Barb73
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Posts posted by Barb73
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Lilly,
I know that not being able to see your kids when you most need them around is a bummer.
My prayers are with you for a speedy recovery from the pneumonia, and a resolving of the "other issues."
There are times in life when things turn out to be better than at first glance. That is my prayer for you.
Hold onto strength,
Barbara
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Larry Heron
in GRIEF
Bruce,
I am so very sorry.
Barbara
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You go, Girl, and I am with you all the way to that goal!
Barbara
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Well, Denise, you became a "victim of the system." When it goes awry re missing referrals, and the like, it just adds to the stress meter.
I am so glad you resolved it all, and still have you in my prayers every day for a good outcome to the biopsy.
Courage,
Barbara
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Betty,
I am sure your experience in your journey has helped many newbies to the cancer walk. It gives hope. It helps many to be able to look forward with positive thoughts.
Thank you for posting and updating. Believe me, I enjoy your great attitude. It has lifted my spirits. Wishing you many blessings.
Barbara
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Maryanne,
Thank you for the article on Kathryn Joosten.
She has been "out there" with the message, and who is from a celebrity background with access to the media.
I am sure we all wish her much success in getting the stigma erased. When I saw the funding stats, it gave my stomach a twinge. What a disgrace!
She deserves kudos for her efforts. She didn't try to keep her disease a secret. That last line quoting her is so right on the mark (referring to lungs as being behind the breasts) - great sense of humor.
Barbara
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ONLINE RADIO - NOVEMBER 19, 2009
8:30 ET
7:30 CT
5:30 PT
http://lungcancer.about.com/b/2009/11/1 ... i-hope.htm
ARTICLE:
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I've certainly inserted my foot in my mouth when talking to my loved ones with cancer. I'm guilty of making well-meaning comments, that later make me cringe. Do you ever wonder what to say - or what NOT to say - to someone living with cancer? Do you know what it takes to help a friend coping with cancer?
Thankfully, someone very special to me can give us a few clues; ideas on what people living with cancer want to hear, and what words are best left unvoiced. Lung cancer survivor - or "breath cancer survivor" as she terms it, Lori Hope has a calling true to her name. Having walked a mile in the shoes of a cancer patient - her own shoes - and having experienced the stigma of a diagnosis of lung cancer, Lori has committed herself to helping those without cancer understand what it takes to truly help someone with cancer.
The event: online radio - everyone can attend!
The date: Thursday, November 19th, 2009.
The time: 8:30 PM ET, 7:30 PM CT, 5:30 PM PT
Kelly Connors, host of RealWomen on Health! will be talking with Lori Hope in a program titled How to Help a Friend With Cancer. The station's website provides details on how to call in to listen. If you happen to miss the broadcast, tune in later online to catch a recording of the show.
Lori will be talking about her personal journey with lung cancer. She will share how she has experienced the stigma ("how long did you smoke?"), and what she has learned that can help each of us become better friends. Her compelling stories will inspire us to hope and action.
In addition to writing a book on the subject - one I recommend to everyone I know who has a loved one with cancer - Lori has been featured as an expert on the Today Show, in Time, the Wall Street Journal, and other media. She writes and speaks frequently about how to keep hope alive through cancer and beyond.
Her book, Help Me Live: 20 Things People With Cancer Want You To Know
is on my nightstand. Even after reading it 15 times, I still say stupid things at times when I talk with cancer survivors. I promise it will remain on my nightstand for the indefinite future.
Her blog, "What Helps, What Hurts, What Heals" is a source of inspiration. For those of us who talk with loved ones and friends with cancer daily, I think of it as having a good breakfast before going out into the world.
And, for anyone interested in joining forces to support people with lung cancer, Lori is planning and producing a major nationwide lung cancer awareness and advocacy event for 2011. Anyone who would like to become involved (as I certainly wish to) can email Lori. Put in the subject line "2011".
Thanks Lori, for building a much needed bridge between those living with cancer and those without cancer who want to show they care.
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(About.com, Lung Cancer Blog by Lynne Eldridge, MD, November 16, 2009)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not being posted with the intention of being medical advice of any kind.
