Goodbye Emory, Hello Duke

Late last year a miracle occurred when Kate was admitted to an experimental trial of an immunotherapy drug at Emory University in Atlanta. Further miracles provided for some out-of-state insurance coverage and air fare for her flights from Durham. There is no doubt that without that treatment Kate’s cancer would have worsened and her fate would have been pretty grim. Her medical team at Emory like Dr. El-Rayes, Melissa, and Meredith, nurses like Meg and volunteers like Cindy, Jane, Floyd, and the Mighty Bereans who offered rides from the airport and home stays were literal life-savers. We will never forget them and their kindness.

The regular travel to Atlanta, however, did take its own toll on Kate’s health. Up at 4:00 a.m., she would not usually return until midnight. And with a compromised immune system there are healthier places than a sealed metal tube with 100 other travellers coughing and dropping metal crutches on Kate’s head. If only, we thought, she could get this enormously expensive experimental drug administered to her in Durham. Well, as we have observed, miracles do happen and Kate has just started being treated a short walk from her office at the Duke Cancer Centre. What once took a whole day of travel and stress now takes 2 hours; Kate’s daily life and her health have both been augmented by this delightful change.