| All for Anthony
Tamarraw (Tam-a-raw) discovered she had advanced breast cancer four years after Tony was diagnosed. Anthony was in the sixth grade at the time. He had developed a close bond with his mother but wasn't old enough to fully understand the severity of her situation. "He would say to me, 'You don't look sick,' " Tamarraw said. Tamarraw had surgery and underwent a clinical trial stem cell procedure at Stanford Hospital, where she was exposed to lethal doses of radiation that brought her white cell blood count to zero. A stem cell that had been removed from her body was frozen and re-inserted. "Even during all that there was a treadmill outside my room," Tamarraw said. "I would get on the treadmill and take walks on the campus for exercise." Tony did his best to maintain some semblance of normalcy during Tamarraw's ordeal.
Freezing Prostate Cancer Does a Man's Body Good
Unlike breast lumpectomy, a surgical lumpectomy for prostate cancer is not technically feasible; so to treat just a portion of the prostate, minimally invasive cryoablation is needed. Cryoablation (or cryo or cryotherapy) spares as much as possible of the prostate gland and its neurovascular bundles, limiting the side effects of bladder control problems (incontinence) and erectile dysfunction (impotence) that result from more radical prostate cancer treatments. It also represents an advantage over "watchful waiting," because all treatment options are preserved. "Any risks are fewer and lesser in intensity than surgery; so if you have the equivalent chance of cancer being cured with far less chance of having any complications, why wouldn't you choose it?" asked Onik. "There is no question that we can eradicate prostate cancer (when that cancer has not spread to other parts of the body) by freezing it and that there is a better way to 'map' the disease," said Onik.
Surgeon performs first telesurgery in Abu Dhabi
Some of the topics discussed included 2009 safety procedures in surgery; when to operate; new advances in the surgical approach to breast cancer; how to communicate surgical errors to patients; live transplant in children and many more; however disaster and trauma surgery was the highlight of the whole event. "Trauma is a life-threatening occurrence, either accidental or intentional, resulting in injuries," Ahmad Kloub, Chairman of Trauma Services, General Surgeon in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Al Mafraq Hospital, told Gulf News. "The leading causes of trauma are motor vehicle accidents and falls and it's the leading cause of death in the capital city, however since 2007 the mortality rate of trauma patients has been reduced by 17 per cent," he added.
Breast Implants: What We Now Know
For women who had implants for reconstruction after breast cancer surgery, 27 percent underwent a second procedure within three years. Among these women the main reason for the second procedure was to address asymmetry. Rely on Safe Medicine and Sound Data The saga of silicone implants highlights the importance of medical decision-making and health policy that is based on fact and scientific data and not swayed by sensationalism, speculation, and widespread litigation. It also highlights the importance of safe utilization of medical innovations. Women considering implants should be sure that they are seeing a reputable surgeon, trained in plastic surgery, with whom they can work for immediate care as well as for long-term follow-up. .
Published Data Confirms First 3D Ultrasound for Breast Cancer
The Clarity Breast System marks the first application of 3D ultrasound technology to Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and was developed by Resonant Medical, an innovator of 3D ultrasound image-guided adaptive radiotherapy products. The study, "3D Ultrasound Can Contribute to Planning CT to Define the Target for Partial Breast Radiotherapy," conducted at the Radiation Therapy Program, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver Island Centre and the University of British Columbia, examined 20 consecutive cases of early-stage breast cancer where the patients were treated with breast-conserving surgery. Researchers found that in 40 percent of cases, the variability between lumpectomy cavity contours was reduced when ultrasound was used instead of CT - the current standard of care for planning breast cancer treatment.
Scarborough girls 'Stand Up to Cancer'
Cancer has also profoundly affected Pauwel's family. One of her aunts recently had surgery for breast cancer and one of her grandmothers recently died from the disease, Pauwels said. “I think everybody knows someone who has been affected with this disease," she said.Dibiase, a junior, was the project's visionary. She said she was motivated by her grandmother's battle with the disease, which eventually took her life, and how it challenged her family. “I know how it affected me," she said. “It definitely affected my mom. When I was in seventh grade, one of my teachers said she was sick with ovarian cancer. She took some time off, but she never came back because she actually did pass away. It was very rough and I will always remember that."The girls say they have been working hard since September.
MRI may increase mastectomy for early-stage breast cancer
Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging may be a factor in the rising rate of mastectomy among women with early-stage breast cancer, a retrospective study suggests. Investigators reviewed 5,596 stage 0-11 breast cancers in 5,463 women who underwent surgery for the malignancy between 1997 and 2006 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. They found that mastectomy rates decreased from 45% in 1997 to 30% in 2003, but then increased to 43% in 2006. The rebound occurred in tandem with a doubling in the percentage of women who underwent preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging, one of the investigators noted in a preview of the findings presented during a press briefing at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. It was reported at the Mayo Clinic that 11% of the women who were studied in 2003 underwent preoperative breast MRI, but this had increased to 22% of women in 2006.
Women aim to help cancer survivors (comment on this story)
But something niggled at her and told her she should have the diagnostic test for breast cancer. The mother of five boys, the youngest just seven months old, it struck Grossutti that her beloved aunt, Jessie McKee, who also had five sons, had died of breast cancer when she was only 46. Three weeks after that first mammogram, Grossutti was diagnosed with cancer in her left breast. She quickly made the decision to have a double mastectomy. "I didn't think twice," she says, even though her doctor and others advised against it with the analogy: "Who removes a healthy limb?" The way Grossutti viewed it, "breasts are a pair" and she didn't want to face the possibility of a second bout of cancer. She underwent surgery Oct. 8 and had immediate breast reconstruction.
Donna Phipps gives high-voltage thanks
In 2006 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was forced to leave her job for six months of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. "I was terrified. I thought 'Oh my gosh, why has this happened? I played by all the rules. I did all the mammograms and self-exams.' So you know what I did? I did the normal thing. I went home and cried for two days. Then I thought, 'OK, you better wipe your eyes, blow your nose and get in the game here.'" But Phipps speaks very frankly about the inner turmoil that comes when facing a potentially terminal disease. "You know you're sick, but when you look in the mirror, you don't recognize yourself. Not only have you lost control over your body, but you've lost your identity as well. "When I looked into the mirror it wasn't Donna Phipps.
Elliff: Economic crisis stimulates faith
Most recently Jeannie underwent surgery for breast cancer.
"As we look back on each of those events and what God taught us about walking with Him and living by faith, it was certainly worth the experience. We wouldn't take anything for what we learned," Elliff said. "He has taught us that He is trustworthy, absolutely trustworthy."
Now as they step out with excitement toward the next phase in life, Elliff said he is eager to share what he and Jeannie have learned about the importance of intimacy with Christ.
"At the heart of discipleship is intimacy with Christ," he said. "That's the arena in which you learn to take God at His word. We are to be living illustrations of the faithfulness of God to everyone who will take Him at His word."
Elliff is concerned with the overly pragmatic approach he sees in many Southern Baptist churches.
|
