Nov
23
I get the know Steve from internet when reading about his story of fighting against cancer. He is a real estate agent who know the right way to set his mind to fight this disease. I asked his permission to publish his story in this blog and thank you Steve for giving us the strength…
Read his story!
After a what seemed to be a routine tonsilitis operation, I could not understand why the Doctor had called me back to his office so soon. Little did I know at that moment I was in for the surprise of my life. Yet, today, I can still hear the words echoing out of the doctor’s mouth. “Steve, You have cancer of the throat, and 8 jellybean sized cancerous tumors in your lymph nodes in your neck” cut and dry. Just Like THAT he uttered these words:
You have less then a year to live.
That is when the tears started to flow and the reality set in that I have CANCER!
That being said, My Cancer drama started Feb 26, 2007. At the time, I recall how calm I was. That of course would soon change as a mirage of scenerios went through my mind. Then I went about asking the doctor, “So, How do I beat this thing?”
This smug Doctor, with no compassion and concern in his voice at all for my personal welfare, (at the time I had no insurance) said: Well, you will need a radical neck dissection, that could put you out of commission for about 3-4 months, and then he uttered the most shocking news besides the possibility that I would die,,,, You may never be able to talk again.
GEEZE, I started to panic…How will I survive? How will I be able to make a living?….Sales is all I have ever known….What will my wife do? my family!!! I almost fainted from this overwhelming sensation of fear. Then I remembered my Tony Robbins training about FEAR- (False - Evidence - Acquiring - Reality) and survival mode was kicking in. It was at that point I made up my mind. God willing, I WAS GOING TO SURVIVE. Not only did I make up my mind that I was going to survive, I re-focused my mind that I was going to rededicate my life, and perform life at the highest level possible.
Shortly after the bad news, I got a second opinion, I was referred to another doctor, Dr. Anita Pomeranz at the Nevada Cancer Institute. This angel directly appointed from God not only helped save my life, she helped give me the courage to fight like hell. Doctor Pomeranz then broke the news to me that I could not eat for 6 months or longer. I had to get a JPEG tube inserted in my stomache and had to go on a liquid diet. so much for steak and beer! (*On a positive note: I ended up losing 70 lbs. However I don’t recommend the cancer diet for ANYONE!)
April 23, 2007 ,,,,I went on a program of Chemotherapy and had Radiation treatments for 7 weeks. It was grueling and I was constantly tired and worn out. The constant spitting up of blood, was absolutely the lowest point of my life. But, I prayed everyday, and as I begged God everyday to heal me, the lord delivered instant peace and comfort to me. With in days of starting treatment the bleeding in my throat stopped. I was still tired and exhausted (I would sleep 18 hours a day) Thank God for my broker..She was so helpful..Michele Sullivan was there for me. She helped with my closings and made sure I got paid and totally supported me. Then I started to realize about how lucky I was to have the people that were around me….slowly, and methodically, I constantly would think positive thoughts about how fortunate I was about everything in my life…good and bad. (when your sick, things like this happen) slowly but surely, I got better. I struggled. I was constantly vommiting everday from the treatment, I embraced this,,,,because I was still alive to vomit. my body would shake with weakness. GOOD! THAT MEANS I AM STILL HERE! It was this day August 23, 2007 that I realized that you have to embrace the Good, and the bad in life to live. What a life lesson!!!! It was at this moment I learned to make everything passionate no matter how trivial and small. even small things like being able to open a door, or walking outside, or being able to dress myself.
So, to make a long story short, My Cancer drama just ended October 22, 2007! I just got my tube removed from my stomach and The doctor told me I escaped from a tangerine size tumor in my neck (the worst he had ever seen) all my lymph nodes were clear! It was a MIRACLE!!!
The moral of the story and my personal message to the active rain community is this: No matter how good or bad things are going, count your blessings daily, hug your family, realize how lucky you are to live, AND LIVE PASSIONATELY EVERYDAY!
Nov
7
Sugar Intakes and Cancer
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“Beside treatment of your immune system, try to avoid sugar and you have higher chances of cure your cancer.”
