“I heard the words lung cancer and I felt I was kicked in the gut…. I was terrified” (DP) |
“I felt my back was to the wall; I had lung cancer… I didn’t have too many options”(CTP) |
“He (physician) was telling me ‘I’ll never let you have chemotherapy but… of course, that’s your decision’; he was very, very negative about chemotherapy. Because he thought it would take away from the little time I had left.” (CTP) |
“My mother died of breast cancer; both of her sisters died of breast cancer and mine was in the lungs so I felt like OK, this is something totally different so we’ll see how this goes.” (CTP) |
“At first I thought, I don’tknow (about a clinical trial); when you’re in a fox hole, you’ll grab for anything that looks good, to get out of it. But then I realized it was a choice and that felt good.” (CTP) |
It was absolutely overwhelming for me. I was scared. I’d wake up in the morning with fear.”(CTP) |
“I have lung cancer…The odds are not good.” (CTP) |
“… we’re already freaked out, scared to death,… and this doctor walks in and opens up the file. She never looks at us… and basically flat out said ‘there’s no hope; you might as well get your affairs in order… you know, you have lung cancer and there is no cure.’”(CTP) |
“I had cancer of the cervix (previously…., so I knew about cancer and how to get through it.” (CTP) |
“They told me what they were going to do a… clinical test and see if I could be in one (clinical trial). I thought… no more tests so I said forget it. Then the nurse explained it was always ok to say no, and I thought OK… I have some say in this… I just might do it.” (CTP) |
“We were just numb, shocked, numb, just didn’t, you know, 42 years old, how… how does that happen?”(CTP) |
I took it as a death sentence; what can they do? Who do you know who survived lung cancer?” (CTP) |
“The nurse told my wife to take me on trip while I could still get around she told her in 6 months I’dbe a wreck and unable to leave my bed.” (DP) |
“I have never been sick a day in my life. I’ve been to the hospital to have my children and that’s it.”(DP) |
“There was just too many unknowns with the trial and I felt everything in my life was out of control so deciding on regular treatment was my best choice and I could still see my doctor and that was important to me because I trusted him.” (DP) |
“There are no words to describe the terror and horror you feel.” (DP) |
“I thought about the chemotherapy and wondered which I would die from first—the cancer or the treatments.”(DP) |
“My former doctor didn’tlook me in the eye—hetold me to get a lawyer, draw up a will, and pray”(DP) |
“I have a lot of trust in my doctor… he’s doing things for my benefit, my wellbeing…” (CTP) |
“He (physician) explained it(CT) very well and he kept telling me it was my choice and although I wanted to help other people by being in it, in the end I felt the best for me was not to be part of an experiment.” (DP) |
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“I wanted to ask how much time I had left, but I didn’t,because I didn’twant the answer.”(DP) |
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“Going to (Cancer Center)…they’re on the cutting edge and they’re improving the treatment minute by minute whereas the community hospital, it may be a month before that trickles down to them and I don’t trust it. I trust the cancer center—they do this all day long.”(CTP) |
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“Well, I knew right away that I would join, you know; when Dr.___ mentioned it to me, I made up my mind right then and there but I also talked to my sons about the clinical trial and, you know, they’re all in favor of it.” (CTP |
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No one in my family has had cancer. It just doesn’t run in my family so I thought I was immune.” (DP) |
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“I knew he (physician) wouldn’t tell me about a trial if it weren’t a good thing for me—he’s always got my back. But, at the end of the day, I just could not see me and (wife) driving back and forth hereto do the trial. It wasn’t fair to her and I think the treatment at my local place is going to be just as good.” (DP) |
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“My daughter is a nurse and she just flat out told me not to do it (clinical trial). She said it was something I could do when I failed the standard treatments.” (DP) |
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