Friday, May 16, 2014

The truth about metastatic breast cancer.

Hello my friends,

Here is another repost of a post I originally posted on The Beautiful Life. I believe it was reposted on Leslie's camcer confessions two years ago. I said before that if it is relevant I will post it or repost it or link to it. So, here is this post that I wrote in 2012. It has such great info, sourced from another site that I post a link to in the blog. Plus some of my opinions and experience on the data from the post I link.

I can't believe it is two years later. 40,000 women (and men) die each year from metastatic breast cancer. Or at least that wasthe last figure documented as of two years ago. It could be and probably is more. The pink culture doesn't want to keep stats on those that are dying only on the ones who have had surgery or chemo and been declared in remission. Just read the data, and have your mind blown. No matter how grim the states are though, please keep your focus on life, and not death. Live each day fully. I pray for you, for life, health and a future. A REALLY long future. It is important though that you know the facts. For yourself if you have this illness or for your loved one if you are walking this path as someones support. Keep your chin up, and keep yourself positive, and surrounded by positive support.

Here is the repost:

Hello people,

Spoiler alert, there is no makeup or fashion in this post!

I hope that this post finds all of you healthy and enjoying Summer. I would like to take a moment to remind the women readers to do monthly breast exams. In cast you didn't know this, Men can develop breast cancer as well. So, men if you feel something odd, get it checked.

Now how is one type of breast cancer different from another? Well of course there is staging, but I won't get into that. There is breast cancer that you would typically hear about, then there is inflammatory breast cancer which is mainly the tissue of the breast and ducts, and there is METS BC. Here is some information that I borrowed from Amy Durfee West's blog. http://www.durfeewest.com/?tag=metastatic-breast-cancer

Stage IV breast cancer is considered incurable. That makes it kind of an embarrassment in some of the “survivor” literature. Supposedly you have early detection, and you follow doctor’s orders, and you do your surgery, chemo and maybe radiation, and you lose weight and control stress and you become a cancer-free survivor. What do we do with people who don’t fit that profile? Well, there isn't much research funding for Mets breast cancer.

METAvivor’s 5 MBC Misperceptions
Myth: Research funding is well balanced for all stages of cancer.
Reality: 90% of cancer deaths result from Stage IV cancer, but only 2% of research funds are devoted to stage IV.
Myth: Metastatic breast cancer is rare.
Reality: 30% of breast cancer patients progress to Stage IV. Many more initially present with metastatic breast cancer.
Myth: Healthy lifestyles, timely screening and early detection prevent metastasis.
Reality: Metastasis happens despite vigilance and precautions. Even Stage I patients can and do metastasize.
Myth: Metastatic breast cancer is becoming a chronic disease. Fewer die every year.
Reality: New treatments extend life for some, but survival remains elusive. Over 40,000 women and men have been dying annually since 1987.
Myth: Stage IV breast cancer patients are well supported by many groups.
Reality: Far too many patients must face their challenges with little to no support. Most programs focus on wellness and recovery, avoiding any reference to Stage IV.


Okay, so that is end of the post that I've linked you to. On this page so aptly named The beautiful life, I want to impart on you that despite the negative things that are in the information, I still feel joy. Each morning I wake, It is another gift. I used to wake up thinking that it was the same old same old. Now I wake up thinking of the day as a blessing. It also makes me not plan things long term. It is about living in the moment or the day. That really does make every second such a beautiful moment in life. In so many ways it also has made the people closest to me more beautiful too. They say you never know who your real friends are until you go through a crisis. That is completely true. My true friends and family are beyond coming through for me. They are solid as a rock.

Let me remind you again to check yourselves, and get yearly mammograms.


Thanks for stopping by my post,


Leslie

Whatever happened to: DRACO, cutting edge cancer cure, posted in medical news today, 2011.

Hello friends,

Today is a day filled with cancer news. In the Knoxville TN news, they are talking about the possibility of 10X dose of measle vaccine in terminal patients can cure the disease.

It was also posted on CNN: Here is a portion of the article headed with the link to the full article:





(CNN) -- A woman with an incurable cancer is now in remission, thanks, doctors say, to a highly concentrated dose of the measles virus.

For 10 years, Stacy Erholtz, 49, battled multiple myeloma, a deadly cancer of the blood. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic say she had received every type of chemotherapy drug available for her cancer and had undergone two stem cell transplants, only to relapse time and again.

Then researchers gave her and five other multiple myeloma patients a dose of a highly concentrated, lab-engineered measles virus similar to the measles vaccine. In fact, the dose Erholtz received contained enough of the virus to vaccinate approximately 10 million people.

