周我可能要请个假来完成整个疗程, so I could get back to life and work as usual.
But 癌症 had its own plans. 第一个障碍是当我发现由于多灶性乳腺癌, I needed a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy. 这意味着重建手术现在是一个考虑和治疗方案的发展. After my first surgery there was a major complication, which meant another unexpected surgery a couple of weeks later. 手术后, 我经历了药物的严重副作用，治疗计划再次发生了变化. There was constant evolution of the treatment plan, which meant continuous reshuffling of my own expectations. In the end the treatment I received (five surgeries in 10 months, 没有辐射, 激素治疗)与我最初的计划(一次手术)大不相同, radiation therapy all done within the first couple of months, then hormone therapy). I struggled with this loss of control, 但适应起来更容易，因为我理解了所有这些变化的医学原因，并且可以积极参与决策. I heard from other women about their personal struggles, 而这到底有多难, 具有挑战性的, confusing and frightening the experience was to them. Especially those with little scientific background, minimal support or those who were unsure how to self-advocate, 或者在某些情况下, were not listened to when they did. 这些经历向我揭示了改善医疗服务的根本重要性和对患者及其家属的积极影响, regardless of where they live, as they go through one of the biggest challenges in their lives.
Making sense of time
I now think about time very differently than I ever did before.
To deal with my feelings of being out of control, 我开始专注于活在当下——自从我被确诊后，这对我来说有了完全不同的意义. Rather than sitting around worrying about the next surgery, 我会一瘸一拐地走到花园，或者打开窗户，听鸟儿唱歌. I turned to nature. I turned to family and friends, my dogs. Statistics tell me that my chances of surviving my 癌症 are excellent. 然而几个月后，我经历了恐惧的时刻，我可能活不长了. That my time could be quite limited. 这在我心中激起了一种新的紧迫感，通过提出创新的治疗方案和解决治疗障碍，让病人尽可能多地恢复时间.
Fuelling my sense of urgency
Having been on both sides of a 癌症 diagnosis, in my work as an oncologist and experience as a patient, 是否增强了我的热情和决心，推动科学的发展，为有需要的患者提供癌症治疗.
自从我在澳门在线赌城娱乐工作以来，我接触过各种肿瘤类型和疾病阶段. 我很幸运地参与了乳腺癌治疗方面取得的一些令人难以置信的进展，并从中受益. The advancements we’ve made in screening, 乳腺癌的科学和护理确实是了不起的，给了患者群体如此多的希望. 现在，我把同样的希望带到了我在澳门在线赌城娱乐领导肺部专营部的新职位上, 希望能够改变被诊断为肺癌这种最致命的疾病之一的意义.
直到最近，肺癌还被许多人视为自动的死刑判决. 但近年来，一些创新药物带来了令人难以置信的进步，正在改变这种可怕疾病的发展轨迹. 例如, through our research in tumour drivers and resistance (TDR), 澳门第一赌城在线娱乐正在开发针对基因突变和抵抗机制的肺癌治疗方法，使癌细胞逃避治疗, survive and proliferate.1 澳门第一赌城在线娱乐的团队正在解决一些棘手的问题:澳门第一赌城在线娱乐如何同时针对多种生物途径，并在肺癌发展的每个阶段对抗它? What drug combinations might benefit the most patients? 实际上, 澳门第一赌城在线娱乐怎样才能尽可能长时间地控制这种疾病，使肺癌患者有尽可能多的时间?
I am incredibly grateful that my 癌症 was diagnosed early, 因此, potentially curable – and I want all 癌症 patients to experience the same. 如果澳门第一赌城在线娱乐想要提高肺癌的死亡率，澳门第一赌城在线娱乐需要在早期阶段诊断出这种疾病. 这是澳门第一赌城在线娱乐实现目标的基础，即治愈肺癌——全球癌症死亡的主要原因——可能触手可及.2 This is the reason we are leading global efforts to drive screening, early detection and treatment of lung 癌症 across the world.
Prior to my diagnosis nearly two years ago, 我从来没有想象过我对癌症的理解会如此之深，也没有想到它会对我的生活产生如此大的影响, both at home and at work. 我从来没有想过这种疾病会给我带来怎样的改变, elevate and renew my sense of purpose in serving the oncology community. 我很自豪能够领导一个专注于为肺癌患者带来创新药物的团队, 确保患者无论背景或地理位置如何都能得到应有的护理, and driving screening for lung 癌症 globally so that one day, curing lung 癌症 might truly be possible.
Mika’s story is part of our ongoing series: TrailblAZers in 肿瘤学, 澳门在线赌城娱乐肿瘤团队的同事正在产生影响, both personally and professionally.
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参考文献。
1. American Cancer Society. Gene Changes and Cancer. Available at: http://www.癌症.org/癌症/understanding-癌症/genes-and-癌症/gene-changes.html. Accessed June 2023.
2. World Health Organisation. World Cancer Fact Sheet. Available at: http://gco.研究.fr/today/data/factsheets/populations/900-world-fact-sheets.pdf. Accessed June 2023.
Veeva ID: Z4-55593
Date of preparation: June 2023