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Judy,
Keeping your daughter in my thoughts for a good outcome.
Everything positive being sent your way on prayer wings.
Barbara
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Best News!
in HOPE
Dawn
,I LOVE reading your news. It's wonderful.
Barbara
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http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/a ... g-revealed
ARTICLE:
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Scientists have identified a new drug which could be used to treat people with small cell lung cancer.
Researchers at Imperial College London and part-funded by Cancer Research UK found the drug, named PD173074, eliminated small cell lung cancer tumours in 50 per cent of cases when tested on mice.
It also prevented the tumours from growing and stopped them from becoming resistant to treatment.
According to Professor Michael Seckl, who led the study, new treatments are needed as a matter of urgency.
"Our new research in mice suggests that it may be possible to develop the drug PD173074 into a new targeted therapy for small cell lung cancer," he commented.
"We hope to take this drug, or a similar drug, into clinical trials next year to see if it is a successful treatment for lung cancer in humans."
Less than five per cent of patients diagnosed with more advanced small cell lung cancer are expected to live more than five years.
Although chemotherapy is often effective at first, many tumours grow back as they become resistant to treatment.
Meanwhile, surgery is not usually an option due to the rate at which the tumours spread.
The study conducted by Professor Seckl and colleagues, which was published online in the journal Cancer Research, focused on a growth hormone called FGF-2, which was already known to promote the spread of small cell cancer tumour cells.
Researchers tested to see whether PD173074, which inhibits the ability of FGF-2 to attach itself to tumour cells, had an impact on the growth of the tumour.
They found the drug eliminated tumours in 50 per cent of the animals and could also enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment.
When combined with chemotherapy drug cisplatin, PD173074 helped to slow down tumour growth significantly faster than through the use of either cisplatin or PD173074 in isolation.
And the higher the dose of PD173074, the more effective it was found to be.
Dr Joanna Owens, Cancer Research UK's science information manager, said: "It's encouraging to see potential new drugs for lung cancer in the initial stages of development.
"We are pleased to have been involved in this research and Cancer Research UK has pledged in its five-year research strategy to increase research into lung cancer to further improve treatments for this disease.
"The early results from this study are impressive but we'll need to wait for the results of clinical trials before we'll know if the drugs could work for patients."
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(Cancer Research UK, News & Resources, November 12, 2009)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not being posted with the intention of being medical advice of any kind.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/health/14patient.html
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WHEN Diane Klenke was told five years ago that she had pancreatic cancer, she was given three months to live. “The doctor told me to go home and put my affairs in order and that was it,” Ms. Klenke, now 52, remembered.
Instead of taking that advice, Ms. Klenke, who lives in Green Bay, Wis., decided to fight. She researched other doctors and alternative therapies until she hit upon the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Evanston, Ill., which uses an approach of traditional and holistic therapies to treat cancer patients.
After undergoing intense chemotherapy along with proper nutrition, nausea and stress management therapies at the Block Center, Ms. Klenke’s cancer went into remission and has stayed that way.
So where is this anecdote heading? Glad you asked.
Cancer and its treatment are so complicated and relatively unpredictable that this column is in no way meant to advocate Ms. Klenke’s approach to dealing with her disease.
As a Patient Money columnist, I don’t pretend to have that expertise.
Instead, my purpose here is to provide financial guidance for those who, like Ms. Klenke, choose to take the medical path less traveled.
Besides learning the ins and outs of complementary and alternative medicine, Ms. Klenke has also become something of an expert on how to pay for these treatments. With the help of the Block center and her own research and persistence, she persuaded her insurance company to cover her entire course of treatment and the follow-up treatments that she continues to pursue, as she puts it, “to boost my immune system and keep me cancer-free.”
So-called complementary and alternative medicine — or CAM, as it is known by practitioners and adherents — is becoming more mainstream every day. In 2007, more than one in three adults and nearly one in eight children, according to a federal study sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health, used some form of CAM — from self-prescribed nutritional substitutes to repeat visits to alternative health care practitioners. So commonplace are the alternative providers that chiropractors and acupuncturists, for example, are now licensed by most states. At the same time, many traditional medical doctors, recognizing patients’ demand for alternative therapies, have signed up for training in alternative therapies or added alternative professionals to their staffs.
