WeCure.com Blog

The Official Birthday Blog » One Family’s Story

2009-05-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Posted on May 28, 2009 (http://officialbirthdayblog.com/general/one-familys-story)

This week Jim from over at Sweet Juniper told the story of his father-in-law Doug’s battle with cancer. Doug died just a few days before his 62nd birthday. That was a blessed 10 months after Jim and his wife had been told Doug only had 2 weeks to live.

Stories like Doug’s are a reminder to celebrate all life has to offer, and they are the reason why the American Cancer Society works every day to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays so cancer can’t steal another year from anyone’s life. Read the story below:

The American Cancer Society recently asked my wife and I to write about how cancer has affected our lives in conjunction with their campaign to raise awareness about the good that this organization has been doing for 96 years. Although anyone reading this site for a while knows about the loss of my wife’s beloved stepfather over a year ago, we haven’t written about it much here. We are taking this opportunity to do so, knowing that so many others have similar stories, with hope that one day even the battles that were lost will be remembered for helping us get to a place where many more are won.

My son was in the kitchen, digging through the cupboards for his beloved pots and pans, when I heard him dump a giant bin of spices on the ground. Upon investigation, I saw that one of the canisters had spilled all over his feet and the floor, giving his white socks an ocher hue and the familiar smell of Doug’s cooking filled the air. Doug was an amazing cook: a man willing to rise every morning before my wife went off to high school to make her pancakes, a man who patiently waited for her (and me) to shed our fickle, teenage palates and expose us to real food.

Real cooking with real ingredients that we in our provincial lives had never experienced. From fois gras to phở, Doug was our link to a world of food that involved more than sandwiches wrapped in paper or casseroles that stuck like spackle to your ribs. He was an epicure who once opened his own restaurant. Before he got sick, Doug printed and bound a book of his own recipes and gave it to us with a huge supply of his homemade seasoning, a secret concoction of his favorite spices that we used on potatoes and grilled meat and fish. And then there it was: dumped unceremoniously on the kitchen floor. I stared at it as my child wandered away leaving a trail of dust, a comet of cayenne.

It’s been over a year, I thought. How can we still have his spice – cook with it even – but he is gone? I wanted to scoop it up with my hands, but instead I vacuumed up the secret seasoning, acutely feeling the loss of him, the emptiness now occupying the space he’d held in our lives, disappearing like the dust at my feet. In my mother-in-law’s freezer there are still a dozen or so Tupperware containers packed tight with meals he cooked, the frozen slivers of onions he chopped with his own hands mingling with tomatoes he gently inspected in his palm at the market. How can this food still be here, when we’ve been without him for so long? She will not eat this food, even if it means letting it all go to waste. She still needs it in there, taking up that space. His closet is still full of his clothes on their hangers. He died while we were on our way to visit him, and I had to borrow a pair of his nice shoes for the funeral.

Initially they told him it was probably nothing; heartburn, perhaps, a diagnosis the bumbling staff at the small hospital probably makes by default at the tail end of the holidays. When the pain in his leg persisted they thought it might be a blood clot. They still sent him home. Days later, when the pain moved to his right arm a battery of tests showed it to be the unwelcome diagnosis that sent everyone scurrying to google adult leukemia, disbelieving that a man who’d been so healthy and robust for the holidays a week earlier could suddenly be associated with that word.

A cancer diagnosis isn’t what it used to be. There are so many survivors, both high-profile people and those you know in your every day life. When we heard the word cancer our minds started whirring with thoughts of everyone we’ve known who had fought that battle. I thought of my college roommate who’d lost his father to inoperable brain cancer during our junior year and then, years later, watched his own wife fight and defeat breast cancer while still in her twenties. Doug’s diagnosis seemed as grim as could be, at least according to the merciless bedside manner of Dr. Google. Doug had Acute Myelogeneous Leukemia. There was no surgery that could be performed, no cancerous growth to be removed and compared to something you’d find in the produce aisle. This was an enemy hiding in his bone marrow and blood. We were told up front that things were really bad and that he probably only had a couple of weeks. Just like that, it went from a blood clot to two weeks to live. Everything we found on the web reaffirmed that hopes were dim. Even with the most aggressive treatments, less than 15 percent of those diagnosed with this brutal cancer survive more than five years, and we speculated about where he fit in the spectrum of more risky prognostic markers, grasping for anything that sounded remotely positive and secretly despairing at everything else.

Doug refused to believe he would only live for a couple weeks. He immediately agreed to pursue the most aggressive treatment and he was in chemotherapy within a matter of hours after the diagnosis.

