A very good number came to me this week, which included a good symbol. Both are below.

<0.1

That’s my most recent PSA result. It stands for Prostate Specific Antigen, which is the main measure for prostate cancer. That number is the lowest I’ve ever had, and presumably, the < part means it’s lower than 0.1. Maybe the test can only go to 0.1, or maybe my results didn’t quite reach the “pure stage” of 0.0.

This was my first PSA test since starting the drug abiraterone/Zytiga. It’s been around for about 5 years, and some patients had no cancer progression after taking it. And for most patients, there was “reduced risk of death by at least 35% and delayed cancer progression by an average of 18 months,” according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

That little part about death is still annoying, but the first part and my test results feels great.

During 2018 and beyond, I’ll have a new routine. It’ll include staying on abiraterone/Zytiga and monitoring my PSA, every 3 months. I feel skeptically optimistic that I’ll be one of the guys where my PSA will stay low for years. All current drugs only slow down prostate cancer. Hopefully, the next few years will bring treatments that remove my cancer. There really is reason for optimism, as my previous post describes.

Overall, I’m relieved, but I have a new appreciation for folks in worse shape, with any cancer. For example, the drug that’s helping me so much now, abiraterone/Zytiga, costs $10,000 a month. That price has to keep some Americans from getting it, especially in states that still have high numbers of uninsured Americans. The Wall Street Journal is the far opposite of the “liberal media.” It’s very conservative, and it recently published an article called “Cancer Drug Price Rises 1,400% With No Generic to Challenge It.” Big pharma makes drugs that save or extend people’s lives, but drug companies have lost the good will they deserve with those extreme prices. That’s more than greed. It’s preying on folks who are sick with cancer, or even dying of it.

In my own situation, another well-researched article is called “Americans pay 300% more for this prostate cancer drug than much of the rest of the world.” We often hear concerns about big government. I’m more worried about big corporations. Corporations are made to make money, and they do. In 2017, the Down Jones stock indicator went higher than ever, and it even set a record for setting records. From this perspective, maybe we shouldn’t expect corporations to offer low drug prices.

Even though they play rough, corporations are doing what their shareholders want. I probably have some stocks from drug companies in my own 401k. I love writing, and I’ve never written them a letter asking that they make less money from cancer patients. I imagine others are similar. In this case, there aren’t many people or organizations who could prevent big pharma from charging extreme prices, with one possible exception.

Could this be one situation where the government might help? I know that sounds like a flaming liberal idea, but I make it as someone who has always worked, paid my bills, and been more independent than most–especially on self-supported bike tours. Still though, it’s hard to think the government might help, these days more than ever.

I really hope we don’t dismiss this option too quickly. It could be a very unfashionable idea though, because small government can’t stop big pharma, in the number of dollars or lawyers. It’ll need to be the other kind of government, the kind that’s big. But in the case of extremely expensive cancer drugs, I hope we could tolerate a little bit of big government to fight big pharma. If that ever happens, expect big pharma to cry loud. It ain’t gonna like losing it’s profits, so it’ll probably buy the help of politicians who say big government is bad.

Back to folks in worse shape than I am, I should find ways to help cancer patients who are worse off. They’re always around when I get my PSA test. Too often, I look away, just a little. That’s probably my own fear about how they could easily be me. I need to change that. At the least, I could look them in the eye and say “Happy Holidays.” Maybe I could have a little gift to hand them. It could be a gift card that says “I have cancer too. As one fighter to another, I wanted to give you this.” Or maybe I can get some cancer patients involved with cycling. After all, that’s clearly good for everybody, especially in this great winter weather.

Wishing all of you a very good end to 2017, be safe, and enjoy the wonders of winter.