This post was actually really tough for me to read, because it read exactly like the suicide note a friend had sent me (and others) after his partner had died suddenly. It chronicled the joy and happiness in their relationship, her illness, his slow descent into desperation, and, after she passed, his resolve to follow her.

If the author of the post is reading these comments, your heart is in the right place, but just be careful and take care of yourself. Don't lose the forest for the trees.

I fully agree, there is something unsettling about this post and I can't put my finger on it, but here is an attempt:

His girlfriend is going through this medical issue, but he's made this post about himself? He's going to be the hero to save his GF and others with this brain tumor using the medical equivalent of vibe coding. I don't know, it just sounds immature and wrong

I don't know, she is not terminal, she is in the part where the knowledge is lacking, so what he is doing is actually reasonable. Nobody knows anything, giving a shot to save the love of your life, with their approval, might be good, assuming you still spend time with them.

The symptoms if they came back would kill any hope for traveling anyway

I think that for an average person a few years ago, probably there’s nothing meaningful they could have done.

For a smart VC with some money and with some knowledge of biology and willing to put in some hours, and with a disease that is “on the bubble”, i.e. not a slam dunk for modern medicine, but also not a death sentence, that there’s a decent chance that he can meaningfully improve the outcome.

I also see what you’re saying about the vibe and making it about himself, but that’s also helping him get attention… here we are talking about it. With more attention he’s going to get more skilled people helping her out.

It’s an innate human desire to do everything in one’s power to save the person you love.

If you had a feeling you could do more, would you not try?

When you’re not personally involved, it’s easy to see that this might be misguided, but when living through it and experiencing daily fear of loss of your partner, it’s extremely difficult to think logically.

I have seen this multiple times and it’s always so unbearably sad.

Hmm. Perhaps it serves as a commitment to post about this publicly? And as one other person mentioned, you have a far better chance of beating this today than just a few years ago, especially with some money and connections.

>It leads to especially dark places when they don't succeed.

The same can be said about child birth, and yet, people still make kids.

I often think that I would do the same thing if I or someone I loved had a chronic disease, either go all in in a specific project before I die, or go all in on a moonshot to accelerate a cure.

A subtle change that I think could have a lot of potential impact is changing it to "I'm going to try to cure".. instead of "I'm going to cure".

It will still be true, it will still be an act of love, but it removes the aspect of being a way to avoid the pain of a loss. In fact, if you face the likelihood of loss, then you will be able to actually optimize for increasing likelihood of a cure instead of risking optimizing for maximal coping mechanism.

It's very possible that his partner is fully aware of and supportive of his mission. And I do agree that he should ensure that this is something his afflicted partner wants.

One point I want to make though is that even if someone embarks on a mission like this and fails, what they learn in the process — and uncover for the world at large — can help the next generation. It's not futile. It's not in vain.