MsC1210

Jude Thank you so much for taking the time right now to pass this message on to all of the members here. As I said in my reply to Amanda, Don was one of the first to welcome me to this site and his warmth and wisdom were such a source of inspiration for so many. It was the people like Don who made such a difference to so many of us a few years ago. He was a source of information and advice as well as someone who always had words of encuragement at just the right time.Sadly so many of those voices have been silenced and things just changed along the way as so often happens in life. Please know that you and Amanda and those beautiful grandchildren are in my thoughts and prayers and will continue to be. My condolences to all of you and my sincere thanks to you for allowing us to be a part of your Don's life and to learn from him as he fought so bravely. With my love and hugs Christine

Amanda Like so many others before me and after me, your Dad was one of the first to welcome me to this site and always had a kind word or bit of wisdom to share. His journey with cyber knife and how he shared his experiences so selflessly was nothing short of Awe Inspiring. Don's posts and participation here is what made this site what it used to be. Don, I know you are in a better place now where there is no pain, no suffering, no cancer and no evils. May God bless you and keep you and watch over those who are left behind. You were and are an amazing human being. My prayers and condolences to you, Amanda and thank you for letting us know Hugs Christine

((((Connie)))) I am so very sorry about the loss of your friend. Although I never had the chance to "meet" her, Mary Jo sounds like a truly wonderful person. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. Christine

Mary Lou I am so very sorry. I know that there are no words that can help right now but please know that I understand and I feel your pain. Please keep in touch and lean on us. We will be here for you, I promise. Much love and many warm, caring and understanding hugs Christine

Hello, Just thought I would let you know I finally got my phone and internet restored this evening. It's been such a surreal experience to live through this devastation from an ice storm! I've had the chance to speak to several out of town utility workers, some of whom worked on the huge ice storm in Quebec a couple of years ago and some of whom worked on the Katrina disaster. All of them agree that although this was not as wide scale as Katrina the damage was similar in severity. We are very, very fortunate to have the power and phones back so soon. There are still many people in the area without either and my thoughts and prayers are with them. I am going to take my time and try and read through the 12+ days of posts that I have missed but am going to take some time to decide how active I will be now. My time "off" has given me some new perspective. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season, Christine

Randy I will buy everyone who has been sending out those prayers and good thoughts a round!

Thank you all so much for the thoughts and prayers over the past 5 and a half days. My power was restored by the most amazing power crews who are here helping the disaster relief efforts all the way from Michigan! I am so thankful to them! I still have no phone or internet but just having light and heat and running water is good enough for me! My thanks to all for your awesome prayers! Love and hugs Christine

Hi guys First let me say I am posting from my blackberry and doing my best to make sense! Please ignore the typos. This is day 4 of no power or phones and we honestly don't know when it will be restored. I am in western Massachusetts, in berkshire county which is on the new York and Connecticut border. We are in a small hill town and pretty remote which makes us not a priority in some ways. We have been told we may not have power befor Christmas which will make for a strange holiday but we will make the most of it. I am just grateful we are all safe and warm and we did not suffer any property damage other than broken trees. I can handle that. My son is still out on emergency detail with the national guard. He was able to call me last night and said the devastatio he has seen is just unreal. We have damage so severe that it will change the landscape forever. Very much like a hurricane but no wind just ice. Unbelievable! Please keep us in your prayers and know I am thinking of you all. I know that many of you have been checking my status on facebook for updates and I will continue to post there as well. Thank you all so much. I can say that my family and I truly know the meaning of holiday spirit. It is about love and compassion folks, not the material things. Love hugs and blessings to all Christine

Thank you Connie for passing my message on. I am still using my cell to do this but wanted to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers and well wishes. When I am able to post pictures it will underscore how devastated this area is. As far as I know there have been no injuries etc anywhere near here. I pray that will be the case when this nightmare is over. Thanks for all of your concern. It means a lot to know that we are in your prayers. Please keep my son in your prayers as he has been activated with his national guard unit and is somewhere in Massachusetts doing storm clean up and providing emergency services to people who need it. Love Christine

I just wanted to check in and let you all know what's happening here. I am in berkshire county of Massachusetts and we are in one of the hardest hit areas from the ice storm. I have no power and no phones and am relying on my blackberry to keep I. Touch with the outside world. We have an estimate of a week to 10 days before our power may be restored but that is only a guess. My sons national guard unit was activated by the state and he is out in central Massachusetts providing clean up and relief efforts there. I have never seen devastation like this before. It is worse than a tornado as it continues on and on with trees and power lines continuing to fall under the weight or an inch plus of ice accumulation. I wil check in when I can and please l know that my thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Hugs Christine

