Health | Mesothelioma | Cancer » Cancer Treatment

All or nothing?

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:48:55 +0000

It’s interesting. Since my own diagnosis, my view of cancer and cancer treatment has changed. I think many of us have thought of cancer as an “all or nothing” disease for a long time. We are either cured or we aren’t. We survive or we don’t survive. Our cancer is either gone or it’s there. The only good outcome is that our cancer is gone and we move on with our lives intact cancer-free.

We feel having cancer means we are on a path to death, and having no detectable cancer means we might have a chance of staying alive. All or nothing.

But I met a woman when I was in chemo who had been receiving chemo weekly for 4 years. She was not cured and she was not dying. She had a tumor that could not be removed surgically, but the tumor had not grown or spread or threatened her life in 4 years. She tolerated chemo well, and aside from living 4 hours of her life weekly in the oncology chemo room, her life was pretty much normal.

I’ve since been in contact with 2 long term appendiceal cancer patients who have never really been cancer free. They have been eight years and twenty years with appendix cancer recurrences. And in the meantime, between treatment, they have valiantly lived their lives. Productive lives. Meaningful lives. Lives that aren’t just about cancer. They have survived in spite of cancer. Raised kids, pursued careers, lived lives…with appendix cancer.

I got to thinking about that. I was in chemo for about 4 hours once a week for many months after I was diagnosed. Not bad, but not how I would have chosen to use my time under other circumstances. But I’m a nurse. For years I’ve seen dialysis patients. Patients who live their lives hooked up to dialysis IV pumps for as long as we are hooked up to chemo pumps….but three days a week…for years. And they live long and productive lives in spite of that. Their lives are altered, but they still live. They still contemplate a future; they tolerate dialysis as they await a possible transplant and a new normal life.

I have now been exposed to many scientists involved in cancer research. They are so close to so many breakthroughs. There may come a day in our lifetime when there is a cancer cure…if we just wait and stay in treatment. Just like dialysis patients remain in treatment while they await a kidney transplant. The day when they can live without being in treatment.

That day that may come for us. The day cancer is defeated.

I want to be here to celebrate that day.

10 in june part one: health

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:52:24 +0000

The last month has been challenging, as far as my health is concerned. There is nothing seriously wrong with me and as far as the cancer is concerned, I’m in fine shape. Instead, I’ve been dealing with some unpleasant and uncomfortable digestive issues. Whether this is due to my age or the toll of long term systemic cancer treatment, I don’t know. I just know that, by the time I went to see my doctor, I was feeling prettty miserable.

I suspected my gall bladder was the source of the problem but we had the benefit of a recent abdominal CT scan that showed that organ to be fine. My doctor diagnosed me with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (or GERD) and instructed me to stop consuming coffee, tea, chocolate or coffee (my immediate response was the somewhat ironic, “I’ll die!” She also gave me some medicine.

After a couple of weeks, I do feel very much better. I’ve only been eating tiny amounts of chocolate and I have had a couple of pints of beer (which didn’t seem to bother me). What does turn my innards inside out is coffee, something I find to be fairly tragic. I’m now drinking a mug of Matcha green tea every morning and then, only occasionally having a single mug of half-decaf (and I am coming to accept that this needs to be a pretty occasional thing).

I was feeling pretty bummed out about all of this (haven’t I already been through enough?) until one day I was out walking the dogs and I got to thinking. What if I chose to look on this as an opportunity to clean up my diet?

I’ve also come to realize that fatty foods or eating anything too quickly can give me pain and heatburn. But I should be avoid junk food and mindless eating anyway, so that shouldn’t seem like a bad thing.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon water (which also really helps with digestion and I like how it tastes).

Next visit to my doc, I’m going to risk being labelled a hypochondriac and ask to be tested for Celiac’s disease (my sister has it, and although I’ve had the blood test, I know that it can result in false negatives) and also asked to be tested for a stomach bacteria called H. pylori (because a friend just tested positive and really I am a bit of a hypochondriac.

Keeping all those things under consideration, here is the part of my “Ten Things” to do list that addresses health:

1. Make soup twice. I’ve been having fun on this soup adventure. I’ve already made chicken soup this month. What surprised me though was that I took a recipe from my nutrionist and altered it significantly to make it more flavourful. On the heels of my made-up cabbage soup from last month, I am displaying a willingness to depart from recipes that I have never been brave enough to do. It pleases me enormously.

2. Do an average of sixty minutes of cardio five times a week (a total of 300 minutes a week).

3. Start the Running Room beginner program and run/walk three times a week. I’m on track and on week two, which means I’m alternating one minute of walking with one minute of running for twenty minutes.

4. Follow the diet prescribed by my nutritionist, while cutting mysellf some slack (ie letting myself have a cookie or a piece of chocolate every day, eating exactly what I want once a week, cutting down on carbs and increasing fruit and especially low sugar veggies). If my approach isn’t moderate, it’s not sustainable.

