RandyW

Live ANd Love each other Always. My Normalcy was s3 months and now it is deadfully over. Enjoy every second of life. Congratulations.

If It helps any, I have "Meltdowns" at work, Doctors Office Car Parents House All over town basically. Lots of people I think do not understand what we go through with this disease and all terminal diseases. THe thought of never knowing scaares me all the time. I give thanks every morning and every night and I always tell Deb I love Her. And I do mor ethan anything.

Sending Prayers From North Carolina. Be Strong.

Friday Night Had to call paramedics for Respiratory distress. All I heard was gurgling When She was trying to breath Friday Night. Deb is On O2 Morphine because she can not swallow anything and steroids for the swelling? WE see the Onc tomorrow and hopefully get some GOOD news. I am very scared but do not want to Jinx anything and am trying to keep us boti in a positve mood right now. She was supposed to start Alimta Avastin Tomorrow But I Do not know right now what to expect. I am falling apart emotionally every time I think about this situation. PLEASE say a prayer especially for Deb. Will update ASAP. Thanks

Saying A Prayer Foor Rachael In Carolina

Don't apologize there is no reason to. Its Ok. I am a43 YO male And I Do it sometimes too. When I get Bad news and some times good news.

Beth, AM so sorry to hear of your loss. Will say a prayer under the carolina blue skies today for you and your family

Lynda, My Wifes tumour is actually inside of her Lung That is why it is inoperable. Due to location. We caught this at stage IIB, and now are IIIB. I have been told that there is no "Cure" for this disease by her Oncologist. It can be treated and beat back. Oncology Experts Are hoping for a cure but a lot of research is leading towards "Living with this disease like Diabetes" until a Cure is found. She did not have Chemo and radiation at the same time. We did a round of Chemo and then 8 weeks every day of Maximum Curative Radiation 7000 rads a shot. We have been fighting for 3 years on March 29 2006. This is a greeat support group to be with. Lots of Info and compassion from all these wonderful folks. Good Luck and hope all this helps. Will say a prayer

Material Gifts and things at holidays are so irrelevant compared to living for the day and Loving the ones you are with! People should take the time to think about their families and less about what to buy for somebody to show their love. Love foor today and Live for tomorrow I think is what I am trying to say here.

DEb painted our house inside while on radiation. She had that much energy to burn. Now she gets Aranesp to help boost Red blood Cells For energy every week. All she can do to stay awake sometimes.

Sending prayers from under a Carolina Blue Sky!

If insurance will not cover a Chemo drug such as Avastin and Alimta, What can a person do to pay for these treatments, short of selling their sole? Anything? DEbs Tumour has gotten larger and has spread to lymph node areaand I just found out that Insurance will not cover these drugs EITHER ONE OF THEM!! I am about 5 minutes of going postal on them. Any advice would be appreciated on this topic. Thank You All So Much For everything.

Debs Oncologist has decided to try avastin and Alimta FOr 3 treatments 1 every 3 weeks. I Just found out from the Blue Cross Blue shield People that neither drug is covered on their plans. What do I do next? I do not know. If anybody has any advice please share it with me. I could use some about now. Her tumour has grown in the last 3 months and spread to the Lymph node area in chest. This is last to starting over from 3 years ago, with Navelbine and Gemzar. HELP PLEASE!

The Panthers Are on the Prowl For some Poultry For dinner

Frozen Thin Mints with Edys Thin mint Ice cream

Could This Be Red blood cell defiency? MAke Sure counts are cchecked, Aranesp helps this as a booster. DEb Painted the inside of the house while on radiation, because she wanted to!! All i had to was pay for supplies. The body does well to get rest also. It helps healing process. Check RBCs though.