Miso Soup with Scallions Did you know that Miso Soup with Scallions is actually an ancient herbal remedy for colds? In 300 AD famous herbalist, Ge Hong, writes about Miso Soup with Scallions in a book called, Bei ji zhou hou fang or Emergency Formulas to Keep Up One's Sleeve. The soup is indicated for the onset of a cold when a person is just beginning to feel a headache, stuffy nose and a slight fever. So, the next time you feel a cold coming on, be sure to have your miso! Miso Soup with Scallions (Serves 4) Ingredients: 6 cups water 3-4 Tablespoons Aka Miso or red soy bean paste (usually sold in the refrigerated section) 3-5 green onions stalks, chopped Directions: Dissolve the miso in a little bit of boiling water (about 2 tsp.) Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and add the miso & scallions. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat top with green onions and serve. Variations: you can add various other ingredients to make a more substantial soup, such as tofu, seaweed, fresh mushrooms, cooked shrimp, snow pea sprouts, cooked rice

((((Tammy)))) Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Hugs Christine

Jean and Thom CONGRATULATIONS on your good news! I am so happy for all of you. Sending you best wishes for a wonderful and joyous holiday season and a belated Happy Birthday to your daughter!! Hugs Christine

Magchap Hello and welcome to the family. I am so very sorry you have reason, again to be finding a site like this but I am so glad you have joined us. As hard as this is, please try and keep hope alive. Treatments and medications have come a VERY LONG WAY since your Mom was sick and there are many more and better options out there now. I know how difficult this early part is for everyone, we all know, but it will be easier to deal with and cope with once your uncle has a treatment plan in place. In the meantime, please know that there are a lot of wonderful and caring people on this site and we will do all that we can to help you through this rough time. Many thoughts, prayers and hugs for you Christine

Hello and Welcome to the family! In answer to your question yes there are survivors here that have had brain mets. I am sure you will be hearing from them soon! I wanted to welcome you to the site and let you know that we are here for you in whatever way we can be. Please don't hesistate to post and ask us for any help as there is always someone here who can offer advice and support. Warmly Christine

Denise So glad to hear that Tom is home. Christine

Randy What a wonderful update!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. Chris PS.. glad to know that RANDY is coming back from the deep dark hole, too!!!!

Thank you all for your kind words today as well as your understanding. It was a rainy, windy and just plain YUCKY day here but throughout the day I did what I felt I could handle and am just very peaceful tonight. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, Love and Hugs Christine

Lynn, you are very welcome and thank you for your kindness today toward me. I get it sweetie, I really, really do.... Let me know if I can help.... Love Chris

(((Lynn)))) I wish there were words to make a difference right now. I love the way you are looking at it and dealing with it even though I know how hard it is, Lots of love and hugs Chris

