Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/12/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Add me to to the list of photogs who DO want to read from you on the horizon of your 100th BD Herb. Same applies to Ken, of course! I wish both of you the best from over here. Amities Philippe Le 26 d?c. 2014 ? 12:57, Charlie Chan <topoxforddoc at btinternet.com> a ?crit : > Dear Herb and Ken, > > May 2015 bring you some respite from your ailments. > > Ken, > > there are some non chemotherapy drugs available for renal cell cancer, > such as sunitinib (Sutent) > http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta169 > and pazopanib > http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta215 > Biological therapies don?t tend to make people ill and have much fewer > side effects than cytotoxic chemotherapy. They aren?t cheap though. > > Herb, > > Many people with prostate cancer go on for years. If the disease is > endocrine responsive, then there are lots of relatively non-toxic > treatments available. So, don?t give up on getting to 100 yet! > > Best wishes, > > Charlie > www.charlie-chan.co.uk > > > On 26 Dec 2014, at 10:49, Montie <montoid at earthlink.net> wrote: > >> +1 >> >> Montie >> >> This exchange really puts things in perspective for me. All the best to >> both >> Herbert and Ken. You guys are strong. >> >> Cheers, >> Nathan >> >> Nathan Wajsman >> >> >> On 26 Dec 2014, at 01:40, Ken Carney <kcarney1 at cox.net> wrote: >> >>> Herbert, >>> >>> Hang in there. I am 20 years younger and have had surgery now for >>> kidney >>> cancer, colon cancer and pancreatic cancer. Actually, the pancreas >>> surgery last year showed renal cell carcinoma there, no doubt having met >>> there from the kidney cancer 15 years earlier. I am advised it is >>> possible that there is still RCC somewhere, but that there is no >>> effective >>> therapy (chemo). So, I do what I always do and take things a day at a >>> time. I truly hope you get better news and have the best possible >>> outcome. Unpleasant stuff, this. >>> >>> Ken >>> Whose mother-in-law has survived more bullets than I can count and is >>> having her 100th birthday party Sunday. We got her a Samsung Galaxy >>> tablet and extended warranty. >>> >>> On 12/25/2014 6:04 PM, Herbert Kanner wrote: >>>> Since everyone regards LUG as family and reports their health issues, >>>> I?ll throw mine in. This won?t be real short, because the details are >>>> interesting. >>>> >>>> In 2001, my PSA jumped and I had the uncomfortable needle biopsy via >>>> ass-hole. Of nine needles, one picked up a couple of millimeters of >>>> malign cells which were pronounced to be aggressive. I then had many >>>> sessions of what is misnamed ?Intensity modulated radiation therapy?. >>>> Actually what happens is the source of the radiation rotates in a >>>> vertical plane around the patient and during the rotation, the shape of >>>> the beam is modulated by a diaphragm of tungsten fingers so as to >>>> always >>>> concentrate the radiation on the desired site. One time, I was really >>>> scared because the treatment was delated due to a computer crash, and >>>> when I asked what the computer program was housed in, they said Windows >>>> 2000. >>>> >>>> Every year since, my PSA was checked and my prostate poked by the >>>> radiation oncologist. >>>> >>>> A couple of months ago, I felt a sore muscle in my left thigh; I just >>>> thought it was a pulled muscle, and Naproxen relieved it. But just one >>>> day, it was so sever that I was limping, so I thought it would be a >>>> good >>>> idea to go to my primary care quack and check it out. When she pulled >>>> my >>>> leg outward, I yelled ?ouch? and she ordered a hip X-ray to be done on >>>> my >>>> way out. >>>> >>>> By the time I got home, there was a frightful message on my answering >>>> machine. I was to go asap to the Stanford Hospital site in a >>>> neighboring >>>> city (Redwood City) where an appointment had been set up for a CAT >>>> scan. >>>> Then I was to drive straight to the Main Hospital at Stanford (Palo >>>> Alto) >>>> and see the same radiation oncologist. Also they were setting up an >>>> appointment, probably for the next day, for a radioactive bone scan. >>>> >>>> The radiation oncologist showed me the X-rays and Cat scans on his >>>> computer screen. First there was a large lesion on my left femur. Then >>>> there was a bunch of little dots in my lungs that were not there two >>>> years ago. I said I was appalled. He said he was appalled. He then >>>> opined >>>> that my hip was about to break, that he checked that an orthopedic >>>> surgeon was available on or immediately after the weekend, and that the >>>> quickest way to get admitted to the hospital was via the emergency >>>> room. >>>> He had his resident wheel me there. >>>> >>>> Well, on the way in, the rent-a-cop confiscated my Swiss army knife, >>>> and >>>> when it was apparent with a packed ER that I?d be there for a while, I >>>> got around to phoning my wife. They were so packed that I had to wait >>>> until there was a free bed. >>>> >>>> After the routine things, mainly a blood draw, an orthopedic guy showed >>>> up. He said that there was no danger of a fracture, that I should go >>>> home >>>> and have a normal weekend, and that an appointment had been made to see >>>> an orthopedic surgeon on the following Tuesday. I guess it was probably >>>> thirty years since the radiation oncologist had learned to interpret >>>> that >>>> sort of X-ray. >>>> >>>> On that day, my wife went along for moral support. Interestingly >>>> enough, >>>> all three of us in the room had something in common: doctorates from >>>> the >>>> University of Chicago, mine in physics, Lee?s in biochemistry, and the >>>> surgeon whatever real doctors get. The latter spent most of the >>>> forty-five minutes teaching me how to read the X-ray, primarily why it >>>> showed that there was no current risk of a fracture. When I inquired >>>> about either surgical support of the bone or just drilling to get a >>>> sample for a biopsy, he said that the risks outweighed the benefits. He >>>> said it was probably metastatic prostate cancer, slow-growing, and >>>> tending to deposit bone. Next appointment in a month with immediately >>>> preceding X-ray to assess fracture risk. >>>> >>>> I finally got to see a medical oncologist. She indicated that this kind >>>> of cancer without PSA rising is very rare, but does happen. She felt >>>> that >>>> we had to know what we were dealing with, and if the surgeon reported >>>> that there was no way to get a sample with a needle, she was going to >>>> make the assumption that those dots on my lungs were not an infection >>>> residue but were the same tumor, and one of them was very accessible to >>>> a >>>> cat scan guided needle. >>>> >>>> I?m waiting for that and will keep you posted. I?ll be 93 in June. I >>>> doubt that I?ll make 100. >>>> >>>> Herb >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information