I wrote an article previously: What Is Really Involved in Clinical Trials? I wrote the “front side” story of clinical trials. Today I’ll talk about the “backend” story, i.e., what happened and, more importantly, what should we do when the clinical trials fail the patients. https://lungcancer.net/living/clinical-trials-story

My friend HaoPei (斐皓) was a Stage 4 lung cancer patient, 38 years old. He passed away in early February 2020. These pictures were taken by him when he travelled in rural China after his diagnosis. 斐皓, 一路走好。

As I got more involved in the volunteer work on cancer, I noticed that patient volunteers could get paid for certain volunteer work. In this article, I only touch the tip of the iceberg about such sensitive issues, and I’ll explore it more later.  https://lungcancer.net/living/volunteer-compensation

In the past, I usually didn’t celebrate my birthday. It was just another day. However, I took my birthday more seriously after being diagnosed with lung cancer. I reflect on the past year’s experience and re-adjust the course of my actions for the following year. https://lungcancer.net/living/birthday-reflections

After trying my hand at all things advocacy, it’s time I narrow down and focus on the lung cancer advocacy involvement. https://lungcancer.net/living/advocate-aspiration

People love to sing, even if they can’t sing melodiously. It’s believed that singing is good for the body and mind, and as a matter of fact, there’s solid scientific evidence to prove it. My parents, age 85 and 86, and I sing every day through the phone during the pandemic. I can honestly say that singing improves the mood and develops a sense of belonging and connection for my parents and myself.

I was not social, even I was anti-social. Nevertheless, I’ve paid a huge price for it. Now I realized that I have already had many friends of (lung) cancer patients. Together, we enrich each others’ lives and uplift each others’ spirits. See https://lungcancer.net/living/finding-friends.

I was experiencing burnout at the beginning of May after intense cancer advocacy. It made me not only explore burnout but also reflect on my life… Please see https://lungcancer.net/living/burnout-reflection

_{Photo from Lifebook online, Jon & Missy Butcher (https://home.mindvalley.com/quests/en/lifebook-online)}

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opened on July 23, 2021. I become very emotional about the Olympic Games this year because, precisely at the last Olympic Game in 2016, I made a secret plea against “wisdom” at the time. See details in https://lungcancer.net/living/2020-olympics-refection

I always have doubts about political advocacy. I wonder if it’s useful? Will politicians listen to the patients’ concerns? Are there any consequences for the cancer patients? Meanwhile, I’m fascinated by political advocacy. For the first time, I did political advocacy with several patients to urge the provincial government to allow cancer patients and immunocompromised patients to have the 2nd dose vaccine before the four months interval. As a result, the government did change the policy. I’m ecstatic. Please see the article below: https://lungcancer.net/living/raise-patient-voices

I’m surprised to read this article that I wrote in 2019 and re-posted by lungcancer.net now. My friend, 裴皓, passed away one year before. I was closely following him then and had communicated with him several times after this interview. Religion in China used to be forbidden, but he was open about the effects of religion on his coping with lung cancer. He kept travelling to so many rural places until… He took numerous pictures as you will see in this blog. He left a deep impression on me. Please see  https://lungcancer.net/living/living-self-portrait-ros1