For every story of stunning triumph, there are still plenty of staggering losses. That Doug did not survive his battle does not mean his story contains no hope. When you think someone you love only has two weeks left, every day beyond that is another day you didn’t think you’d have with them; as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, despite the ravages of chemotherapy, the doctors were able to give him time. Time to read his granddaughter book after book in the crook of his arm on his hospital bed, on his couch at home. They gave him time to learn that he had a grandson who would be born the following winter, time to see him swell in my wife’s belly. They gave him many hours to visit and laugh with good friends. They gave him one more summer with the woman he loved most in the world. There was time to peel back the cellophane on some terrible meals, and time in his own kitchen to cook a few great ones. There was time to think about his life, time to sit with travel books and dream of a trip to Italy with his wife, a trip that never worked out because of the aggressive chemotherapy schedule, but it was a vision that helped get him through the hardest days.

The doctors who led Doug through this battle were warriors who’d seen it time and time again, though they never gave the impression that this disease wasn’t something they could destroy in him. Doug was an electrical engineer and a unabashed computer nerd who found great comfort in charting his own progress with spreadsheets and graphs, rising and falling counts of white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets all of which resembled the emotional roller coaster that he and his wife described in those precarious days of treatment that followed fevers and infections but led to the possibility of a bone marrow transplant. His own scientific background helped lead Doug to a dizzying understanding of the drugs that were killing the leukemic blast cells in his bone marrow. Instead of having a patient’s eyes glaze over while they described a new “gemtuzumab ozogamicin” and how it might affect “basal metabolic organ functions,” the oncologists and hematologists found Doug to be a fascinated patient who held as much hope and confidence in the science as they did, often following up by reading the latest research on his laptop from the hospital bed during treatment.

To the doctors and the patient, this fight was always worth it. Hope was never fruitless. The chemo tore him down time and time again, but he fought on. Every night was another to spend with his wife at his side, while the night nurses looked the other way when she climbed up into the bed to hold him. Every day brought new messages of support and love from all around the country on his CarePage. Even at the peak of chemo side effects, Doug wrote about how wonderful a particular summer day felt on his skin.

There was a brief remission. There was the discovery of a perfect bone marrow match and a willing donor. But as preparations for the bone marrow aspiration progressed in Ann Arbor, even when hope was strongest, everything suddenly took a turn for the worse. Doug suffered a stroke and died just days before his 62nd birthday: 10 grueling, blessed months after they first told us he might only have two weeks to live.

It’s not my place to talk about grief. My mother-in-law still cries every day. She walks the [American Cancer Society] Relay For Life, still keeps in touch with the doctors and the nurses who tended her husband through those months, and attends gatherings of survivors and those who lost loved ones on the same floor where her husband died.

I’ll go whole days where I don’t think about those months, days filled with petty worries and trivialities. Then, in the kitchen, I’ll see his cookbook on the shelf, and remember all the time he’d spend on food, all the meals we ate with him. I’ll remember the advice he gave during those final months. Go outside if it’s warm. Hug your loved ones. Enjoy a good meal.

And then sometimes I’ll take his cookbook down from the shelf, and start thumbing through the pages.

Thank you Jim for sharing the story of Doug’s battle with cancer. Help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays today by visiting morebirthdays.com.

Disruption Of Immune-system Pathway Key Step In Cancer Progression, Study Shows

2009-05-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2009) — Human immune cells communicate constantly with one another as they coordinate to fight off infection and other threats. Now researchers at Stanford University's School of Medicine have shown that muffling a key voice in this conversational patter is an early step in the progression of human cancers. Silencing an inter-cell signaling mechanism called the interferon pathway may be one way newly developing cancers gain the upper hand. It may also explain the immune dysfunctions seen in many cancer patients and why cancer immunotherapies are often ineffective. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090518172637.htm

Church Focuses on Breast Cancer Stats in Women of Color - Evangelical Covenant Church

2009-05-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

Church Focuses on Breast Cancer Stats in Women of Color - Evangelical Covenant Church

One-Third Go 'Off-Label' For Breast Cancer - Health News Story - KETV Omaha

2009-05-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

One-Third Go 'Off-Label' For Breast Cancer - Health News Story - KETV Omaha

What an inspirational day...

2009-05-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Robert and I spent the day at the Relay for Life event in Ventura, CA. This was my fist RFL and it most certainly will not be my last.

