I just saw an interview with Brooke Burke on Good Morning America. She has just recovered from having surgery for thyroid cancer. I’m happy that she is healthy and well. But her story has a disturbing twist.
During the interview, she mentioned that she had gone in to have a physical and one reading was odd, so they did a biopsy. The results were inconclusive. She was understandably concerned and decided to have a more advanced test done.
She went to a specialist and had a genetic test done on the biopsy material. The cancer was discovered, surgery was scheduled and now she’s fine.
The question is, how many people don’t have access to that advanced test to check for thyroid (or other forms) of cancer?
Everyone knows that early detection is the key to surviving cancer. So what happens when we can’t detect it early? Radiation, chemotherapy, months of painful treatments. So why doesn’t everyone have access to this genetic test?
It’s really depressing in this day that a wealthy celebrity can get the treatment that she needs (and I’m glad for her). How many thousands of people, even in the US go to their doctor and he says “inconclusive” and they just have to accept that until it’s too late?