Alternative medicine is also a big business. Americans spent nearly $40 billion out of pocket on alternative therapies, according to that same 2007 study, to pay for practitioners as well as vitamins and supplements. Often, the treatments aren’t cheap. A session at the acupuncturist can easily run $100. And as with pharmaceuticals, vitamins, herbal supplements and homeopathic remedies have a huge price range — from a $12 bottle of vitamins to supplements costing hundreds of dollars.
More insurance companies are now offering full or limited coverage, or arranging discounts, on these treatments. But, as Ms. Klenke learned, getting even limited coverage can be time-consuming and tricky.
And most people pursuing alternative therapies should expect to pay some, if not all, costs out of pocket, says Mark Stengler, a naturopathic doctor in the La Jolla area of San Diego who is licensed in California. He holds a doctorate from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, now called the National College of Natural Medicine, in Portland, Ore. Naturopathic training is often similar to the training conventional doctors receive and includes holistic training. Dr. Stengler is the author of several books and the Bottom Line newsletter on natural healing. If you venture forth, here’s advice on how to make the most of your insurance coverage and find the best prices for the highest-quality alternative treatments and medicines.
INSURANCE INS AND OUTS Before you do anything, be sure to read your health insurance policy thoroughly. It may spell out some of the alternative practitioners and treatments it covers, for example, 50 percent of all acupuncture and chiropractor visits.
More often, says Linda Bourdosis, a patient advocate at the Block Center, coverage is more subtle. For instance, your insurer may pay for certain specific treatments — massage therapy for muscle strains, for instance, or fish oil supplements to reduce inflammation from arthritis — if they are prescribed by your primary physician for a diagnosed ailment and coded correctly. Many require preauthorization from the insurer.
Keep at it, Ms. Bourdosis says. Getting the insurer to pay “doesn’t always happen the first time,” she said. “It can take two, three or four claims. You’ve got to be persistent.”
Don’t be afraid to negotiate with your insurer and with your provider, particularly when treating serious illnesses. Ask to speak to the claims manager or your case manager. In Ms. Klenke’s case, the Block Center was willing to discount its rates 25 percent in return for being considered part of the network that Ms. Klenke belonged to through her husband’s group insurance plan. In her case, Ms. Bourdosis at the Block Center negotiated with her insurer, but sometimes the patient needs to be the middle man to get an insurer and health care provider to agree.
Or, you might want to try to find an alternative practitioner who is part of a larger group of traditional doctors, or vice versa, Dr. Stengler says. That way, if you need lab tests or other diagnostics, your primary physician can prescribe them and they will be covered — even if alternative treatments are not.
FIND AN ADVOCATE The insurance maze can be time-consuming and difficult, especially in the face of illness, Ms. Klenke acknowledges. But there is help.
Most large hospitals and clinics, especially those with integrative medicine programs, like Beth Israel in New York, have an advocate in the billing or coding department that can help with prequalifications, appeals and other paperwork.
If you have a major illness like cancer, your insurance company may have also assigned you a separate case manager. Ensure the advocate and insurance manager are talking to each other.
BUY ONLY WHAT YOU NEED If you swear by the chiropractor or acupuncturist but your insurance doesn’t cover the treatment, you’ll need to make some spending decisions.
One important caution from Dr. Stengler is this: Avoid paying upfront for a package of visits, say, 10 to 15. “If you’re not seeing improvement in two to three visits,” he said, “then that therapy probably isn’t right for you.”
Ask your practitioner if you can agree to only two or three visits, with the idea that you’ll continue the therapy if you see results.
CARE WITH SUPPLEMENTS A big part of alternative medicine is herbal and vitamin supplements. These are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and, as a result, there are many cases of supplements being sold with high levels of toxic substances or even prescription drug ingredients not listed on the labels. What’s more, many fraudulent brands sell high-priced supplements with minuscule dosages of the effective ingredient.