My husband was telling me this after his meeting with Dr Sani. Dr Sani is his father’s cousin who provides home visit services for cancer’s patients and had helps hundreds of people with cancer. Now, my husband was helping him and has gained lots of valuable information and medical knowledge. Dr Sani will be the doctor who will provides treatment to my sister when she staying with us next month.
Lets get back to sugar. I tried to find the relation between eating sugar and found a great articles on this issue. When we eat sugar, its will rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. The blood sugar levels rise suddenly by increasing its insulin production. The function of insulin is to regulates the amount of sugar in the blood by metabolizing it for use as energy or by storing it as fat.
When too much sugar was consumed, the body will be overrun with sugar. It has trouble getting the glucose or blood sugar into the cells where it can be transformed into energy. This situation will cause the body is constantly dumping insulin into the bloodstream. The sugar is not being removed from the blood stream, this process is called insulin resistance.
However, insulin also promotes the storage of fat and obesity itself can also induce insulin resistance. That is why, the researches have been trying for decades to determine if eating sugar causes cancer or feeds a cancer that is already there.
But its already proven that when insulin levels are harmfully high at the time of a cancer diagnosis, the cancer is associated with a worse prognosis. To summed this, let me refer to a researcher named Dr. Michael Pollak from McGill University in Montreal. He said:-
“Sugar does not directly cause cancer, but people should be careful about the amount of sugar they consume, because each person’s individual body reacts differently to sugar.”
Take the safe side by avoiding eating processed sugar especially if you have been diagnosed with cancer. You might want to replaced it with sweet fruits to satisfy a craving for sweets.
Aug
7
Stop Smoking To Avoid Cancer
Filed Under Cancer, Prevention Treatment | 2 Comments
Although research and scientific studies have shown that the effect of smoking leads to cancer, some addicted still want to prove the opposite. Not only one, but I have met several smokers who proudly claimed that they have been smoking for more than twenty or more, but never having any illness related with their smoking habit. It’s actually wasting time to argue with this kind of people because the symptoms of illness maybe there, but they failed to notice because they proud to say that they are healthy smokers.
The facts that the active ingredients of tobacco especially nicotine has numbers of effects on the human body over a period of time. It’s not only cause of lung cancer, bronchitis, chest infection, but also heart attack and high blood pressure. The list of possible range of disorder not stop, there are other illness that closely related to smoking habit.
The long lists of illness related with smoking addiction give encouragement to some smokers to give up smoking. Every years, more than hundreds smokers all over the world find solutions to quick smoking for the health. Many give up smoking for certain period, but then continue with smoke again.
The failure of certain numbers of smokers due to the either lack of self confident or they do not have strong reason why they stop smoking. If you want to achieve anything in life, you need to know the strong reasons to support what you are doing. The same concept applied for smoking habit. Without knowing when, how and why you smoke, they its quite difficult to stop smoking permanently. Maybe you also might want to know how hypnosis can help you to stop smoking in 7 days. Click on the banner to find out…
Jul
8
Hi warriors,
Before I started research on cancer and alternative natural treatments, besides looking for an answer for the cure of cancer for my sister and father, its also as preventive measures for me. During that time, I thought cancer is running in our blood and genetic. After only after I seek for more knowledges and information that cancer is not genetic factor. In 1998, Dr Robert A. Weinberg of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s leading cancer researchers has announced that the prime cause of cancer is therefore not genetic.
The finding has been supported with another research by in 2006. The heads of the world’s largest cancer research centre in Houston, Texas, William Brinkley, a senior vice-president at Baylor announced that cancer’s prime cause isn’t genetic.
So, to anyone who has family with cancer, just do not worry you will be the next statistics. Just lead a balance life and keep away from stress to make your immune system stronger and able to kill the cancer cells formed in your body everyday.
Jun
30
My Sister Latest News…
Filed Under Cancer | Leave a Comment
I just want to share sad stories with all my readers. I just joined NLP and Hypnosis certification class this month and have get the certification. The plan is to help my sister dealing with her cancer. I felt guilty because her cancer was spreading to her neck and doctors that monitoring her progress keeps forcing her to do more chemotherapy session. She refused at first. But the doctor threatening her that the cancer is spreading fast.
Now she is in dilemma either want to continues her alternative choice of treatment or followed doctor’s recommendation. But all the statements and advices from doctors make more fears to her. She kept asking my suggestion - she agree with me about the alternative treatments but at the same time she afraid that if something happen to her- the doctor will neglect her when she require help.