Lung Cancer Vaccine May Offer Hope for Patients Dec 10, 2008 Kenny Goldberg There is no cure for advanced lung cancer. Patients usually die within a year of being diagnosed. But there could be some hope on the horizon. A San Diego biotech company has developed a vaccine it hopes will extend the lives of lung cancer patients. The vaccine has shown promise in early tests. It's now in the final phase of clinical trials. KPBS Health Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story. Once a month, lung cancer patient Cookie McNamara comes to the UCSD Moores Cancer Center. Nurse and McNamara: What we're gonna do here, is give you the injection, and I think they did it two times before, this is gonna be the third time. McNamara is taking part in a clinical trial of a vaccine for people with advanced non- small cell lung cancer. Nurse and McNamara: Stretch a little bit your skin, a little pinch, and let's put the medication in. Nobody knows whether McNamara is getting the vaccine or a placebo. McNamara was diagnosed with end stage lung cancer in January 2007. She went through 12 weeks of chemotherapy. Then, her oncologist told her she was eligible for the clinical trial. McNamara: She offered it to me, and I didn't even hesitate. I have such trust in the doctor. Like she says if someone offers you a silver bullet why wouldn't you take it? People with advanced lung cancer are looking for silver bullets. That's because current therapies just aren't effective. Dr. Luda Bazhenova is McNamara's oncologist. She's the principal investigator for the San Diego wing of the study. Bazhenova says lung cancer is a major threat. Dr. Bazhenova: It's a cancer that kills more people than breast, colorectal, prostate, and maybe some other couple of cancers combined. So if we are able to make a dent in cancer overall, this is the disease we should try for first. The vaccine is the brainchild of Dr. Habib Fakhrai. He's the co-founder and chief scientific officer of the San Diego biotech company NovaRx. Dr. Habib Fakhrai: When I started in cancer, I was hearing that patients who have cancer are immune suppressed. And immediately it came to my mind that somehow we have to block the immune suppression in these patients if we are going to have an effective vaccine. After trying some other agents, Fakhrai came upon a molecule produced by tumor cells. The molecule acts as a cloaking device against the body's immune system. It basically disables the immune cells. That allows cancerous tumors to grow, and eventually kill the patient. Fakhrai discovered the molecule has no effect on activated immune cells. So he designed a vaccine that contains molecules that have been genetically altered to block their immune suppressive properties. Fakhrai explains what happens when the drug is injected under the skin. Fakhrai: We create a micro environment the size of a teardrop. All the body is immune suppressed, but that micro environment is not. When immune cells go there, they become activated because there is no immune suppression in that little micro environment. And once they become activated, they proliferate. Fakhrai: And they can stop the tumor in its track, and the tumor does not grow anymore. And the patients can live with their cancer for many years. In the phase two trial, 59 percent of those who received the vaccine were still alive more than three years after their diagnosis. Most end-stage lung cancer patients don't survive one year. What's more, there were no side effects from the vaccine. The goal of the phase three trial is to confirm these results. Unfortunately, Cookie McNamara may not be around to see what happens. Since we first spoke with her, she's learned that her cancer has progressed. As a result, she's been removed from the trial. Nonetheless, McNamara says she's proud to have been a part of it. McNamara: We're all gonna die. And the only thing I can do, you know, is try to do it in the most graceful way possible, and you know, hopefully helping somebody. Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News. http://www.kpbs.org/news/local;id=13415

Surgery Using Small High-Def Video Camera Helps Lung Cancer Patients 17,000 Diagnosed With Lung Cancer In Florida In 2008 POSTED: 1:57 pm EST December 9, 2008 UPDATED: 12:57 pm EST ORLANDO, Fla. -- A relatively new surgery that does not utilize an open incision is helping lung cancer patients. The procedure is called video assisted thoracic surgery, or VATS, and has been performed on 75 Central Floridians over the last two years. There have been 102,000 new cases of cancer in Florida in 2008, including 17,000 lung cancer patients. "It is tremendous surgery. It has done me well, so I can't praise it enough," said Jim Gerard, who had never smoked but still contracted lung cancer. He said he was diagnosed when he felt a pain on his right side. "I never felt bad. I was still able to work out effectively, climb stairs, do a little cardio, stuff like that. I never knew that I was ill," Gerard said. Doctors ordered a CAT scan and a MRI and found a small tumor on his left lung. "This is the spine, and this is the tumor," said Dr. Luis Herrera of M.D. Anderson Orlando, who introduced Gerard to VATS. "It is a method of doing surgery in the chest without using a traditional open incision." VATS is performed with three incisions that are less than an inch long. A small high-definition video camera is placed in one of the three incisions and surgical instruments are placed in the other two. "It is like he is playing a video game, which I thought was really neat," Gerard said. "This surgery is best suited for patients who have early stage lung cancer, meaning that the lung cancer is localized to the lung and it is not larger than 3 to 4 inches in size," Herrera said. The biggest benefits of VATS are less pain and a faster recovery. Gerard said he feels good a year after the lower lobe of his lung was removed. "I think I am doing pretty well. I can go up four flights of stairs -- I wheeze a little bit -- but I am still able to do it without too much problem," Gerard said. "You will notice a little bit more work of breathing doing those strenuous activities the more you do. The remainder of the lung will compensate and start to accommodate all that exercise," Herrera said. Gerard had a recent checkup, and his doctor said he's doing well. Gerard, who has been married for 55 years, said he works and exercises regularly. For more information about VATS, call 321-8HEALTH or visit the American Cancer Society. http://www.local6.com/health/18237465/detail.html

Monique I am so glad that Mom has the anxiety meds now. It will help! Sending you tons of good wishes, positive thoughts and prayers for tomorrow. I will be waiting to see how things go, Warmly Christine

((((Dana)))) I'm so sorry. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. We are here for you. Hugs Christine

((((Max and Inez)))) Congratulations on the one year anniversary! You are both such wonderful and special people! Happy, Happy holidays to you both Much love Christine