This afternoon Jana came across this article about research just released by my oncologist, Dr. Ross Camidge: http://www.uch.edu/about/news/2011/benefit-of-targeted-lung-cancer-therapy-confirmed/ While the clinical trial is not related to my mesothelioma, it provides another example of the kinds of targeted therapies that are being developed. Traditionally, cancer was treated by cutting it out, poisoning it with drugs that also damaged normal cells (for example producing the numbness and tingling in my hands and feet), and burning it out with radiation. Now, as the biology of cancer is becoming better understood, drugs, like Jana's Gleevec, are being created to counteract specific genetic/molecular targets. Perhaps it is just a matter of time before the "war on cancer" can come to an end. Congratulations to Dr. Camidge and the others working on this new drug, and best wishes for a fully positive outcome.
David
June 27, 2011
June 25, 2011
New Hospital, New Doctors
This week Jana and I established care with oncologists at the Cancer Center in the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
Before I get to our meetings, I want to note the use of the word pavilion in the name of the building where the cancer center is housed. Wikipedia defines a pavilion as follows,
Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in its intended use.
Does it seem starage to you to use pavillion to describe the home of cancer doctors? It is one of several connected, but separate, bulidings that comprise the Anschutz Medical Campus, but it certainly doesn’t have a “connection with relaxation and pleasure”
I’ll have to say, though, that it was a pleasure to meet my two new doctors. After completing the requisite paperwork (permissions, medical history, etc.) and having my vital signs taken, we were escorted to an examination room to await my new doctor. Afer a while, another doctor, whom I was not expecting to see, came into the room, introduced himself, appologized for his Australian accent, and explained that we worked with my oncologist. Unfortunately, the person who organizes the paperwork for new patients has been out of the ofice for a few days, so the doctors had little information about me, and,we spent a good deal of time recapping the history of my mesothelioma. The doctor (lets call him The Aussie), then excused himself and returned a little while later with the doctor I was expecting to see who is from the UK (let’s call him The Brit). We then had a very good discussion of my case, and I learned several things.
1. The Brit and the Aussie are very knowledeable, very likeable, and very good at explaining things clearly. I’ve always thought that the British educational system does an excellent job of identifying and developing talent, and these gentlemen strengthened that belief.
2. They will review my records when they get them sorted out and present my case to their Tumor Board in, I suppose, a process similar to the review of my case at M. D. Anderson. The process is used for all new patients and provides a broad-based examination of my medical condition. I was very glad to hear about this.
3. The plan at this time is to continue with watchful waiting to see if my tumors begin to grow. If I start developing any new sysmptoms, I will contact them, but otherwise, I will go back on August for blood tests and imaging.
4. In discussing the origins of mesothelioma, I learned that teachers have a higher rate than many other occupations. Of course people who work in construction and ship building have much higher rates, but in an place like Denver where the really high-inidence occupations are less common, a good percentage of mesothelioma patients are or have been teachers. I think he said that teachers are the highest percentage of any occupational group in Denver. It seems that school systems looked for cheap insulation in the past and filled schools with asbestos, so maybe I didn’t get my mesothelioma from working in a refinery but from all my years in schools as a student and educator.
5. Finally, we discussed a clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute that I had found online and thought I might want to join. Both doctors had recently attended a international cancer conference where researchers presented the latest reports on their clinical trials, and it was their conclusion that the approach taken in the clinical trial did not seem to be panning out, and at the higher dose levels in this clinical trial, serious side effects were found that had not been observed in the Phase I trial. The substance being tested blocks a cell receptor that is needed for normal cell function, and even though the receptor is found more commonly on some cancer cells, imparing its function produced problems in healthy cells. Participation in the clinical trial is out.
Bottom line—I was really happy with my first visit with these doctors and look forward to having them manage the treatment of my mesothelioma.
Given that Jana’s case is much more straightforward there was not much new in meeting her oncologist who, by the way, is an American. We enjoyed meeting with him and found him also to be very knowledgeable, approachable, and a good communicator. He will see her in September after blood tests done at that time. He saw no reason to change her medication as long as it is working, just like her doctor in Texas.