Do you think what the doctor did - forcing patients to follow their directions is ethical?
Jun
27
Stress and Cancer
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The way we lead our life is highly related with the cancer. In news in The New York Times however commented that the study still open even there are connection between the stress, immune system and cancer. Scientists still doing the research on the issues and we never know when they will get the answer.
What the best that we can do now? Just avoid the stress disturb your body system and try to life happily. We know that its was normal to get stress - even everybody have gone through difficulties in life and this lead to stressful moment.
But the way we deal with the problem will results in how our body response to the problem. The group who did not able to manage their stress will cause their immune system become weak and allowing a tumor to grow.
Whatever the results of the years of research on the connection of cancer, stress and immune system, we should know how to relax and control our emotions. Remove those negative emotions and we will able to produce optimum performance of immune system.
So, any suggestion on how to relax yourself during stress?
Jan
17
Afraid of Their Own Medicine
Filed Under Cancer, Chemotherapy | Leave a Comment
In one survey, most oncologists specializing in lung cancer reported that they would not take chemotherapy if they had the disease. Yet, everyday these doctors give their patients chemotherapy.
In conversation with an investigative reporter, one brain cancer specialist admitted that he would never submit to radiation if he had a brain tumor. Nevertheless, he continues to send patients for radiation, because he would be kicked out of the hospital if he didn’t follow the accepted protocol.
Based on information in: Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Jan 1998; Spectrum, Mar/April 1998
William Campbell Douglass II, MD - “To understand the utter hypocrisy of chemotherapy, consider the following: The McGill Cancer Center in Canada, one of the largest and most prestigious cancer treatment centers in the world, did a study of oncologists to determine how they would respond to a diagnosis of cancer.
On the confidential questionnaire, 58 out of 64 doctors said that all chemotherapy programs were unacceptable to them and their family members. The overriding reason for this decision was that the drugs are ineffective and have an unacceptable degree of toxicity. These are the same doctors who will tell you that their chemotherapy treatments will shrink your tumor and prolong your life!”
Jan
16
No Rights for a Child - Part 5
Filed Under Cancer, Chemotherapy, Share Cancer Story | Leave a Comment
-1985-
Oncologists admit that chemo is ineffective: A year later, after trying out all the various chemo drugs on children, a group of pediatric oncologists admit that the role of chemotherapy is “unclear, ” that “responses are generally transient,” and “virtually no cures are reported.” They also admit again that an “active” drug (a drug that may temporarily shrink a tumor) has no relationship to a cure.
-1987-
Oncologists admit that chemo is ineffective and increases the risk of infection: “The (survival) rate was not improved by the chemotherapy program. An increased risk of infection was associated with the chemotherapy.”
- Jenkin RD, Boesel C, Ertel I, Evans A, Hittle R, Ortega J, Sposto R, Wara W, Wilson C, Anderson J, et al. Brain-stem tumors in childhood: a prospective randomized trial of irradiation with and without adjuvant CCNU, VCR, and prednisone. A report of the Children’s Cancer Study Group. J Neurosurg 1987 Feb; 66(2): 227-33.
The fact that chemotherapy actually causes cancer should be of no surprise to the oncologists. The chemotherapy they gave Alexander and thousands of other children is listed as “Known Human Carcinogens” by the National Institute of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the FDA.
In fact, cyclophosphamide was listed as a “Known Human Carcinogen” by the First Annual Report on Carcinogens published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1980. In addition, there are four other chemotherapy compounds on that list.
Furthermore, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer lists ten chemotherapy agents including cyclophosphamide and all alkylating agents as “Materials known to be carcinogenic to humans.”
It is hard to believe that oncologists would be injecting known human carcinogens into children with cancer. But, that is exactly what they are doing. They should not feign surprise when the children begin developing secondary cancers.
This is what happened to Alexander. His first cancer was medulloblastoma. After three months of chemotherapy the cancer returned as 30 separate tumors. At that point the doctors called it “leptomeningeal sarcoma.”
-1991-
Chemo leads to destruction of hearing, infertility and secondary cancers.
