Beating Cancer

“I'd say you've earned the right to bltch about smokers Crash. It's OK. My dad has had 7 by passes and still smokes. I have struggled for the last three years with tobacco. It's the strongest addiction you can ever face.”

“actually, its not that stressful cuz dad has been getting better, and other than the puking, you really wouldnt know hes sick.”

“sending my regards you and your family's way.

my brother beat cancer when he was 16. he now just turned 20 in october and gets checked twice a year and remains cancer-free. he will continue those checkups til he is 26.”

“Glad to hear he's getting better. You gotta stay hopeful and let him know that; a lot of it appears to be mental and all about fortitude. It's really all you can do. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I know; I've been there.

That being said, I really do hope that your story has a happier ending than mine did. Still keeping you in my thoughts and prayers...
last edited: 1/24/05 8:45:40 PM”

“I hope everything works out well CB. Cancer treatments are a hard thing to go through. With better treatments we have today tumors don't always come back.”

“My wife is now 10 years cancer free...one of my best friends just found another lump after her bout 3 years ago. Cancer touches all of us.

Good thought and prayers coming your way.”

“I'm pulling for your Dad Crash. May will be four years (God willing) without cancer for me.

I used to tell people my Mom had gone more than 40 years cancer free, but I know learn because she had some tests recently that it stuck around in minute quantities but never did any harm - so, she has been living with cancer for almost 45 years. So even when it re-surfaces, the result isn't always bad. Not only that, but the older you get the slower it grows.”

“I've lost 4 people in the last 5 years to cancer - the most recent last Wednesday. It is hard to see the effects it has on those that fight it.

But I know 2 people that have fought it and won. Treatments are getting better every day. In the 60's St. Jude's in Memphis could only cure 4% of the leukemia patients it had, now they cure 85%.

God has his plan for all of us, keep the faith.”

“CB,
Best of luck to your father. I went through the same ordeal with my father 8 years ago. It's never easy for anyone. Keep a positive attitude and have faith. And as a last note, keep a positive relationship with your Dad. You'll never regret it.”

“sht, ped, between the cancer and the fire, youve been thru some sht. if theres such a thing as reincarnation, youre owed big time”

“CB: Check this out a free gathering for cancer patients and survivors, if your Dad is able to travel: http://www.frommers.com/articles/2700.html

I didn't see your last post until now. I've thought about that - maybe my 40's are cursed and when I hit 50, I can throw a "I survived my 50's party" - I hope it's not the new millenium that is eager to see me dead (or even the century) - because there is no way I'm getting out of this millenium alive.”

“Sorry about this development, Crash Bang. Good luck to you and to your father.”

“Crash Bang - Sorry again, I just got the sad news. Best of luck in your future.”

“thanks for the kind words, guys. unfortuneately, the treatments did dad in 7 weeks ago. may all tobacco company executives rot in hell.”

“I'm a survivor. Mine wasn't in my lungs though. I had a brain tumor removed 19 months ago. I remember the shock of understanding and I remember the peace of prayer.

You and your father will be in our thoughts and prayers. God'll get you through it.”

“So sorry about that, Scott.”

“i have absolutely nothing but seething hatred for those worms that gleefully make a profit by poisoning our people and our youth. there is a special circle in hell just for them where they are forced to drink tar and breathe noxious fumes for eternity, or at least enough to equal every day of suffering they have caused the millions of people worldwide”

“they will go to their graves unforgiven and i will go to mine unforgiving

damn, thats kind of poetic. maybe i could make a living writing hate-poetry. nah, thats not a good way to live. i just try not to think about it too much, nor do i try to dwell too much on the irony of dad giving me the "why do you think they call it dope" lecture when i got caught smokin bud, and yet he slowly killed himself with almost the same sht. fck you marlboro, fck you winstom-salem, fck that stupid cartoon camel enticing our children to put death-sticks into their mouths. fck the tobacco whores.”

“Crash - I am sorry about your Dad. I hadn't heard. I'm glad you were in there pulling for you. Blessings on you and your family.”

“Let it ALL out CB, we are here for you”

“I know what your going through, been there.

Good thoughts and prayers for and your family.

Hang tough, it will get easier.”

“im ok, really. you know me. i can be venomous at the drop of a hat. a stikmon-in-training.”

“im going to start combing the obits for these slimeballs and go piss on their graves”

“There ya go, thats the Crash Bang we all....well, sometimes agree with.

This is one of those times.”

“...a finding that could open doors for new ways of treating and preventing advanced disease.


Instead of a cell just breaking off from a tumor and traveling through the bloodstream to another organ where it forms a secondary tumour, or metastasis, researchers in the United States have shown that the cancer sends out envoys to prepare the new site.

Intercepting those envoys, or blocking their action with drugs, might help to prevent the spread of cancer or to treat it in patients in which it has already occurred.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10366968/”

“Yeah. I just read that, Tango. Very interesting. This could be very significant...”

“I sure hope they move on it quickly and it turns out to be a landslide of info and treatments.”

“This kind of stuff amazes me. Did anyone see the face transplant they did in France? WOW! There's still hope for me.”

“Nigal - Of course there's hope for you. You want I should "will" you my face?”

“That was interesting and hopefully they can use that new knowledge to develop a new drug. Still the best way to deal with cancer is to find it and treat it at its primary site before it does too much damage there and you need extensive surgery to remove it. If I learned anything from having cancer a few times now it's best to get to know your body so you know when things just don't feel right. I haven't read this anywhere, but I think cancer manifests its symptoms more at night so I'm speaking only from experience. Weird pains that only come at night in one area of the body or any night sweating with or without short low grade fevers should raise red flags to get to a doctor. Anything that doesn't feel right with your body and happens in the middle of the night. This can go on for up to a year before you get diagnosed with a cancer. At least that's what I felt happening and not just once so I think there must be something to it.”