"The idea here is that a virus can be trained to specifically damage a cancer and to leave other tissues in the body unharmed," said the lead study author, Dr. Stephen Russell.
Mayo Clinic staff test to see if Stacy Erholtz\'s cancer is still in remission.
Mayo Clinic staff test to see if Stacy Erholtz's cancer is still in remission.

It's a concept known as virotherapy, and it's been done before. Mayo Clinic scientists say thousands of cancer patients have been treated with viruses, but this is the first case of a patient with a cancer that had spread throughout the body going into remission.

Erholtz was cancer-free for nine months.

"I think we succeeded because we pushed the dose higher than others have pushed it," Russell said. "And I think that is critical. The amount of virus that's in the bloodstream really is the driver of how much gets into the tumors."


In addition to this current news, I am also pondering a news release from 2011 about a drug called DRACO; Link here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/opinions/76503; that was suppose to be a cancer cure. This was reported on and then pushed to the dark to never be heard about again. HMMMMMMM, makes you wonder. I guess there is little profit in cure. There is a LOT of profit in treatment, and funerals. I'm not trying to be morbid here, but I have become cynical, and suspicious of all the money raised of decades for cancer cures, that never have panned out to more than treatments. It leads me to think that they aren't really looking for a cure, just a donation. Even if a scientist found a cure, they may be unlikely to publish it. Cancer research breeds and environment of more research. Not an environment of cure discovery. I'm JUST Saying.......


Well, that is all I have to share with you today. These are the things that have caught my interest today. Oh yea, and on the cover of Forbes this week is Joseph Jimenez who created NOVARTIS. He is being hailed as the man who will cure cancer. HMMMM, will this be a dead end in two years as was DRACO?

Thank you all for stopping by my blog. I hope it doesn't sound angry. Sarcastic perhaps, but not angry. Anyhooooo, thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Leslie

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Count it all Joy.

Hello Friends,
I am reposting a letter that I wrote to friends and to family over on facebook April 2 2011. That was just after I had found my metastaic breast cancer diagnosis and treatment options. It was March 28th when I got the call. So I have out live the the thought that I would be dead in a yr ( standard life expectancy of 1-5 years with this disease) I used to attend The village church in Texas. Matt Chandler was our pastor and was an incredible teacher of the bible. I learned so much from his sermons. You can find them on itunes or go to the village church website and subscribe to the sermons. I would guess if you wanted to hear this particular sermon I mention it could be found on itunes. Any way... The point is, I posted this 3 yrs ago, and it is still very relevant. It may have been written for my friends and my family at the time, but now I want to share it with YOU. My internet family. Please enjoy what I have to share. I hope and pray you will be blessed by it.


Here it is:



Count it all joy!
April 2, 2011 at 5:02pm

So many friends, and people who I have never met are praying for me since my stage IV diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. I cannot thank you all enough. Some of you are sad. And As I have asked why God would put my friends and family through this, some of you have asked why as well. I just finished listening to a podcast on Habakkuk by Matt Chandler at the Village church, not knowing that God would be talking to me through it. One thing that jumps out is wether we follow Christ or deny him, the first thing we do in a crisis is ask why God would allow it to happen. Ironic for a disbeliever to ask that, but they do. Asking why is something children do. Thinking of when my children were young, they why'd everything. The grass the sky ect. Yes, we ask why. But I tell you something I learned from Mo a long time ago when he was diagnosed with Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, when people asked him why God would do that to him. He said "who better to be ill with this than a Christian?' So the world can see my Faith and see God's healing. People may be saying, "Leslie stage four is the last one, that's bad you could die". To that I have to share Matt's sermon. He was diagnosed 18 months ago with an un- encapsulated brain tumor. That means it was leaking in his brain. The prognosis was very poor. When people asked him this saying that it is bad he could die, he would say "you are dying too" We are all dying! This may be the illness that chases me the rest of my life. Or I could get taken out by a bus. The important question isn't "why did this happen?' The important question is where will I spend eternity? I gave my life to Christ as a teen on a mountain top in Colorado, Then I strayed and reconfirmed my commitment to follow him as an adult and was baptized by choice to show the same obedience that Jesus did, when he was baptized by his cousin John. I have bouts with doubt about all kinds of things, but there is no doubt that I know I will be in heaven when by body is left empty and my soul leaves this earth. To unbelievers- So, If you are questioning things. Please question where you are with your belief, and where you want to be forever. If you don't believe and that gives you comfort, okay I guess. If you think you're right and find out you weren't you have lost everything. If I find out I am wrong, I have lost nothing, and have lived the best life ever. Who has more to lose? You or me. To believers- Who better than me to be sick and healed. Thank you for your continued prayers.



With abundant love and mad respect,

Leslie

Trodelvy trial failed.