- Complications of chemotherapy include,“permanent hearing impairment secondary to cisplatin, infertility and an increased risk of second primary neoplasms.”
- Allen JC: Complications of chemotherapy in patients with brain and spinal cord tumors. Pediatr Neurosurg 1991-92; 17(4): 218-24
-1993-
The chemo is not the problem, it’s the children who are at fault: It’s 1993 and the oncologists have a new strategy - blame the victim. The drugs are exactly the same. Now, the problem isn’t that the chemotherapy is worthless. The problem is the children. They just have a poor prognosis.
“Children younger than 5 years who have PNET have a poor prognosis.”
- Goldwein JW, Radcliffe J, Packer RJ, Sutton LN, Lange B, Rorke LB, D’Angio GJ. Results of a pilot study of low-dose craniospinal radiation therapy plus chemotherapy for children younger than 5 years with primitive neuroectodermal tumors. Cancer 1993 Apr 15; 71(8): 2647-52.
- Today, according to the oncologists, children on chemotherapy have their brain cancers return in an average of 5-7 months. With chemo, Alexander lived a little more than five months from when he was diagnosed and he had all his tumor removed.
- Incredibly, the children operated on 70 and 80 years ago already beat Alexander in terms of survival, but if these kids had had the benefit of a modern surgery they might have lived even longer. Who knows how long these children would have lived if they had been given a modern operation?
- This suggested that chemotherapy was shortening children’s lives, not lengthening them!
-1998-
But even after these admissions that “virtually no cures are reported” with chemo in 1985, that chemo is “controversial” in 1991, “unproven” in 1993, and provides “a poor rate of survival and high treatment associated morbidity (i.e. side effects)” in 1997, nothing changes.
Here we are in 1998. The children are still getting the same drugs. The children die of the disease or the chemo itself. The conclusion is that the treatment doesn’t work. How many dead children did it take to reach that conclusion? What’s worse is that even with that conclusion, the oncologists continue to use these drugs on children….
THE END
Jan
15
No Rights for a Child - Part 4
Filed Under Cancer, Chemotherapy, Share Cancer Story | 1 Comment
- What you are about to read will shock you. It is a story of oncologists lying to parents and the public about the efficacy of their therapy. The quotations that follow come from abstracts and articles printed in their peer reviewed medical journals that trace the use of these drugs in children starting almost a quarter of a century ago. It is organized in chronological order. Incredibly, all these drugs are still being administered to children in hospitals throughout the country, sometimes without the parents’ consent.
Alexander was put on protocol CCG 9921 that consists of:
- Vincristine
- Cyclophosphamide
- Cisplatin (very similar to Carboplatin)
- Etoposide (also called VP 16)
- 1976 -
Vincristine causes seizures: In 1976, the oncologists experiment on children with a drug called vincristine. Twenty-two years later, they would administer the same drug to Alexander. Here in 1976 they find that the drug causes seizures.
-1978-
Vincristine does not eliminate cancer: A year later, they tested vincristine with two other chemotherapy drugs on more children. The tumors returned in an average of 45 weeks with the chemo.
-1982-
Vincristine destroys eyesight: The fact that oncologists were already warned that vincristine was dangerous to a child’s eyesight didn’t seem to make an impression. It didn’t for Alexander’s oncologist in 1998. This article is written about another child who nearly goes blind from vincristine in 1982.
-1983-
Cisplatin destroys hearing and leads to neurologic deterioration: In 1983, the danger of another chemo drug, cisplatin, is discovered, but only after trying it out on children. This is another drug the oncologists would inject into Alexander fifteen years later.
- “Six children received cisplatin for recurrent brain tumor. Five of the six children had evidence of significant hearing loss after only one cycle of treatment. Two (children)…developed profound deterioration in neurologic status within 72 hours after infusion.” - Granowetter L, Rosenstock JG, Packer RJ: Enhanced cis-platinum neurotoxity in pediatric patients with brain tumors. J Neurooncol 1983; 1(4):293-7.
- Cyclophosphamide does not affect survival: That same year, another chemotherapy drug called cyclophosphamide is tried out on children. It does not effect survival. This is the third of four drugs they would administer to Alexander many years later. This article admits that even if a drug is “active” and temporarily shrinks a tumor, it does not prolong life.
