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AnaMaria🌸's avatar

Frustrating to say the least. I’ve had family and friends throughout the world, each time governments went through attacks to their “security”… Regimes, they took over the government and in doing so all Institutions line up with the dictator in power. Very quickly scientists, academia, and people who are highly educated and trained in their field, pack themselves together with their families and move to which ever country is the highest bidder. Yes, it’s been done all around the world for decades.

Why would the USA believe this would never happen here when our Democracy has been broken bit by bit until we are at this point. He and his regime are destroying everything in site and below. The meanness and evil demonstrated. I feel every day we are less able to control what we as human beings can do to help our selves and our country and the world.

Thank you for bringing this subject into the conversation.

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Margeaux Mann's avatar

Further, I am a cancer survivor and was on a trial. This administrations cuts are all insane to me!

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Margeaux Mann's avatar

My daughter is finishing up her grad work in genetic research. If these cuts go through, you can count on a major brain drain from this country.

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Lori Schulte's avatar

You have motivated me to write an op Ed for cancer research. Now where would you suggest sending this to ?

Cancer Research Cuts: A Survivor's Perspective

By Lori Schulte

Lymphoma Survivor, Advocate for Cancer Research

Denver, CO

This personal op-ed was written for consideration by media outlets committed to sharing stories that highlight the real human impact of national policy decisions. All content and photos may be used bwith attribution. All content and photos may be used with attribution.

We Need to Save Cancer Research--For All of Us

As a 20-year lymphoma survivor, I've lived through the highs of remission and the lows of relapse,surgeries, and chemo. I know firsthand what it means to fight for life with the help of the best cancer researchers and clinicians in the world. That's why I am deeply alarmed by the Trump administration's decision to cut funding for cancer research--a move that threatens the lives of

millions of Americans and undermines decades of medical progress.

Cancer doesn't care about your politics. It doesn't check voter registration. It strikes children, siblings, parents, and friends. It strikes people like me--and like you. And it takes science, research, and innovation to stop it.

I've been a patient at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston since 2010, one of the leading cancer

hospitals in the world. I receive my treatments through the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute in

Denver, with care guided by MD Anderson's expertise. After nine years, I just had my chemo port removed--a hopeful milestone, though I know I may need another one someday. I also know that when that day comes, a drug trial might be my next and best option. But now, even that is in jeopardy.

A close friend of mine is currently battling ovarian cancer. She's trying to get into a drug trial at MD

Anderson too. But with cuts looming and research opportunities shrinking, everything feels uncertain. And it shouldn't be this way--not in a country that claims to lead the world in innovation and care.

These cuts do not reflect a nation that values life or health. They send a dangerous message to the

scientific community: your work doesn't matter. If we don't support cancer researchers here, they will

go elsewhere--to other countries that welcome their expertise and fund their work. That means fewerclinical trials, fewer breakthroughs, and fewer chances for people like me to survive.

Even more troubling, the same administration has rolled back bans on chemicals proven to be

carcinogenic--polluting our water, our land, and our bodies. How can we claim to want a healthier America while gutting cancer research and allowing known toxins to flow freely into our

environment?

I urge you: contact your local representatives. Tell them that cutting cancer research is not acceptable. This is not a partisan issue. This is about human life. This is about our families, our

futures, and our faith in science to help us live--not just longer, but better.

We need a renewed commitment to "Make America Healthy Again." And that begins with backing

science, funding research, and protecting the environment that sustains us. Because next time, it could be you, your parents, your kids or your friends in need of a cure!

--

Lori Schulte

Lymphoma Survivor | Advocate for Cancer Research | Denver, CO

I have two daughters, two sons-in-law, and five beautiful grandchildren. I'm hoping to live as long as

I can--for them, and for all the moments still ahead!

The lymphoma “light the night” is a great way to support private blood cancer research and in cities across the nation each year. I volunteer every year as a fighter and a survivor. Please get involved!

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