After I’d written about my fears of it being game up last night, potentially no treatments left, I wandered over to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation web site.

Its usually a mix of fund raising efforts and death.  Occasionally medical breakthroughs.

Yesterday, in a rather timely way, came this story of Atizolizumab, a new immunotherapy drug that NICE have decided can be provided on the NHS.

From memory, this is the drug that people go to private clinics in Germany for, paying c€100,000 to enjoy the benefits while they can.  The redundancy money won’t stretch that far.

The medical benefits are modest.  Chemotherapy survival tends to be around eight months.  This drug adds just over four months to average life expectancy.  I’d rather the kids inherit than get an extra four months of life.  Equally, the possibility of my taxes from previous years funding my treatment appeals highly.  The 40% I paid on part of that redundancy income last year will probably directly cover the cost to the taxpayer.

So maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance I’ll get this drug.  Maybe, while/if I’m taking it, something else will come along either through medical trials or NICE and the NHS and buy a more substantial time frame than four month (which as an average suggests many patients get virtually no extra time).

Of intrigue now is whether Oncobabe is even aware of it.  I knew about osimertinib before she did!

Meanwhile, a reminder that I’m raising money for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.  Many readers have already donated.  The opportunity to share the link with those work colleagues who know me would be greatly appreciated.  If you’ve not donated, you’re more than welcome to.

I might not be feeling 100%.  The illnesses I have are very frustrating.  But I refuse to give up hope and this breakthrough has put a new spring in my somewhat shaky step.