Thanks For The lead Looks very usefull.Really

Sending lots of prayers for you and your family. Praying For eveeryone

Tot's cancer courage.com Bearing up ... brave Samantha beams with teddy after losing hair through chemotherapy FULL NEWS INDEX By JOHN ASKILL A TWO-YEAR-OLD girl’s cancer battle is inspiring thousands — after her dad began writing her thoughts on an internet diary. Nearly 11,000 web users have been gripped by brave Samantha Hughes’s fight against a rare and deadly cancer called a neuroblastoma. Now, after four months, delighted doctors say her six-inch tumour has shrunk by half — and she should soon be ready to have an operation to remove it. Samantha’s web-log, known as a blog, tells readers she has been hit by “this nasty disease” and has had to go to hospital. She writes: “Mummy and Daddy tell me I’m a very brave little girl. “I like to keep everyone smiling and made everyone laugh when I said, ‘Mummy, am I allowed to jump up and down on this bed?’” Her blog begins last September, when she first fell ill with the disease, which affects fewer than 100 children in the UK each year. Her first entry explains: “I have lost my appetite. The only things I fancy are yoghurt and milk. “Mummy and Daddy are going to take me to the doctor to see whether I am poorly.” Net asset ... website has inspired 11,000 visitors Samantha, of Heanor, Derbys, had a gruelling series of X-rays, CT scans, bone-marrow tests and biopsies. They revealed her cancer of the nerve cells, which causes a tumour in the adrenal gland. On October 21 she writes: “Although I look well, it appears that under a microscope it’s a different story — which upset Mummy and Daddy. But we all have a positive attitude and will beat it together.” On November 4, she adds: “I have been fed through a tube, had no sleep and am on five different medicines. But guess what? I’m still smiling.” Samantha, who is having chemotherapy at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre, needs a blood transfusion every day to improve her blood count. Parents Neil and Tina, 36 — whose son Louis, five, beat lung cancer as a baby — say it is her courage which has caught the imagination of internet users. Systems analyst Neil, 32, said: “Samantha never loses her beautiful smile, no matter what. She may be only two, but we’ve all learned from her. “Nothing seems to knock her spirit, and the way she’s dealt with this has helped us cope. “We like to think people all over the country are inspired.” Samantha’s latest entry, on January 9, is typical of her fighting spirit. It reads: “I stayed up until 23:30 and was singing and laughing, but kept waking in the night very teary and was quite poorly. It’s time for round 8 of my chemo, which is my final course. Yippee! Chemotherapy knocks it out of you, but I always manage a smile and a song.” Samantha’s diary is on www.samanthahughes.info/index.htm To read this you might have to cut paste, But WWWOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone have any recommendations as to Whether or not these things help or not? I am not sure whether tto invest in one or not. Mainly for bedroom. Medium hair Germen Shephard and carpetted floors. Any advice would be appreciated and recomendations as to which one is best also Thanks.

DEb was getting an injection of Lorazepam 2MG and Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate1 Mg and an Injection of Ondansetron 1 Mg. These kept her pretty wewll balanced and Hungry too.

Always get a second opinion aa this point. Keep Fighting this thing never give up the battle.

I am in awe. You 2 are like peas in pod together. I have been married 9 years on 2/16/06. I have no children, but love evryone elses to death. Deb has been fighting this for 3 years on 3/29/06. She is my everything also. My advice is this, Go outside tonite under the stars and say a prayer to God. He can hear better under the stars I believe and nothing can interrupt you. HE will give you an answer and It will be the right one to follow. Personally; You can not make a wrong choice. Either way I think you will be truly blessed.

Have You also Thought about a second opinion, TO make sure there is no other options? I Will say a prayer for you tonite under the stars. It really works for me. this site is full of info and inspiration brrought by many wonderful people who would love to help. Welcome and hope we can help you in some way.