We visited with hundreds of people that were there for different reasons, but most of all...they were all there for the same reason. This was a truly inspirational day, but a day to also realize how many people's lives are effected by cancer.

Speaking with a representative from the American Cancer Society, I learned that there are over 300 Relay for Life Events in CA alone and in 2009 RFL events are being held in over 21 countries.

I was amazed at how well organized the RFL event was. I was also amazed at the purple shirts (these folks are cancer survivors) that were being worn, their stories and diverse demographics of the people wearing them. This disease strikes all types...old, young, men, women. Cancer does not discriminate!

For over 25 years now, the American Cancer Society has partnered with communities worldwide to bring Relay for Life to the forefront of the fight on cancer. As much as it is a huge effort internationally, RFL is still very much a grassroots effort developed and built by a community of people who have a passion to fight this horrific disease.

I absolutely look forward to our next Relay for Life!

Agent Provides Treatment Option For Women With Hot Flashes

2009-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

Agent Provides Treatment Option For Women With Hot Flashes

Potential New Approach to Melanoma Treatment - National Cancer Institute

2009-05-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Potential New Approach to Melanoma Treatment - National Cancer Institute

Wayman Tisdale was one terrific talent, both at Oklahoma and in the NBA - ESPN

2009-05-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Wayman Tisdale was one terrific talent, both at Oklahoma and in the NBA - ESPN

Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

2009-05-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

Test

2009-05-14T08:51:00.001-07:00

This is a test

NY Mother Holds Bake Sales To Fund Cancer Research

2009-05-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

by KAREN BROWN, CBS 2 NEW YORK (CBS)

On a special Sunday for mothers, one New York mom spent her day fighting for her son's life. She turned the traditional bake sale into a nationwide fundraiser to fight cancer – one cookie at a time. "He's going to be five next week," Gretchen Holt said. Gretchen isn't just baking cookies – she's trying to save her son's life. "I have to know that I did everything that I possibly could," Gretchen says. Two years ago, her son Liam was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a deadly cancer that attacks part of the nervous system. "There is nothing worse than hearing your child has cancer, and, by the way, there's no cure," Gretchen says. Liam had a tumor removed, along with chemotherapy and radiation treatments, but they only keep the cancer cells at bay. There just wasn't enough research money available, so Gretchen says the Holts decided to try to raise the $2 million needed "just one cookie at a time." By holding bake sales with their Web site cookiesforkidscancer.org, they have raised nearly $500,000 from more than 100 bake sales across the country. "How grateful we are that there are so many people who want to make sure that not just my guy is here, but every other kid," Gretchen said. There is only a 50 percent survival rate with Liam's type of cancer – but with the money the Holts have raised, the treatment he needs is now in the final stages of development. "There is not a day that goes by, a second, a minute, that I am not trying to be aware of how lucky we are that he is still alive," Gretchen said. Gretchen already has her Mother's Day gift. More children die from pediatric cancer every year than do from asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined.

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/cancer.bake.sales.2.1006456.html

Fish May Cut Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

2009-05-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Jody A. Charnow, May 04, 2009

Eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids at least once a week was found to reduce the risk by 57% High intake of long-chain omega-3 (LC n-3) fatty acids may lower the risk of aggressive prostate cancer, data suggest.

John S. Witte, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the University of California at San Francisco, and colleagues studied 466 men diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and 478 controls matched for age and ethnicity. The investigators used a food-frequency questionnaire to assess diet, particularly with respect to consumption of dark fish (salmon, mackerel, bluefish), which are rich in LC n-3.

Compared with men who never ate dark fish, those who ate dark fish at least once a week had a 57% reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer, the researchers reported in Clinical Cancer Research (2009; published online ahead of print). Patients were considered to have aggressive prostate cancer if they had a Gleason score of 7 or higher, a PSA level above 10 ng/mL at diagnosis, or tumor-node-metastasis stage T2c or higher.

The entire article is available at http://www.renalandurologynews.com/Fish-May-Cut-Risk-of-Aggressive-Prostate-Cancer/article/136074/

Local Politician Joins Actress in Fight Against Cancer: Rep. Betsy Ritter launches CT chapter of We Work For Health

2009-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Chupaska, Staff Writer:

Connecticut's role in fighting diseases is going to take a combination of star power and sausage-factory-style lawmaking. That’s one of the reasons Rep. Betsy Ritter (D-Waterford) joined with Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden and others to launch the Connecticut chapter of the nationwide organization We Work For Health in Hartford earlier this month.

Ritter, whose district also includes parts of Montville, said We Work for Health brings together a broad coalition made up of pharmaceutical companies, doctors, academics, and labor unions to support bioscience research.

