Posts Tagged cancer
Increasing your chances of beating the odds
Posted by Emily@SokoloveLaw in Support on September 8, 2008
Sixteen years ago, neuroscientist and physician David Servan-Schreiber discovered during one of his own brain scanner experiments that he had brain cancer. The diagnosis was an enormous shock, but David proceeded with chemotherapy and radiation, which he says saved his life.
When the treatment finished, he was at loss. The chemo was was complete but David wanted to do all he could to prevent the cancer from returning. He says, “As soon as you stop the chemo, you feel stripped, and you think, ‘Wow, what do I do now?’ And then everybody asks their doctor … and this is when 99 percent of us get the standard answer, which is, ‘Nothing in particular. Live your life like you always did.’ ”
So David investigated methods of preventing cancer from returning, and found a wealth of information his doctor had not mentioned. “There’s tremendous evidence that physical exercise helps prevent cancer, and also helps people who already have cancer prevent a recurrence,” he says.
According to David, herbs and spices such as garlic, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, mint, and green tea help make the body less fertile for cancer. For instance, “When you put a little bit of garlic extract on cancer cells, they die.”
He says vegetables and fruits such as brussel sprouts, asparagus and raspberries can target specific cancers, at least in test tubes.
“Your body knows how to fight cancer,” David advises. “Help it with the right nutrition, with physical exercise, with managing stress better, and avoiding contaminants that feed cancer. And if you do these things, which are very simple, you’re greatly increasing your chance of beating the odds.”
David recently authored a best-selling book, Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life, to share his story with other patients.
Learn more about fighting mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma: Coping through color
Posted by Emily@SokoloveLaw in Mesothelioma, Support on September 5, 2008
Every patient has a different way of coping with disease; in California, a woman suffering from abdominal mesothelioma has painted her house seafoam green to boost her spirits. Rebekah Price was diagnosed about two years ago and has since had surgery at the National Institutes for Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She returns to the Institute every four months for a PET scan, but expects the disease will return within five years.
Color has added excitment and brightness to Rebekah’s life. “The living room is a metallic gold, the kitchen is orange, the kitchenette is yellow,” she said. “There’s two green rooms, there’s a purple hallway, a pink wall, a blue room and a red room.” Most striking, however, is the seafoam green exterior. Vivid color, Rebekah said, has become a comforting, positive force in her life. “Life’s been pretty dark for a long time,” she said. “I want color, you know?”
Unfortunately, not all of Rebekah’s neighbors have found the same joy in color. Many believe the house sticks out like a sore thumb in the neighborhood and is too glaring for their particular community. Rebekah and her children have incurred harassment and vandalism because of the opposition to the color. But Rebekah holds her head high and faces the abuse with optimism and humor; when a racially motivated comment was made implying her house would be better fit for Mexico, Rebekah merely hosted a Mexican-themed party with a taqueria and a mariachi band.
In the face of a terminal illness, Rebekah is inspiration to all of us. She combats her disease and the harassment with poise, logic, and strength. And not even the dark and disheartening comments can take the color out of Rebekah’s personality.
Asbestos is a harmfuls substance that has been known to not only cause mesothelioma but lung cancer as well.
Stand Up to Cancer Telethon Airs Tonight
Posted by Emily@SokoloveLaw in Support on September 5, 2008
Awhile back I wrote about a three network telethon entitled “Stand Up to Cancer.” Today September 5th, 2008 the telethon will air on ABC, CBS, and NBC at 8 p.m. EST. The telethon will include musical performances and appearances from actors, athletes, and journalists. The telethon will feature such celebrities as Meryl Streep, Lance Armstrong, Forest Whitaker, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, America Ferrera, Danica Patrick, Salma Hayek, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Masi Oka and news anchors Charles Gibson, Brian Williams and Katie Couric. Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor said, “”Every time I hear the statistics, I don’t know about you all, one person a minute, 1,500 a day, all I can think about is those families whose lives have been shattered by these losses. And clearly, we all felt — we’ve all personally experienced loss through cancer. We felt like we had to do something about it, and that’s why we’ve joined forces.”
