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I’ve been struggling with a horrible cold and lost my voice for more than a week. I was in this sorry condition when I moderated the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation summit in San Francisco last Friday. There I was, squeaking out a sentence here or there among some of the great minds in finance and cancer research. I found myself chatting with Michael Milken about social networks in the cancer space, Art Kern, Yahoo board member, Van and Eddi VanAucken, philanthropists, venture capitalists and cancer survivors. But perhaps the most profound conversation is the one held with someone I cannot publicly identify. He is an oncologist and has saved many lives and held the hand of those he could not. He is a stage four lung cancer patient, with perhaps one more year of salvation from the drug, Tarceva which works to stave back certain forms of lung cancer for about 2 years. His own cancer patients do not know he is sick. “F” looks fantastic—twinkling eyes and an easy laugh. He and I both agree that “survivor” is not the right word. There must be something more accurate, less emotional, more about living than simply overcoming. There he was, in a room filled with people worth billions and even more willing to spend that much to find a cure for a cancer than kills more than any other. More than 170,000 in the United States. More than 1.3 million around the world.  He keeps his disease a secret because he does not want pity. He wants to focus on the science and the funding that could save him, and so many others.