- “A case of fatal myeloencephalopathy (inflammation of the spinal chord and brain) secondary to accidental intrathecal administration of vincristine is reported in a 16 year old boy. He underwent a progressive ascending chemical meningoencephalitis leading to coma, and died 36 days after the injection. At autopsy, all regions of the brain that had been in direct contact with the cerebrospinal fluid were necrotic (dead).”
“Gonadal function was studied in two groups of children previously treated for medulloblastoma…In group one, but not in group two, the children also received adjuvant chemotherapy (BCNU or CCNU plus vincristine in four and procarbazine in three patients). The nine children in group one showed clinical and biochemical evidence of gonadal damage… In group two, each child…(developed) normally…We conclude that nitrosoureas (chemotherapy) was responsible for the gonadal damage…”
- Ahmed SR, Shalet SM, Campbell RH, Deakin DP. Primary gonadal damage following treatment of brain tumors in childhood. J Pediatr 1983 Oct; 103(4): 562-5.
-1984-
Oncologists may not count dead children in their statistics: The next year, several chemo drugs including vincristine, and etoposide, are administered to children in another chemo experiment. Etoposide is the fourth and last drug in the chemo cocktail they would administer to Alexander fourteen years later.
TO BE CONTINUE
Jan
14
No Rights for a Child - Part 3
Filed Under Cancer, Chemotherapy, Share Cancer Story | 1 Comment
The following quotes are taken verbatim from Alexander’s medical chart. Each entry is written by Hyder.
September 25, 1998
Mr. and Mrs. Horwin and I discussed treatment options in the office for about two hours…We discussed the risks of chemotherapy at length including low hemoglobin, low white blood cells, low platelets, infection, need for blood transfusion, need for platelet transfusion, pain, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, skin injury, heart damage, lung damage, liver damage, kidney damage, loss of hearing, small stature, hormonal problems such as low growth hormone or low thyroid hormone, infertility, second cancer, intellectual decline, worsening of neurological symptoms, ineffectiveness, and death. Mr. and Mrs. Horwin were quite distressed by all the potential side effects, but I explained that despite all these risks, I believe the potential benefits of chemotherapy in prolonging the length of cancer free survival or possibly cure are greater than the potential risks.
October 2, 1998
…without chemotherapy I am quite certain that the disease will relapse and this could possibly result in Alexander’s death. PLANS: We will proceed with chemotherapy like CCG-9921A, as the best available therapy.
October 3, 1998
I received your voice mail message that you have decided not to bring Alexander for scheduled chemotherapy today…Alexander needs chemotherapy now…We need to get chemotherapy started if Alexander is to survive this disease.
October 6, 1998
“About 4:30 p.m. on October 5, 1998, Mr. Horwin telephoned and asked me about a variety of biological therapies such as “nerve cell growth factor,” “retinoic acid,” and “tumor necrosis factor”…Mr. Horwin asked to use these biological therapies for his son before chemotherapy. I again told him clearly in my professional opinion, chemotherapy is the next treatment to use because of its known clinical efficacy.
He was distressed by the limitations of chemotherapy, since treatment is successful in only about 30-40% of children with Alexander’s type of cancer…I explained that the best opportunity we have to successfully treat Alexander’s cancer is to use chemotherapy now…I reiterated that my best professional advice which is to use chemotherapy now against Alexander’s cancer. I spoke to Mrs. Horwin and explained what I had explained to her husband. I told her that my best medical advice is to use chemotherapy for treatment of Alexander’s cancer. I told her that without chemotherapy, Alexander may die from cancer…”
- We began to research “leptomeningeal sarcoma” the cancer that had grown so rapidly and killed him. One of the abstracts that came back stunned us.
- It was a study published in 1994 by Dr. Heideman, the oncologist we had met at St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital. It discussed the “leptomeningeal progression” of medulloblastoma in thirteen children Alexander’s age who were given chemotherapy. It explained how the cancers returned and spread in eleven of the thirteen children within five months.
- It mentioned that for some of the children the cancers grew in the spines. Incredibly, this abstract described in detail exactly what happened to our son. But even more astounding, the abstract explained that this protocol was terminated due to the poor performance of the drugs.