Viewers will be invited to donate by calling the celebrity-staffed phone bank or by texting. However the most unique way to contribute is by purchasing a star in honor of a loved one that will be placed in the “Stand Up to Cancer” constellation. Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News Anchor has purchased two stars for his mother and sister, who both lost their life to cancer.
Although there will be an entertaining component to the telecast, the hope is to entertain the idea of new approaches in the fight against cancer. “Well, there’s going to be entertainment. But I hope, more than anything else, there’s going to be information because there are a lot of misconceptions about cancer,” Charlie Gibson, ABC World News anchor said. “Everybody thinks of it as sort of a monolithic disease. There are hundreds and hundreds of cancers. This is really, A, to raise money, but most importantly to get it in the forefront of the public consciousness.”
For more information, click here
If you would like to donate, click here
Hope: survival after mesothelioma
Posted by Emily@SokoloveLaw in Mesothelioma, Support on August 27, 2008
“Dying was not an option,” says Heather Von St. James of Minnesota, who has defied the odds and conquered mesothelioma.
She was diagnosed with the disease nearly three years ago now; Heather believes she was exposed as a child to the asbestos in her father’s work clothes. Now, two and a half years after undergoing radical treatment, Heather remains disease-free.
Heather had been experiencing health problems and shortness of breath, but had chalked it up to her first-time pregnancy. When she couldn’t ignore the weight in her chest any longer, she consulted her doctors. Three months after giving birth to her daughter Lily, doctors in Minnesota found a lump in Heather’s lung the size of an orange. She was given three options: do nothing and live maybe 15 months, try chemotherapy and radiation and live an expected 5 years, or go see Dr. Sugarbaker in Boston.
Heather’s husband made the decision immediately, and the family moved to Boston to begin treatment with the head of the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Sugarbaker performed surgery to remove Heather’s left lung, the lining around her heart, half of her diaphragm, her sixth rib and a few lymph nodes. The cancer has not returned and Dr. Sugarbaker is calling Heather a shining example of the progress he is beginning to see in the fight against a disease that traditionally carried a maximum survival of 12 to 18 months.
“I claim cured,” Heather says.
She underwent surgery on Feb. 2, 2006, was in the hospital for 18 days and stayed in Boston for a month. When Heather left Boston, she moved in with her parents for two months. In May, she returned home and began chemotherapy — every three weeks for 12 weeks. Now, she returns to Boston every four months for a CT scan; so far, so good.
In 2006, Heather filed suit against her father’s employers and asbestos manufacturers. The trial was set for September, but was suspended. Heather and her attorney filed an appeal and are waiting for the results. In the meantime, Heather has focused on caring for Lily and maintaining proper health.
“I’m going to be the first meso patient to live 50-plus years. I told my doctor he would retire before I did,” Heather said. “And he’s OK with that.”
To read Heather’s full story, click here.
Learn more about mesothelioma support.
Cholesterol drug to fight mesothelioma
Posted by Emily@SokoloveLaw in Mesothelioma, Research, Treatment on August 26, 2008
A drug used to treat high cholesterol is now being administered to help fight tumors. The treatment, lovastatin, is part of a new trial in which it stopped or eradicated tumors in 80% of patients.
Lovastatin was introduced in 1980 to fight lipids and lower cholesterol. In early studies, researchers noticed a strange side effect: the drug killed cancer cells in laboratory trials. In order to safely administer the drug, researchers have had to combine lovastatin with other treatment plans. According to NeoPlas Innovation Director of Research Dr. Stephen Cantrell, “When we have administered a precisely timed regimen of low-dose interferon with lovastatin, tumors have begun regressing, sometimes within just a few weeks.”
The lovastatin regimen is expected to fight a number of malignancies, including mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos. The drug’s initial trial occurred in 2000; a patient who then had stage 4 melanoma remains disease-free today.
Unlike chemotherapy, lovastatin’s most commonly reported side effect is fatigue. Patients will not experience nausea, hair loss, vomiting, or immune system suppression. For the full press release on lovastatin, click here.
Learn more about mesothelioma clinical trials.
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