“We want to make the state a leader in medical innovation,” she said.

Harden, who won acclaim on Broadway as part of the original cast of Angels In America, which dealt with AIDS, was inspired to become a cancer patient advocate while doing research for a role.

Read the entire article at http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/stonington_times/archive/2009/05/04/local-politician-joins-actress-in-fight-against-cancer-rep-betsy-ritter-launches-ct-chapter-of-we-work-for-health.aspx

Specter Claims Kemp Would Be Alive if Congress Better Funded Medical Research

2009-05-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Jack Kemp would still be alive if the federal government had done a better job funding cancer research, Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday, one day after Kemp, the 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee, died of cancer. To read the entire article go to http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/04/specter-claims-kemp-alive-congress-better-funded-medical-research/.

Join us in Ventura, CA for the Relay for Life event on May 16-17, 2009

2009-05-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

WeCure.com will be at the Relay for Life event in Ventura, CA on May 16-17, 2009. Come out, stop by and say "HI" and show your support. Learn more about this event at http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=13804. We look forward to seeing you out there!

New Search Results Improvements

2008-12-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

Today we've updated WeCure to display more refined search results when you type certain key words. Here are some examples:

City/Town Searches
Get demographics and other statistics when you search for a recognized city name.
Example: los angeles

Movie Reviews

Search for a recognized movie title and the first result will show a brief review, courtesy of RottenTomatoes.com.

Example: four christmases

Gas Prices

Searching for a city name along with the phrase, 'gas prices,' will return a result showing the top 3 cheapest places to get gas.

Example: san francisco gas prices

Travel Info

Examples: airport delays, aa 123

Drugs Database

Get information for over 24,000 different medicines.

Example: advil

Horoscope

An easy way to see your daily horoscope without having to go to another page.

Example: horoscope aquarius

Ski Resort Snow Reports

Search for a recognized resort name, and you'll see the current conditions.

Examples: aspen mountain, big bear, snowbird, squaw valley, sugar bowl, telluride snow

Integrated Dictionary and Wikipedia Results

Examples: oxymoron, opera

Nutritional Info for Recognized Foods

Examples: cheerios, hungry jack buttermilk pancake waffle mix

Your feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

New Cases of Cancer Decline in U.S.

2008-11-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

Cancer diagnosis rates decreased by an average of 0.8 percent annually from 1999 to 2005, the last year for which data are available, according to an annual report by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and other scientific organizations.

Read more: New York Times

Scientists Develop New, More Sensitive Nanotechnology Test for Chemical DNA Modifications

2008-09-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

September 23, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have developed a novel test to screen for chemical modifications to DNA known as methylation. The technology potentially could be used both for early cancer diagnoses and for assessing patients' response to cancer therapies. To read more of this article, click here: http://www.aacr.org/home/public--media/news.aspx?d=1130

New Feature: Medical News

2008-09-04T02:33:00.001-07:00

Today we added the ability to view daily headlines specific to medical topics such as cancer, diabetes, and more. Items are sourced from Google, who does a nice job of collecting news from around the Web. Currently, we show up to 10 items per topic.

If you want to search news in other topics, you can use the search box at the bottom of the 'Topics' list.

Did you know? In the U.S. and other developed countries, cancer is presently responsible for about 25% of all deaths (source).

HOLLYWOOD TAKES A STAND & UNITES FOR AN UNPRECEDENTED TELEVISION BROADCAST

2008-07-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Luminaries from Entertainment, Sports, Music and Journalism Join Forces for Landmark Event Simultaneously Broadcast on ABC, CBS & NBC – September 5th

JULY 29, 2008 – LOS ANGELES, CA: An extraordinary line-up of actors, musicians, athletes and journalists have banded together for Stand Up To Cancer (www.standup2cancer.org) the ground breaking initiative aimed at raising funds to accelerate cancer research and bring new therapies to patients more quickly in order to end cancer's reign as a leading cause of death. Harnessing the power and influence of the media, many of the world’s most renowned entertainers have pledged their full support for this historic, nationally-televised program, simultaneously broadcast live and commercial-free on ABC, CBS and NBC on September 5, 2008 at 8pm EST and PST. In addition, the Hollywood community has embraced Stand Up To Cancer en masse by supporting a host of creative projects across a wide array of platforms in an effort to ignite passion in the American people so they realize that significant advances in cancer treatment are within reach. To read the entire press release, click here; http://www.standup2cancer.org/node/1032/pdf