- The chemo that they had given these children was identical to the chemo Hyder had administered to Alexander. The four drugs were exactly the same - vincristine, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide and etoposide. The cancer that returned, metastasized and took Alexander’s life did so in less than five months from the time when he had his surgeries
TO BE CONTINUE
Jan
13
No Rights for a Child - Part 2
Filed Under Cancer, Chemotherapy, Share Cancer Story | 1 Comment
- The oncologists warned us that if we didn’t use chemotherapy that the tumor would probably return in three months. These doctors assured us that the chemo they were administering to our son was the current “state-of-the-art.” They told us repeatedly that this was Alexander’s best choice for a long and healthy life.
- We continued the chemotherapy. As a result of the drugs, Alexander’s balance was lost, his ability to see deteriorated, and he lost hearing in one ear. The whole thing was horrendous.
- After a “clean” MRI on January 4th, Alexander had a spinal tap. A day later Alexander complained of pain in his head and back and he began to vomit. We asked for another MRI but Hyder, the oncolgist, refused because he had done one just a few days previously. Hyder told us that Alexander’s pain was just a side effect of the spinal tap. But as each day passed the pain became worse.
- We brought Alexander into the hospital on January 11th and Hyder ordered a CAT scan without contrast. We were told that the scan looked “fine,” although later, we would find out that a CAT scan especially one taken without contrast is not designed to reveal the presence of a returning brain tumor.
- Finally, on January 18th, we brought Alexander into the hospital and demanded a MRI. Hyder refused to order the test. He explained that it was too late in the day to schedule one. We had a confrontation. We would not leave until a MRI was ordered. Finally, Hyder relented. Alexander was wheeled into the MRI suite.
- An hour later we had the news, Hyder shook his head and told us that Alexander had over 30 tumors throughout his brain and spine. “What does that mean?” we asked completely stunned. Hyder just continued to shake his head.
“What is it?” we asked him. “Leptomeningeal sarcoma. I am so sorry. There is nothing we can do.” “How is this possible?” “It happens,” he said. “How often,” we asked. “It happens sometimes. I’m so sorry.” How long does Alexander have,” we asked. The surgeon paused. “A few days, perhaps,” he said.
“The only thing we can do is send you home with hospice care. I’ll give you a prescription for morphine and decadron,” Hyder said as he awkwardly patted me on the shoulder. “I think it is better to keep your son here tonight and you can go home tomorrow,” he added.
Alexander died on January 31st, 1999 in his mommy’s arms. Our son was only 2 ½ years old. After Alexander was buried, Raphaele and I wanted to know what happened. No one ever told us that the cancer could come back and kill Alexander while he was on chemotherapy. In fact, Alexander was only one quarter through a twelve-month chemo protocol (comprised of induction and maintenance chemotherapy).
TO BE CONTINUED
Jan
12
No Rights for a Child
Filed Under Cancer, Chemotherapy, Share Cancer Story | 1 Comment
(a true story by parents Raphaele & Michael Horwin)
Over forty years ago, those powerful words were written and endorsed by many nations throughout the world including the United States. It is a beautiful declaration but sadly it is only an illusion. The medical establishment took every single one of those rights away from our only child Alexander. Without the right to live, there are no opportunities for affection, play, or love.
Alexander was two years old when he was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor. This cancer is rising in frequency.
After the first round of chemo, Alexander began to change. Even after two brain operations, Alexander was still a vibrant, ruddy, strong, energetic child. But as the chemotherapy repeatedly filled his small body Alexander began to die inside.
- First the relentless stomach pains and the horrendous projectile vomiting began. Then his beautiful curly hair fell out. Next his dark skin tone turned pale as a ghost. He got sick with fevers and spent weeks in the hospital.
- Then there were the blood transfusions to replace the blood cells the chemo had killed, the hearing tests to see if the chemo drug cisplatin had not devastated too much of his hearing, the nuclear medicine tests to check if his kidneys were not giving up under the strain of processing so much poison, the liver function tests to ensure that his liver was not being destroyed, etc.
- During chemotherapy we had to squeeze an antibiotic into his nose called nystatin several times a day. He hated it and buried his face in a pillow when he saw it coming with all the strength his little body could muster. One of us had to pin Alexander down and keep his head immobile while the other pushed the syringe into each nostril and injected the solution. We were also called upon to give him GCSF injections at home.