“Basically you pay top dollar for, say, a glucosamine supplement thinking you’re getting 100 percent of the daily dose, when, the reality is, you’re really getting a microscopic amount,” said Dr. David Riley, a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico medical school and editor of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.
Your first step is to ask your doctor for recommended brands. (But see the caveat further on.) You should also do your own research on Consumerlab.com, a comprehensive independent site that does thorough testing of unregulated health products of all kinds. Without federal regulations, buyer beware prevails.
SHOP BIG BOX OR ONLINE Once you’ve found a brand you know you can trust, compare prices. Chances are your local health food store isn’t going to have the best prices. Both Costco and Sam’s Club have started selling supplements aggressively in recent years, and many times they have the best deals.
In addition, try Web sites like Vitacost.com, says Dr. Stengler, which can offer products for 40 to 50 percent less than bricks-and-mortar retailers.
Think twice before buying directly from your practitioner, says Dr. Riley. Many doctors, he said, “make huge margins by selling supplements right in the office.”
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(NYTimes.com, Health, Article by Walecia Konrad, November 13, 2009)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not being posted with the intention of being medical advice of any kind.
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Dear Tova,
Bill, my husband, is in hospice. He had no further chemo available, and had lost so very much ability in his right arm (shoulder met). His neck has a growing node, which is unwieldy when he turns his head.
Bill had WBR over two years ago, completed June 27, 2007, and had short-term memory issues. As time went by, he had trouble finding words. However, all seemed pretty good, for the most part.
Yesterday morning before the healthcare worker came to shower him, he sat at the kitchen table with a vacant stare. I asked him what the matter was, and he said, "I don't know. I don't know." He didn't know who I was.
I tried to get him to his chair (medic-chair which has many features) by the window. It took 20 minutes to move him step-by-step only about 15 feet. I kept talking continuously to him, explaining how to take one step, then another.
He slept. When he woke, he recognized me, and was as clear as a bell. His mind was "back."
The healthcare worker had no trouble with his bath, and he conversed as though nothing had occurred. He had visitors (my sister and my BIL) who had brought him some eggplant parmesan (homemade). He laughed and had a wonderful time.
What was that incident? I don't know. What I do know is that I will keep talking to Bill - no matter if he is "in there" or not. My sense is that all of this is a process. He will always be my Bill - no matter what.
Keep talking to your Mom. She is definitely in need of that communication, and importantly, so do you.
My heart understands where you are, and it goes out to you and your family.
Barbara
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Will,
Just wanted to add in here that Bill (who is in his late seventies) had Alimta and did relatively well on it. He took it for the better part of a year, and it "worked" for him. His only side effect was a fatigue 2-3 days following, and lasting 4-5 days, or so. Then, he would return to "old self." He found it to be one of the easier regimens.
Wishing you much good luck.
Barbara
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Denise,
I have had the experience of having a mammogram come back with a "suspicious" node. That was about twelve years ago. They took a biopsy and it was benign. (It was in my right breast, and that breast had always been "painful.")
Since my kid sister had already been diagnosed with breast cancer, I was very concerned. I have a history of fibroids, as well. Try not to preempt.
I know - easier said than done.
Barbara
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Michelle,
More than six months ago, I was reconnected with a childhood friend who, in the interim, lost her husband through cancer - not lung cancer.
She has been grieving severely for all these months.
She has told me that she has cried in private, out in public, and has had so much pain. She has been visiting his grave weekly.
She and I have been writing every day during all this time, and just recently, I see that she is improving in her advancement in her grief. Finally, I see signs that she is taking care of her own health.
It is a hard road, Michele, and my tears over Bill (who is not gone) are as though he has left me. My heart feels the pain. He is alive and my hope is that he will remain so. The reality is that we will be saying goodbye one of these days.
My friend loved her husband so very much. We know that as we both feel the same. You know this, as well.
She has had a grief counselor who visits often and helps her. Still, she is devastated.
Since I knew her when she was a teen back in the late forties and early fifties, and now we have reconnected both in our 70's, it is not without much agony that we try to help each other. We grasp at any anchor we can. Our collective memories about our having found our soul mates helps, but still....
