I’ve escaped a war-torn country, been shot at, and been hit by lightning, and breast cancer is still the hardest thing I’ve been through. The diagnosis itself is terrifying, but what follows is a grinding assault on your life. It takes your time, your energy, your finances and often your sense of self. Every day, nearly 900 American women receive that same crushing news, and this year alone, more than 42,000 of us will not survive.

We are not just statistics. We are mothers, daughters, breadwinners and caregivers. Breast cancer threatens to unravel the fabric of our lives, pulling us away from our children, our jobs and our dreams.

Right now, we are finally seeing a shift. Science is creating less burdensome treatments. We are moving away from marathon infusion sessions that drain an entire day and toward therapies that can be administered in minutes, allowing a woman to get treatment and still pick her child up from school. This isn’t just a convenience; it is a lifeline to normalcy.

Just as we’re on the cusp of these breakthroughs, a proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could slam the brakes on this progress.

This proposed rule threatens to label these incredible innovations, like turning a lengthy IV drip into a quick injection, as mere “extensions” of older drugs. It would force these new medicines to inherit the prices of their outdated predecessors, subjecting them to Medicare price controls almost immediately. It treats these scientific leaps as minor tweaks, and therefore disincentivizes companies from investing time and money in developing them.

As someone who has poured her life into advocating for this community, I can tell you that a few minutes saved is not minor. For a woman sitting in that chair, hooked up to an IV, knowing she has to miss work, arrange child care, or find a ride from a rural town hours away, every single minute is precious. Reduced time in a clinic is a tangible, life-changing gift.

The data backs this up. In one study, 85 percent of women said they preferred a newer injectable treatment over the older, longer infusion, citing the reclaimed time as a huge benefit. If we make it harder for pharmaceutical companies to invest in these improvements, we aren’t just freezing innovation; we are telling women that their time and their quality of life don’t matter.

This is especially true for women of color, women in rural areas and those struggling to make ends meet. We already face disproportionate barriers to care. For us, spending an entire day in a clinic could mean losing a job, missing a paycheck that we cannot afford, or facing a logistical nightmare just to get the medicine we need to live. These innovations aren’t just about comfort; they are about equity and access.

The benefits extend across our health care system. By reducing treatment times, we can free up clinic chairs, ease the burden on overworked nurses, and allow providers to see more patients who desperately need care. Injectable medicines can also reduce the risk of certain adverse events associated with infusions and, by making treatment less burdensome, help patients adhere to their treatment plan. It is a win for everyone.

Beyond logistics, there is a deeply personal element I wish policymakers could understand. When you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you lose control. Your calendar fills with appointments, and your life revolves around treatment. Being able to choose a therapy that fits your lifestyle and lets you work, parent and live with some semblance of dignity is powerful. It restores a piece of your identity that the disease tries to steal.

This proposed rule reduces these incredible medical advancements to line items on a spreadsheet. For us, time gained is not measured in minutes. It is measured in the moments that matter most. It is the difference between watching a daughter’s soccer game and missing it. It is the difference between attending a meeting and being written off. It is the difference between feeling like a patient and feeling like a whole person.

CMS has a choice. It can recognize that saving patients time and improving their care experience has intrinsic value. It can evaluate these therapies as the distinct, groundbreaking products they are. This would preserve incentives for continued progress while still pursuing affordability.

Women facing cancer today, and the millions who will face it tomorrow, are counting on America’s innovation engine. We shouldn’t have to beg policymakers not to dismantle it. Do not create new roadblocks to the treatments that offer us more options, control and, ultimately, hope. We are not just fighting for more years; we are fighting for better days to fill those years.

Maimah Karmo is a breast cancer survivor and the president and CEO of the Tigerlily Foundation. She wrote this for www.InsideSources.com.