- Then we found the following statement written by Hyder in our son’s medical chart. It was dated September 26, 1998:
“Dr. Heideman also called me because he was very concerned about Mr. and Mrs. Horwin…He was very concerned that the family would refuse treatment and that a court order would have to be obtained to treat Alexander.”
- And on October 6, 1998 Hyder continued:
“I think that if Mr. and Mrs. Horwin do not bring Alexander in for chemotherapy tomorrow, additional steps will be necessary.”
- We went to see an attorney to find out if the oncologists could take Alexander from us if we decided to stop chemo. Incredibly, the answer was yes !.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Jan
9
Paget’s Disease of the Breast
Filed Under Cancer, Latest News, Share Cancer Story | Leave a Comment
Today, I get this email from my schoolmate. Usually I never forward any email that looks suspicious or contains wrong or inaccurate information. So I did little research on the net and found about this disease from this website. This is the link.
The statements that we should worry is here!
The cause of Paget’s disease is unknown, but certain women seem to be at a higher risk of developing breast cancer. This includes women who have never had children, or had them late in life, women who started their periods at a young age or who had a late menopause, and women who have a strong family history of breast cancer.
Read the email here! I did not amend any sentences. But if you want to get the accurate information, I suggest you search from google at the top of this website.
New kind of Breast Cancer - DO NOT DELETE
Please forward to all of the women in your lives . Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, etc.
In November, a rare kind of breast cancer was found. A lady developed a rash on her breast, similar to that of young mothers who are nursing.
Because her mammogram had been clear, the doctor treated her with antibiotics for infections. After 2 rounds, it continued to get worse, so her doctor sent her for another mammogram. This time it showed a mass.
A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy. Chemo was started in order to shrink the growth; then a mastectomy was performed; then a full round of Chemo; then radiation. After about 9 months of intense treatment, she was given a clean bill of health.
She had one year of living each day to its fullest. Then the cancer returned to the liver area. She took 4 treatments and decided that she wanted quality of life, not the after effects of Chemo. She had 5 great months and she planned each detail of the final days. After a few days of needing morphine, she died. She left this message to be delivered to women everywhere:
Women, PLEASE be alert to anything that is not normal, and be persistent in getting help as soon as possible.
Paget’s Disease: This is a rare form of breast cancer, and is on the outside of the breast, on the nipple and aureole It appeared as a rash, which later became a lesion with a crusty outer edge. I would not have ever suspecte d it to be breast cancer but it was. My nipple never seemed any different to me, but the rash bothered me, so I went to the doctor for that. Sometimes, it itched and was sore, but other than that it didn’t bother me. It was just ugly and a nuisance, and could not be cleared up with all the creams prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on my eyes just prior to this outbreak. They seemed a little concerned but did not warn me it could be cancerous.
Now, I suspect not many women out there know a lesion or rash on the nipple or aureole can be breastcancer. (Mine started out as a single red pimple on the aureole. One of the bi! ggest pr oblems with Paget’s disease of the nipple is that the symptoms appear to be harmless. It is frequently thought to be a skin inflammation or infection, leading to unfortunate delays in detection and care.)
What are the symptoms?
1. A persistent redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple causing it to itch and burn (As I stated, mine did not itch or burn much, and had no oozing I was aware of, but it did have a crust along the outer edge on one side.)
2. A sore on your nipple that will not heal. (Mine was on the aureole area with a whitish thick looking area in center of nipple).
3. Usually only one nipple is effected. How is it diagnosed? Your doctor will do a physical exam and should suggest having a mammogram of both breasts, done immediately. Even though the redness, oozing and crusting closely resemble dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), your doctor should suspect cancer if the sore is only on one breast. Your doctor should order a biopsy of your sore to confirm what is going on.
This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many of your relatives and friends as possible; it could save someone’s life.
My breast cancer has spread and metastasized to my bones after receiving mega doses of chemotherapy, 28 treatments of radiation and taking Tamaxofin. If this had been diagnosed as breast cancer in the beginning, perhaps it would not have spread…
TO ALL READERS:
This is sad as women are not aware of Paget’s disease. If, by passing this around on the e-mail, we can make others aware of it and its potential danger, we are helping women everywhere.