Our next medical task is to get local primary care physicans. I’m turning 65 next January, so I asked my doctors if I should have a gerentologist, an old folks doctor, as my primary care physician. They just laughed. As one said, “If you went in there, they would think that you had brought your father in for an appointment.” And, “Sixty-five is the new 45.” I assume they would approve of Jana’s 90-year-old mother going to an gerontologist, even though her internist in Texas did say that she was in pretty good shape for someone 65. For her, 90 is the new 65.
David
P.S. Jana says I include more detail than people want to read. I apologize for that, but it is the level of detail I want to have when I read the posts again at a later time.
Before I get to our meetings, I want to note the use of the word pavilion in the name of the building where the cancer center is housed. Wikipedia defines a pavilion as follows,
Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in its intended use.
Does it seem starage to you to use pavillion to describe the home of cancer doctors? It is one of several connected, but separate, bulidings that comprise the Anschutz Medical Campus, but it certainly doesn’t have a “connection with relaxation and pleasure”
I’ll have to say, though, that it was a pleasure to meet my two new doctors. After completing the requisite paperwork (permissions, medical history, etc.) and having my vital signs taken, we were escorted to an examination room to await my new doctor. Afer a while, another doctor, whom I was not expecting to see, came into the room, introduced himself, appologized for his Australian accent, and explained that we worked with my oncologist. Unfortunately, the person who organizes the paperwork for new patients has been out of the ofice for a few days, so the doctors had little information about me, and,we spent a good deal of time recapping the history of my mesothelioma. The doctor (lets call him The Aussie), then excused himself and returned a little while later with the doctor I was expecting to see who is from the UK (let’s call him The Brit). We then had a very good discussion of my case, and I learned several things.
1. The Brit and the Aussie are very knowledeable, very likeable, and very good at explaining things clearly. I’ve always thought that the British educational system does an excellent job of identifying and developing talent, and these gentlemen strengthened that belief.
2. They will review my records when they get them sorted out and present my case to their Tumor Board in, I suppose, a process similar to the review of my case at M. D. Anderson. The process is used for all new patients and provides a broad-based examination of my medical condition. I was very glad to hear about this.
3. The plan at this time is to continue with watchful waiting to see if my tumors begin to grow. If I start developing any new sysmptoms, I will contact them, but otherwise, I will go back on August for blood tests and imaging.
4. In discussing the origins of mesothelioma, I learned that teachers have a higher rate than many other occupations. Of course people who work in construction and ship building have much higher rates, but in an place like Denver where the really high-inidence occupations are less common, a good percentage of mesothelioma patients are or have been teachers. I think he said that teachers are the highest percentage of any occupational group in Denver. It seems that school systems looked for cheap insulation in the past and filled schools with asbestos, so maybe I didn’t get my mesothelioma from working in a refinery but from all my years in schools as a student and educator.
5. Finally, we discussed a clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute that I had found online and thought I might want to join. Both doctors had recently attended a international cancer conference where researchers presented the latest reports on their clinical trials, and it was their conclusion that the approach taken in the clinical trial did not seem to be panning out, and at the higher dose levels in this clinical trial, serious side effects were found that had not been observed in the Phase I trial. The substance being tested blocks a cell receptor that is needed for normal cell function, and even though the receptor is found more commonly on some cancer cells, imparing its function produced problems in healthy cells. Participation in the clinical trial is out.
Bottom line—I was really happy with my first visit with these doctors and look forward to having them manage the treatment of my mesothelioma.
Given that Jana’s case is much more straightforward there was not much new in meeting her oncologist who, by the way, is an American. We enjoyed meeting with him and found him also to be very knowledgeable, approachable, and a good communicator. He will see her in September after blood tests done at that time. He saw no reason to change her medication as long as it is working, just like her doctor in Texas.
Our next medical task is to get local primary care physicans. I’m turning 65 next January, so I asked my doctors if I should have a gerentologist, an old folks doctor, as my primary care physician. They just laughed. As one said, “If you went in there, they would think that you had brought your father in for an appointment.” And, “Sixty-five is the new 45.” I assume they would approve of Jana’s 90-year-old mother going to an gerontologist, even though her internist in Texas did say that she was in pretty good shape for someone 65. For her, 90 is the new 65.
David
P.S. Jana says I include more detail than people want to read. I apologize for that, but it is the level of detail I want to have when I read the posts again at a later time.
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