Michael

My children lost their grandmother this summer. It was the first major loss of a loved one in their lives and one they will never forget. She was their Gaga – an amazing grandmother who filled their days with magic, crafts, horseback rides, laughter, and sweets. Before cancer, their Gaga had been athletic, as a career PE teacher, and even helped my children learn to swim. Cancer followed by drug-resistant infections stole future memories, holidays, parties with friends and family, and the constant, stabilizing presence that Gaga threaded into our lives with joy and love.   

In my job at CDC, we talk about cancer, we talk about drug-resistant infections, we work to bring awareness and understanding about risks and threats -- seen and unseen. And we use statistics and science to create strategies and guidelines to protect people and communities.  

And yet, we are all vulnerable, as the experience of losing my children’s Gaga reminds us. Cancer kills, drug-resistant infections kill. Every day. In every corner of the world.  

Because of my work, I can recite the numbers: 

• Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
• In the U.S., one of every five deaths is due to cancer, according to United States Cancer Statistics.
• At the same time, drug-resistant infections are an urgent public health threat estimated to kill at least 1.27 million people worldwide every year.  

I know the facts like the back of my hand: 

• People receiving cancer treatment are more susceptible to a wide array of infections, and cancer patients have a significantly higher burden of drug-resistant infections.
• Patients requiring specific procedures and treatments, like chemotherapy or other types of cancer care, are at significant risk for infection.
• Drug resistance can make it difficult for people to receive effective cancer treatments. 

And while I have spent my career working to protect people from the urgent public health threats that stole Gaga, this loss redoubles my resolve. Every time I hear my kids describe how much they miss her, the enduring feelings, the well of tears, and the tightness in throats when we try to talk about Gaga, I am reminded that the depth and breadth of this loss is felt by patients and families around the world. This is the reality the numbers and facts cannot ever adequately convey and the truth we will not forget.