It's a rough road, Michele. We will get through this. Love cannot leave us without a comfort. It's just that we haven't grabbed onto it as yet - just too many tears blurring our vision.
Love never ends. It is painful to lose our loved ones. Of that, there is not a doubt.
I know that we will all reconnect in another place. That is my belief, but to each his own. I have had miracles occur during Bill's and my journey, and I am still receiving insights that keep me surrounded in comfort.
I thank God for that. I send my prayers, such as they are, to you, dear Michele. Please know that asking for help is no weakness. It simply means that we all need someone to lend a helping hand.
Barbara
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Donna,
Welcome to a wonderfully supportive group of survivors and/or caregivers. It is very scary to hear the words lung cancer. But, Donna, with treatments on the agenda, and hopeful thoughts, getting through it all can be done.
There are many long-term survivors. As has been stated before me, we are not numbers.
Barbara
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Gail,
I am so very sorry. You were there for Tom, and there is nothing more loving that you can do for a person.
No one knows how life can turn on a dime, so please, know this - that you were a true friend to him.
Please accept my condolences on this loss to you and your family.
Barbara
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Thank you for your very caring story, Linda. We appreciate the precious time it took to share it with us.
I love when someone advocates as strongly as you and your family.
Hope you will update us on how your Mom is doing?
Barbara
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This does look as though the words, lung cancer, are being given an "outing."
Thanks for the article, Nick. It is unusual to see anyone prominant actually state that they have lung cancer.
Barbara
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Sorry I missed the surgery announcement, Bud.
BUT, so glad that Rose is home.
Sending you both my prayers and very good wishes for a speedy recovery.
Barbara
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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_s ... ?viewAll=y
Frank Bender lives for the dead.
For 30 years, the forensic sculptor has peered into skulls and seen souls. With no scientific training and no college education, he became an internationally heralded "recomposer of the decomposed," an artist who solves crimes while providing comfort to strangers.
His first commission, in 1977, called for him to re-create the image of a woman shot three times in the head and dumped near Philadelphia International Airport. Because of Bender's tender rendering from her skeletal remains, the victim was identified as a missing woman from Phoenix, Anna Duval.
In 1989, America's Most Wanted hired Bender to sculpt John List, a New Jersey fugitive on the FBI's most-wanted list for 18 years after killing his wife, mother, and three children. Using old photos, Bender cast the murderer in clay with wrinkles, a receding hairline, and tortoiseshell glasses. Two weeks after the program aired, FBI agents nabbed their man - looking just as Bender had imagined.
"In many ways, Frank's bust of John List really launched America's Most Wanted into a national force for catching fugitives," gushes the show's host, John Walsh, who became a friend. "Whenever I get the tough cases, I call Frank."
Bender has been profiled on 60 Minutes and lionized in the book The Girl With the Crooked Nose. He cofounded the crime-fighting cabal known as the Vidocq Society, and sold Danny DeVito the right to make a movie about the group.
The Inquirer recently hired Bender to sketch an unknown homeless man killed in July by Philadelphia police.
Bender has a priceless gift, but even with his renown he earns just $1,700 per bust. The film plans faltered, and money remains a constant worry, but Bender has more on his mind these days than big screens and mountainous bills.
That's because the man who brings the dead back to life just learned he's dying.
A deadly blow
"Do you want to feel it?" he asks.
"Uh, sure," I say, leaning over the Formica kitchen table in Bender's South Street home and studio to touch the lump below his left shoulder. "It" feels like a tight muscle no massage can relax.
At 68, Bender looks like Lenin. His exterior fitness belies the internal agony of knowing he may have only eight months to live.
Bender has pleural mesothelioma. The Navy man says he got sick from spending the late 1950s and early 1960s in the engine room of the destroyer escort Calcaterra.
"I not only worked with asbestos," he says, "I slept with it." The Department of Veterans Affairs is processing a disability claim for him.
His is a shared tragedy, since his wife, Jan, 61, has nonsmoker's lung cancer and nerve damage from chemotherapy. "I'm like a fuse that burned out at the tip," she says.