Please, if you can, take a moment to forward this message to as many people as possible, especially to your family and friends. It only takes a moment, yet the results could save a life.
Jan
4
Nose Cancer (Nasopharyngeal Cancer)
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The nasopharynx is the area where the back of the nose turns to meet the upper section of the
throat. The cancerous tumour usually originates at the curved part behind the nose or the post nasal space. As the tumour is situated close to critical structures of the brain, spinal cord and throat, nasopharyngeal cancer can cause many symptoms in its advanced stages.
It is common among the Chinese population, particularly in Hong Kong and Southern China. In Malaysia, we are talking about an incidence of 25 cases for every 100,000 people in the population. According to the recent National Cancer Registry, nasopharyngeal cancer is the second most common cancer in Malaysian men, after lung cancer. In comparison to the rest of the world, the Malaysian Chinese male has the second highest incidence; the local Chinese women have the highest incidence in the world. The incidence rises with age, particularly between the ages of 50 and 60. But as our population expands, we are definitely seeing more cases in recent years. An epidemiology study in Hong Kong many years ago found an association between eating salted fish at a young age and the occurrence of nasal cancer. However, recent studies have implicated viral origin of the disease. He virus implicated is known as the Epstein-Barr virus. While many of us have that virus sitting dormantly behind our noses, some of us will eventually develop cancer due to the complex interaction of the virus and our genes. Other environmental factors include the consumption of preserved food and fermented fish products, as well as exposure to toxic fumes and tobacco.
Symptoms
Early symptoms include:
· bleeding nose
· hearing problems, such as ringing and tingling
· blocked nose
As the disease progresses, symptoms may include:
· hearing loss
· numbness in the face
· coughing out blood
· swallowing problems
· breathing difficulties caused by a blocked nose
· double vision
Diagnosis: The first stage of diagnosis involves a full ENT (ear, nose and throat) examination by a specialist, which includes examining the back part of the nose. If a swelling or bulge is present, a biopsy is indicated. A biopsy involves removing a small piece of tissue sample to determine the presence of cancer cell. It is essential in making a diagnosis. The ENT specialist is usually the first port of call for patients, as most of them think of their symptoms as common ENT problems. As soon as the ENT specialist detects something amiss or the biopsy is confirmed for cancer, the patient will be referred to an oncologist. The role of the clinical oncologist is to treat the cancer with radiotherapy or chemotherapy, or both. More tests will be done to determine the extent of disease and the best way to treat the patient. This includes a computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and neck area. X-ray or scans of the chest, liver and bone are also necessary to find out if the cancer has spread to those areas.
Treatment: At Stage I or II of the disease, where the tumour is confined to the back of the nose, the treatment choice is radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is an X-ray treatment using high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation is given to the tumour site, which will also include the neck and throat. It is given daily from Mondays to Fridays for 7 weeks. At these early stages, treatment can achieve a cure rate of over 90% and recurrence is very unlikely if an experienced oncologist administers it. At Stages III and IV, when the lymph nodes have become infected with tumour (but the tumour has not progressed to other parts of the body), treatment is a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. When both treatments are done concurrently, a cure of between 60% to 70% can be achieved compared to radiotherapy alone. The side effects are greater with combination treatment, but this is offset by higher cure rates.
Side Effects: Short-term complications start with dry mouth and loss of taste. This could lead to loss of appetite. By the 3rd and 4th week of treatment, there will also be difficulty in swallowing, which will persist throughout treatment. There may be some skin changes in the treated area. Fortunately, these side effects are only temporary and will last until treatment is completed. The taste capacity takes about 2 months to recover, while the dry mouth never fully recovers, but it’s a small price to pay for cure.However, newer treatment techniques using CT scan-based treatment planning may help reduce these long-term side effects.
By Dr Ibrahim Wahid
Jan
2
BLADDER CANCER
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Bladder cancer affects twice as many men as women in the UK. It is the fourth most common cancer in men and the tenth most common in women. Each year, there are over 10,600 new cases.
Bladder cancer is most common in people over 50. It affects the inner lining of the bladder and develops slowly. As it grows, it may spread to other organs near the bladder
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