研究癌症新药的科学家得了癌症怎么办

2014年的某一天早上打开公司邮箱，突然看到一封信，一个极聪明、热情，亲自合成出多个抗癌新药的有机化学家朋友，刚40多岁，两年前发现并治疗过的早期肠癌转移了，现在被诊断为肠癌晚期。真是造化弄人。

我翻译这封信给大家看，因为它让我看到一个无限乐观、积极并专注的科学家的光辉，也再次提醒自己为什么选择了癌症生物学这个艰难的领域来消耗自己的青春。开发抗癌药物的路途是无比曲折的，但是身边不少被癌症影响的亲人朋友不断鞭策着自己勇敢向前。随时问问自己：“我是不是还不够努力？”与所有癌症生物学科研人员共勉。

Subject：A New Chapter in the Fight & Still Celebrating Life

邮件标题：对抗癌症，庆祝生命的新篇章

Hi Everyone，

Well… This wasn't an e-mail I ever wanted to write – and I certainly did not plan to write to you all so soon after my last celebration e-mail！

大家好，我本来永远也没想过要写这封信的，至少我没想到在刚给大家发了庆祝邮件后马上又写这样这封信。（他刚给朋友发信说他癌症诊断已经过去两年了，没有复发，生活很幸福）

I just received the results from my latest PET-CT scan．My colon cancer has returned & I have been diagnosed Stage Ⅳ，with recurrence in both my lymph nodes as well as in my lungs．On one hand the diagnosis feels like an absurd surprise to me because I feel 100％ healthy but on the other hand，since they have been watching those enlarged nodes since last August，I've had 10 months of mental preparation for this possibility.

我刚刚拿到我最新的PET-CT扫描结果：我的直肠癌不幸复发了。而且因为癌症已经转移到了我的淋巴和肺部，我这次被诊断为4级晚期直肠癌。一方面，我觉得这个结果无比荒谬，因为我感觉自己是百分之百地健康。另一方面，因为医生从去年8月就发现我的淋巴结肿大，于是开始了各种检测，所以理论上我已经有了10个月的时间来准备迎接这个坏消息。

The day I got my first PET-scan results last September showing“possible cancer”I immediately jumped out the door and ran my first ever half-marathon．9 months later，when I got my PET-scan results confirming I am now Stage Ⅳ，I immediately ran out the door and ran my second ever half-marathon！Even after 14 miles，I never lost my breath – not too shabby for a guy with a couple of lung tumors huh？：）

去年9月我第一次拿到PET-CT扫描结果，显示我“癌症可能复发了”的那天，我忍不住马上冲出门去跑了我人生的第一次半程马拉松。9个月以后，我再次拿到CT扫描结果，证实我确实得了4级晚期癌症后，我又马上冲出门去跑了我人生第二次半程马拉松。即使跑完超过22公里以后，我也完全没有觉得喘不上气，这对一个癌症晚期患者来说还不错吧：）

Final medical plans haven't been decided yet but it looks likely that I will begin a pretty harsh chemo regimen in July after I get back from a much needed Michigan Family vacation．The great news is that it seems like my tumors are very slow growing，so if they respond to the chemo – between that & my overall great health，my doc thinks I could very well be a long term survivor in terms of prognosis – so no freaking out allowed J．That would be an incredible blessing — not only a lot more fun time with my two daughters in their childhood but also a lot more time for science to discover that CRC immunotherapycurewhich many very smart scientists are working very hard on that right now！！I am an eternal optimist when it comes to science！I also find Faith in the stage Ⅳ CRC patients （some of which I met directly） who have enjoyed miracle very long term complete remissions/cures – if it can happen to them，I see no reason to assume it can't happen to me！I remain very optimistic！

我最终的治疗方案还没有确定，但是看起来我夏天和家人休假回来后就会开始接受高剂量的化疗。好消息是我的肿瘤长得非常慢，所以很可能化疗的效果会不错。这个因素加上我自己良好的身体状况，医生觉得我很可能会活很长的时间，所以请朋友们也不要太惊慌。如果真是那样，对我来说真是上天的恩赐，让我不仅能和我的两个女儿分享她们快乐的童年，而且还让我有更多的时间，和很多非常聪明、非常努力的科学家一起，来研究更好的能治愈直肠癌的免疫类药物。对于科学研究，我是个强烈的乐观主义者。我的乐观不仅来自我的专业知识，也来自于和很多直肠癌晚期患者的交流，看到他们不少人都活了很长时间，甚至有人癌症最后消失不见了！如果这种奇迹能发生在他们身上，那也可能发生在我身上！总之我是非常乐观的！

In addition to standard chemo I am actively researching clinical trials．Multiple tumor types have had incredible medical advances in the past few years – I believe firmly that they will eventually find tricks that work for colon cancer as well．For those of you in oncology/medical research – please send me a heads-up anytime you hear anything promising in clinical trials for CRC！I hope I inspire you to focus your research on CRC （hint hint J）．I'll also be continuing all my complimentary therapies – I do believe they are a part of why I feel so great & why the tumors are growing so slowing，so slowly it took 10 months to diagnose them even with constant scans.

