Alice and I met under what then felt like sad circumstances. It was the spring of 2009 and I was several months into my snatched from the brink of death fairy tale; aka crizotinib. As far as I was concerned (and I still feel this way), my original oncologist Dr. Tom Lynch walked on water. However, I woke up one morning only to read in the Boston Globe that Tom was leaving MGH to become the head of Yale’s Smilow Cancer Center. I was devastated and sent him a quick message saying I felt like he’d broken up with me via email. In my head I was already thinking I’d have to move closer to New Haven as I viewed my continuing survival to be inextricably linked to Tom Lynch–as an oncologist he was always on the cutting edge, having tested me for an EMLK4-ALK translocation in June of 2008, long before most of the world had even heard of an ALK mutation.

Tom replied quickly and with assurance; he had hand-picked my next oncologist and he was certain I would adore her.

I was at MGH for a long trial day (PF-02341066) when Alice introduced herself … read more on Linnea Olson’s blog “life and breath: outliving lung cancer“