This might help if it works or copy into browser if it doesn't. Will saya prayer The initial approach to using radiation postoperatively to treat brain metastases, used to be whole brain radiation, but this was abandoned because of the substantial neurological deficits that resulted, sometimes appearing a considerable time after treatment. Whole brain radiation was routinely administered to patients after craniotomy for excision of a cerebral metastasis in an attempt to destroy any residual cancer cells at the surgical site. However, the deleterious effects of whole brain radiation, such as dementia and other irreversible neurotoxicities, became evident. This raised the question as to whether elective postoperative whole brain radiation should be administered to patients after excision of a solitary brain metastasis. Current clinical practice, at a number of leading cancer centers, use a more focused radiation field (Radiotherapy) that includes only 2-3cm beyond the periphery of the tumor site. This begins as soon as the surgical incision has healed. Many metastatic brain lesions are now being treated with stereotactic radiosurgery. In fact, some feel radiosurgery is the treatment of choice for most brain metastases. There are a number of radiation treatments for therapy (Stereotatic, Gamma-Knife, Cyber-Knife, Brachyradiation and IMRT to name a few). These treatments are focal and not diffuse. Unlike surgery, few lesions are inaccessible to radiosurgical treatment because of their location in the brain. Also, their generally small size and relative lack of invasion into adjacent brain tissue make brain metastases ideal candidates for radiosurgery. Multiple lesions may be treated as long as they are small. The risk of neurotoxicity from whole brain radiation is not insignificant and this approach is not indicated in patients with a solitary brain metastasis. Observation or focal radiation is a better choice in solitary metastasis patients. Whole brain radiation can induce neurological deterioration, dementia or both. Those at increased risk for long-term radiation effects are adults over 50 years of age. However, whole brain radiation therapy has been recognized to cause considerable permanent side effects mainly in patients over 60 years of age. The side effects from whole brain radiation therapy affect up to 90% of patients in this age group. Focal radiation to the local tumor bed has been applied to patients to avoid these complications. Aggressive treatment like surgical resection and focal radiation to the local tumor bed in patients with limited or no systemic disease can yield long-term survival. In such patients, delayed deleterious side effects of whole brain radiation therapy are particularly tragic. Within 6 months to 2 years patients can develop progressive dementia, ataxia and urinary incontinence, causing severe disability and in some, death. Delayed radiation injuries result in increased tissue pressure from edema, vascular injury leading to infarction, damage to endothelial cells and fibrinoid necrosis of small arteries and arterioles. Even the studies performed by Dr. Roy Patchell, et al, in the early and late 90's have been recognized incorrectly, sometimes, in the radiation oncology profession. The studies were thought to have been the difference between surgical excision of brain tumor alone vs. surgical excision & whole brain radiation. It was a study of whole brain radiation of a brain tumor alone vs. whole brain radiation & surgical excision. The increased success had been the surgery. And they measured "tumor recurrence", not "long-term survival". Patients experiencing any survival could have been dying from radiation necrosis, starting within two years of whole brain radiation treatment and documented as "complications of cancer" not "complications of treatment". There may have been less "tumor recurrence" but not more "long-term survival". Patchell's studies convincingly showed there was no survival benefit or prolonged independence in patients who received postoperative whole brain radiation therapy. The efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy after complete surgical resection had not been established. It never mentioned the incidence of dementia, alopecia, nausea, fatigue or any other numerous side effects associated with whole brain radiation. The most interesting part of this study were the patients who lived the longest. Patients in the observation group who avoided neurologic deaths had an improvement in survival, justifying the recommendation that whole brain radiation therapy is not indicated following surgical resection of a solitary brain metastasis. An editorial to Patchell's studies by Drs. Arlan Pinzer Mintz and J. Gregory Cairncross (JAMA 1998;280:1527-1529) described the morbidity associated with whole brain radiation and emphasized the importance of individualized treatment decisions and quality-of-life outcomes. The morbidity associated with whole brain radiation does not indicate whole brain radiation therapy following surgical resection of a solitary brain metastasis. Patients who avoided the neurologic side effects of whole brain radiation had an improvement in survival. There is no survival benefit or prolonged independence in patients who received postoperative whole brain radiation therapy. There may have been some less tumor recurrence but not more long-term survival. Had fatigue, memory loss and other adverse effects of whole brain radiation been considered, and had quality of life been measured, it might be less clear that whole brain radiation is the right choice for all patients. These patients do not remain functionally independent longer, nor do they live longer than those that have surgery alone, said researchers in a report in an issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. Even M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, noted in their OncoLog, that whole brain radiation may still be the standard for "four or more" brain tumors, however, there are a variety of effective treatment modalities for people who have fewer than four tumors, and in particular for a solitary brain metastasis. The UCLA Metastatic Brain Tumor Program's goal is to treat metastatic disease "focally" so as to spare normal brain tissue and function. Focal treatment allows retreatment of local and new recurrences. This treatment delivers a single, large dose of radiation that is precisely targeted to the tumor and causes minimal damage to surrounding brain structures. The results of a recent study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine reported that