“That's very interesting Rich.”

“I just hope it can help someone down the road because it's a simple thing anyone can notice and you don't need a doctor or and imaging machine to tell you when something is not right. They'll tell you what the problem is later, but it's up to you to notice the problem first. Lots of people think that cancer doesn't hurt or hides its symptoms in its early stages, but that's not always the case.”

“I didn't go to a Dr. over my incessant itching b/c I didn't think it was any big deal. Oops.

I am skeptical of "new discoveries" because there's always a price to pay. For a decade or so they have been trying to develop direct targeting "bioweapons" against Cancer.

1.Your body does develop Antibodies against Cancer cells. It's just not strong enough.
2. Your body produces Lymphocyte Activated Killers and you have Natural Killer Cells that go after Cancer Cells. Also not enough.

The idea was to pull these cells out, isolate them, grow them in the lab to sufficient numbers and inject them back into the patient.

Seems brilliant, no? The patients own cells, what could go wrong? They would target Cancer cells only therefore there would be no chemo "side effects" I haven't studied this since it was a new idea but apparently something went wrong.

Probably the body did like the massive cell numbers being injected into it. That is only a guess.

Boy I'm a pessimist, aye? ;)”

“I think that's called immunotherapy and there are few drugs out there that use that concept, but I can't remember the names. They usually use clinical trials to test such things and reserve those for patients that have used other options without much success or can't use those options for whatever reason.”

“Gene therapy will be the next thing on the horizon and might be just the thing to cure not only cancer, but the genetic defects that cause it along with other diseases. I heard it's still maybe 20 years away.”

“Yes. Immunotherapy. I studied it in my Immunology Grad class.

I don't think they should mess with gene therapy until they figure out what exactly is going on in the immunology area.

I also think Cancer will always be with us. Maybe not as deadly, but disease is here to stay.”

“It sounds like promising research Tango, thanks for posting.

I also found what Rich said to be interesting. I think night is a time we can notice things that otherwise get lost in the shuffle of the day. I definitely second his advice about not simply or accepting changes in how your body is doing. I definitely had symptoms I should have raised a fuss over long before my cancer was diagnosed.”

“The idea behind gene therapy is to treat the disease that causes a patient to be predisposed to cancer in the first place. Since we know that genetic malfunctions result in cancer the idea is to introduce the corrected gene to cure the predisposition to cancer. That will prevent the cancer from developing in the first place not cure it once it's already there. The main problem now with gene therapy is how to introduce the corrected gene and then once it is introduced, how to make it last. So far viruses have been used, but there has been limited success so far. Once they get this wired we may see cures for diseases that cause cancer and a host of other diseases that are presently incurable.”

“Cancer is not an area I studied (yet) but let me try.....

We have "proto-oncogenes" in our genome, no? To "take them out" might do more than make us less suceptible to cancer.”

“I wish they had found a cure before now because my Dad hadn't been sick a day in his life(really) and in May on Friday the 13th when he went to the bathroom there was blood in his urine. Two weeks later he was told that he was terminal and the day before Thanksgiving I watched him die! I would hate for any of you to whitness such a nightmare.”

“I have the 'precursors' for cancer in my blood. I can't donate any more. I also have family history so....”

“All the men in my family have died from cancer and all the women have had Alzheimers so I will probably die from cancer and not know it!”

“Spam - you go for phyisicals every 6mos?

Tango - what precursor?”

“Some huge name thing I'd have to look up the paper work. It is something the blood banks check for, that's how I found out. What do you BM?

Since you know that maybe you have a better chance to head off both. There's a great book for you Spam I'll have to look it up. Do you take fish oil capsules?”

“BM, I don't know exactly if they take anything out with gene therapy. I was under the assumption that they add missing proteins that are the cause for DNA defects.”

“Spam, very sorry to hear about your dad.

Eight years ago my father was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma. All the research said half the people who get it will be dead within three years of diagnosis. They didn't seem to know much about that particular form of non-hodgekins lymphoma. My dad went through multiple chemos, total body radiation, and a stem cell transplant. The treatment just about killed him.

But it worked--it killed the cancer. I was just talking with my dad 45 minutes ago. He went to his oncologist last week for the first time in several years and got a clean bill of health. At almost 70 years old the man can still kick my butt in the weight room.

He asked his onc if he has treated other MCL patients in the last eight years, and he said yes, but NONE of the others has achieved clinical remission like my dad did.

You just never know.

Sorry, again, spam.”

“Tango - "What do you BM"????

RichB - It's been awhile but I believe most mammal species have "proto-oncogenes". Genes that can suddenly get turned on in a cell that can start the Cancer process.

I might continue my higher education in Oncology.”

“Spam, sorry I missed your post earlier. Sorry about your dad. My dad just died last year (right before the last hurricane to hit central Fla.) of esophageal cancer. Smoker.

My Grandmother had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, like Mario Lemieux. She passed away 8 years ago.

It would be great if something comes of this new discovery.”

“Wow Spam! I am so sorry to learn about your Dad.

What a tough year and tough Thanksgiving. I hope the New Year will be much better for you and your family.”

“The Dr. was very impressed with my progress after only one treatment. He uttered the words "Early remission" but I'm trying not to get over confident.

They also increased my anti-nausea meds and I didn't vomit for hours. I even ate right after!

Sorry. Feeling good these days really feels good.”