My mother died of lung cancer last year. I felt helpless. As an economist, I thought, 'What can I do?'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In December 1988, my mother died of lung cancer. I died too. I couldn't function.
I have no cancer. I have four illnesses, but they are not fatal.
My mother did not want cancer to interfere with my life, as she knew it would eventually end hers.
Make a living will. Talk about it. Death is going to happen to everybody. Write it down. Even if you write it on a piece of paper at home and have your family witness it, you need to write it down.
But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper, and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease.
One thing you have to realize is that cancer is not something you necessarily cure, but you want to just take care of yourself and extend your life as long as you can.
While this has been a private part of my family's life, it is now clear a media story will soon emerge. My father tragically ended his life while battling terminal cancer in 1979.
Reducing the price of AIDS drugs gave me so much satisfaction that I've been thinking what else I could do. One day, I thought, 'Let's look at cancer and see how we can spare cancer patients' unnecessary suffering.'
During my grief, I realised there was nothing I could do for my mother, but I did have a child.
I have been unexpectedly confronted with my own mortality as I was told that I had cancer.