Though she outlasted her 2007 prognosticators - Jan credits Frank's devotion and divine intervention from work he did at the shrine of St. John Neumann - the patient now finds her caretaker joining the unholy battle.
"Going through the same thing at the same time as Jan," Bender says, "is in some strange, surreal sense kind of romantic."
Only a dreamy artist would romanticize their waiting game.
"Surgery would be fatal, because the cancer is already around my heart and lung like a spiderweb," Bender concedes. "Radiation might ease the pain, but it's not going to save me. Chemo could shut down my kidneys. I've got no options."
Making the most of it
Last month, the couple got a pick-me-up when they learned Bender's 2005 sculpture of a teenager helped Colorado investigators solve a 1954 homicide.
"You always knew she had blue eyes," Jan marvels.
"Frank gave Jane Doe a face and a personality," raves Boulder County Sheriff's Detective Steve Ainsworth. "The likeness was uncanny."
In Mount Laurel, the artist's daughter beams with pride.
"My father would rather see a victim identified than make money," says Lisa Brawner, 44. "It drives my mother crazy, but I know when he gets to heaven, people will be lining up to thank him."
Frank and Jan celebrated their 39th anniversary on Halloween, acting more like kids on a date than a couple facing a grim fate. They danced to "Nobody Does it Better."
"They've had a rich life," says daughter Vanessa Bender, 38. "We wish they had more time."
The cold, wet fall has been unkind to Jan. She's met with hospice workers and taken leave from her job as a law-firm receptionist.
"I'm slowing down," she says, plainly. "I need a rest."
For now, Frank numbs the pain in his knees, neck, and hands with a nightly vodka. With forensic work scarce thanks to the recession, he paints for pleasure. He shows me a piece called "Cancer Nazi," about a cartoonish ghoul.
The man may be terminally ill, but he hasn't lost his wicked sense of humor. Unlike the rest of us, Bender has no fear of death.
"I can't say, 'Wow, I wish I had done this or that,' because I realize what I've done. If I go in eight months, I'll still feel fulfilled."
Besides, he reminds, he has a karmic kinship with those he'll meet when his time is up.
"In all of my nightmares," Bender says, "the dead protect me."
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(The Philadelphia Inquirer, Health Science, Article by Momica Yant Kinney, November 8, 2009)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not being posted with the intention of being medical advice of any kind.
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Hi Ellen,
It's so good to "see" you again. Bill knows what you mean about the radiation - a fatigue producer in a major way. Took the zip and zap out of him many times.
Thankfully, you are living to prove the stats wrong, and we all love it when that happens!
Barbara in Bergen
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Karen,
Please accept my condolences to you and your family on the loss of your mother.
Barbara
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Having posted in another forum about how we are now greatgrandparents, the upshot is that the paternal grandmother of our greatgranddaughter is dying of lung cancer.
Our daughter-in-law (maternal grandmother), Karen, called me today to talk. She said that the grandmother (the father's mother) is now dying of lung cancer. We have known that she has had Stage IV for some time.
The thing we didn't know was that she (her name is Mary) never smoked. Her Mom and Dad owned a dry cleaning store, and she worked there, alongside them.
Just thought it might be helpful "in all the blame/cause issue" to reiterate that smoking is not the only initiator of lung cancer.
We certainly cannot blame Mary for helping her parents in their store. Can we?
There sits another reason to forego blame and get down to better funding. Let's get rid of the convenient bias (being able to kick someone when they are down).
What we need in this fight is an army of very celebrated people who want to put lung cancer in the realm of a disease that needs to be addressed fairly with adequate, if not equal funding.
Barbara
ABC News re: Folic Acid/B-12 and Lung Cancer
in LUNG CANCER IN THE NEWS
Posted
Hi Alisa,
Thank you for posting this. Of course, it has given me pause for concern. I've been taking folic acid and Vitamin B-12 for several years.
My GP had recommended I take the folic acid and Vitamin B complex due to my homocysteine levels.
Oh well....guess a chat is in order on next visit.
Barbara