除去标准的化疗以外，我也在积极寻找新的临床实验药品。过去几年，针对多种癌症都有很多有效的新药出现。我相信对直肠癌也会有更好的药物。如果你是在做抗癌药物研究或者是肿瘤科的医生，听到任何新的有希望的治疗直肠癌的临床实验，请务必告诉我。我希望这封信能让更多人专注研究直肠癌。我会继续接受常规治疗，因为我相信过去的常规治疗让我身体保持得很好，并且肿瘤长得很慢。慢到我的肿瘤要花10个月才能被CT确诊。

I remain incredibly Faithful and believe one way or another everything will work out OK – my new diagnosis hasn't shaken that a bit．My goal is to be here for my kids as long as possible （ideally for decades！），using my cancer to show them to never give up Hope （both spiritually and in terms of medical advances！），to never stop fighting for what's important and show them to never be bitter by what life throws your way．I want them to learn the same lesson my parents pummeled into me as a kid – instead of focusing on disappointing news，instead focus on all the incredibly good things we have been blessed to enjoy．For example – I already had Stage Ⅳ cancer （w/o knowing it） at Amelie & my Father-Daughter School Dance last Fall – the cancer did not take away the fact we had an awesome night together neither one of us will ever forget！With Eleni – we called her the miracle baby because hers was a very rough pregnancy in multiple ways – I had metastatic cancer the day she was born （w/o knowing it） how can I be bitter when I have had the joy of her in my life？Eleni never gave up fighting to stay alive under tough medical odds & neither will I now！

我依然保持着极度坚定的信念：无论发生了什么，一切都会好的！癌症复发的诊断并没有动摇我的这个信念：我的目标是尽量久地陪着我的孩子们，我希望能陪几十年！我要用我和癌症斗争的故事向他们诠释永远不要放弃希望，包括精神上的坚定，和对医学进步的信念。不放弃努力，不因为生命中的困苦而失去乐观精神。我想让她们学到我的父母在我小时候教给我的道理：不要总是想着那些让人沮丧的消息，而要把注意力放在那些无比美好，值得感激的事物上举个例子——去年我和大女儿在学校和她一起跳“父亲和女儿”的舞蹈时我其实已经得了4级晚期癌症 ，但我当时并不知道，癌症本身并没能阻止我们在一起度过了那个美好的难以忘记的夜晚。小女儿是一个奇迹宝宝，因为她妈妈在怀她的时候出了各种状况，险象环生。在她出生的时候我的癌症事实上已经转移了，但我当时并不知道。小女儿给我的生命带来了无限的快乐，我有什么要难过的呢？她从来没有放弃抗争，奇迹般地活了下来。我今天也不会！

There is an anecdote of a young daughter asking her Dad what he planned to do after they found out he had Stage IV cancer．His reply：I plan on reading you your bedtime book tonight and waking up tomorrow morning like I always do！Life in all its fun goes on.

我想给大家讲一个小故事：有一个小女孩问她的爸爸，当他知道自己得了4级晚期癌症后打算做些什么。她爸爸的回答是：我打算和往常一样，在今晚你睡觉前给你读一个故事，然后明天早上和往常一样醒来！无论发生什么，生活依然要继续，并且要充满乐趣。

I don't plan on giving any more regular updates by mass e-mail but please do feel free to contact me anytime & ask anything you want – I seriously love hearing from people！Also feel free to forward this e-mail，I know I have accidently missed people that have been very supportive the past 2 years.

我不打算以后用群发邮件的方式给大家更新我的状况。但是欢迎大家任何时候跟我联系，想问我什么都行——我是真的很高兴收到你们的信！也欢迎大家转发这封邮件，我可能不小心漏掉了一些在过去两年中非常支持我的朋友。

I wanted to close again with the picture of me，Amelie & Eleni taken on our June 4th celebration of life．We're going to fight to keep on celebrating life together for a long more time．And I am still celebrating being a Cancer Survivor – being one starts the minute you first hear your diagnosis！

我想在最后给大家看看我和我的女儿们在6月4号拍的庆祝照片。我们将相守在一起，在未来很长时间里和癌症病魔斗争，并且一直感恩。同时我会每一天都继续庆祝我是癌症幸存者——这从两年多前，我听到得了癌症的消息那一刻就开始了。

Thank you all （friends，family，Church，colleagues） for the incredible support and prayers I & my family have gotten over the past 2 years！I also couldn't have survived these challenges with a smile on my face without my incredible wife！

谢谢大家（朋友、家人、教友、同事），感谢你们在过去的两年对我和我家人无限的支持和祈祷。我想特别感谢我的妻子，没有她，我不可能一直微笑面对生命中的这么多挑战。