treating four or more brain tumors in a single radiosurgery session resulted in improved survival compared to whole brain radiation therapy alone. In the study, patients with primary malignancies that had metastasized to the brain underwent Gamma-Knife radiosurgery and the results indicated that treating four or more brain tumors with radiosurgery is safe and effective and translates into a survival benefit for patients. Sometimes, symptoms of brain damage appear many months or years after radiation therapy, a condition called late-delayed radiation damage (radiation necrosis or radiation encephalopathy). Radiation necrosis may result from the death of tumor cells and associated reaction in surrounding normal brain or may result from the necrosis of normal brain tissue surrounding the previously treated metastatic brain tumor. Such reactions tend to occur more frequently in larger lesions (either primary brain tumors or metastatic tumors). Radiation necrosis has been estimated to occur in 20% to 25% of patients treated for these tumors. Some studies say it can develop in at least 40% of patients irradiated for neoplasms following large volume or whole brain radiation and possibly 3% to 9% of patients irradiated focally for brain tumors that developed clinically detectable focal radiation necrosis. In the production of radiation necrosis, the dose and time over which it is given is important, however, the exact amounts that produce such damage cannot be stated. Late effects of whole brain radiation can include abnormalities of cognition (thinking ability) as well as abnormalities of hormone production. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls pituitary function. The pituitary makes hormones that control production of sex hormones, thyroid hormone, cortisol. Both the pituitary and the hypothalamus will be irradiated if whole brain radiation occurs. Damage to these structures can cause disturbances of personality, libido, thirst, appetite, sleep and other symptoms as well. Psychiatric symptoms can be a prominent part of the clinical picture presented when radiation necrosis occurs. Again, whole brain radiation is the most damaging of all types of radiation treatments and causes the most severe side effects in the long run to patients. In the past, patients who were candidates for whole brain radiation were selected because they were thought to have limited survival times of less than 1-2 years and other technology did not exist. Today, many physicians question the use of whole brain radiation in most cases as one-session radiosurgery treatment can be repeated for original tumors or used for additional tumors with little or no side effects from radiation to healthy tissues. Increasingly, major studies and research have shown that the benefits of radiosurgery can be as effective as whole brain radiation without the side effects. Back to top gdpawel Senior User Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 105 Location: Pennsylvania Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:42 pm Post subject: Treating four or more brain tumors -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Treating four or more brain tumors in a single radiosurgery session resulted in improved survival Medical Study News Published: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Treating four or more brain tumors in a single radiosurgery session resulted in improved survival compared to whole brain radiation therapy alone, according to a study the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Denver. "Cancer patients with multiple metastases to the brain face very grim prognoses and limited treatment options," said John Flickinger, M.D., senior author of the study and professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "In the past, these patients were not considered candidates for radiosurgery. The results of our study indicate that treating four or more brain tumors with radiosurgery is safe and effective and translates into a survival benefit for patients." Two hundred and five patients with primary malignancies that had metastasized to the brain underwent gamma knife radiosurgery for four or more tumors during one session. Gamma knife is a non-invasive, computer-driven, bloodless brain surgery that uses cobalt 60 to destroy tumors and vascular malformations and requires no surgical incisions. The average number of brain tumors for patients in the study was five, with a range from four to 18. Radiosurgery was used alone, in combination with whole brain radiation or after failure of whole brain radiation. Radiosurgery patients with the most prognostic factors associated with survival from brain metastases (defined as class 1 according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group classification system for patients with brain metastases) survived an average of 18 months, compared to a reported historical average of seven months for those who received whole brain radiation alone. Patients defined as class 2 who received radiosurgery survived nine months compared to the historical average survival of four months for patients who received whole brain radiation. Patients with the least prognostic factors associated with survival (class 3) who received radiosurgery survived an average of three months compared to the historical average survival of two months for patients who received whole brain radiation. The average overall survival for patients who received radiosurgery was eight months and the average time to progression and new brain metastases was nine months. "The study also found that the sum of the volume of all treated brain tumors was a more significant predictor of length of survival than was the total number of brain metastases, indicating that tumor volume should be used as a criterion for radiosurgery rather than number of brain metastases," added L. Dade Lunsford, M.D., Lars Leksell professor and chairman of the department of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Typically, only patients with one to three brain metastases are considered candidates for stereotactic radiosurgery," said Ajay K. Bhatnagar, M.D., study presenter and resident, department of radiation oncology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "However, based on the results from this study, we conclude that the number of brain metastases should not necessarily preclude patients with multiple lesions from this potentially life-saving treatment option." Also involved in the study from the University of Pittsburgh's departments of radiation oncology and neurological surgery was Douglas Kondziolka, M.D.