I’m putting the strength training on hold in the hopes that July will be a little less busy and my gut will be healed enought that the thought of sit-ups doesn’t make me puke (although I’m not sure if this is a real problem or just a dislike of sit-ups).

I’ll save the rest of this month’s goals for another post. What’s on your to-do list for June?

When is it Over?

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:03:05 +0000

When is it over? I remember having that thought often. I was so psyched to “beat it”, to survive my cancer. When could you officially declare that you’d won the battle and relax? I had always assumed the 5 year mark was the definition of “cured” in the cancer world. Everyone talked about 5 year survival rates like they were the gold standard. If you made if five years weren’t you cured and couldn’t you stop the testing– the CT scans, the x-rays, the tumor markers? Wasn’t the very long and hard battle finally won if you were cancer-free at 5 years?

Then I remember reading somewhere that the term “cure” was no longer used, we were in “long term remission” if we made it to the five year mark. I’d always felt remission to mean you still had cancer, it just wasn’t currently active. We would always in some sense be “cancer patients”. I read an article written by a cancer patient who’d read “long term remission” at 5 years vs. “cure” in a magazine in a doctor’s office. When she’d read that statement, she’d thrown the magazine across the room. I could so relate to how she felt. We want the “cure” word, the guarantee it will never come back, the permission to go back to our normal, before cancer lives. To put it all behind us. But some of the appendiceal cancer specialists feel we should have yearly CT scans for life. For life. Forever. We can never stop being vigilant.

I read a statement by a cancer survivor recently. She said we are like recovered alcoholics, in a sense. And we are. We are no longer actively in cancer treatment, and we may no longer have detectable cancer, but it’s never really over. We will always be on guard, we will always be vigilant. We are all now acutely aware of how rapidly our lives can change, how much we can lose in a very short time. We can’t go back to before cancer when we were more naive, just as a recovered alcoholic can never go back to the days before his first drink. But somewhere between the diagnosis and the recovery we aquire new skills, we deepen our character, we develop new perspectives. We become equipped to help someone else just beginning the journey. Being able to do that kind of makes it all worthwhile.

dvd review: “visions for cancer recovery”

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:54:36 +0000

I was asked to review this DVD “written and narrated by Mary Hallman, who researched and and developed this program based on her experiences during her recovery for fallopian tube cancer.” She is also a registered nurse.

The full title of the DVD is “Visions for Cancer Recovery: A Guided Visualization and Health Meditation.” It’s 20 minutes long and divided into four sections: “Introduction”, “Begin Body Relaxation”, “Stress Release/Deeper Relaxation” and “Healing On A Deeper Level: Cancer Cell Elimination.”

The DVD uses “scientifically rendered scientific imagery.” I also learned a new word, “apoptosis.” It’s the scientific term for “cancer cell elimination.” Cool, no?

What I liked about it:

The music chosen as an introduction was appropriate and set a relaxing tone from the beginning.

There was a disclaimer at the beginning of the DVD cautioning that the program is to be used in conjunction with, not instead of, more conventional cancer treatment. I very much appreciated this.

The voice-over (by Mary Hallman) was very relaxing and reassuring.

As I watched, I was taken from very familiar (and soothing) scenes of nature, all the way into space. We then returned from space, to think about the cells working within our bodies. I liked placing myself in context this way and enjoyed that imagery.

I enjoyed imagining imagining any cancer cells in my body being absorbed and eradicated by the healthier ones.

The messages repeated at the end were ones that really did speak to me and that I could see myself repeating throughout the day: “Cancer cells are not surviving…Only healthy cells survive….the body does what it needs to do.”

What I didn’t like:

I couldn’t get into watching a guided meditation on my television or computer screen. When I relax, I like to close my eyes. Just as I would find myself getting into the program, the voice would remind me to “keep your eyes on the screen.” It just didn’t work for me.

I didn’t find the visual imagery used to be very effective. The nature images were pretty but I would have enjoyed imagining my own relaxing locations much better. The other images didn’t work for me at all (and there was an image of a coil that I actually found weirded me out).

The production values on the DVD seemed to me to be quite high. And it was obvious to me that the person who developed it was knowledgeable and thoughtful. Perhaps this DVD would be more useful for those who are having trouble conjuring up relaxing imagery or imagining what cancer cells look like. Or maybe some will find it soothing to have the visuals provided for them. I think, though, that I prefer audiotapes.

Or my own imagination.

Outcomes and Expectations

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:28:33 +0000

While I don’t believe “thinking positive” is vital to a good cancer outcome, I do believe that negative assumptions affect cancer treatment outcomes.

I know of many who assume prior to cancer therapy that their normal lives will be over while on chemo…they will feel ill, be nauseated, will vomit often, not be able to eat and will be fatigued while on chemo. And bald.

Many also assume their recovery from surgery will be extensive, they will be out of commission for months following surgical intervention. They assume they will have side effects from radiation therapy.

I wonder sometimes if those assumptions become a self-fulfilling prophecy?

I personally had a very major cancer surgery. Prior to surgery I was told I would be in ICU post-op and would be hospitalized for at least 12 days. But I didn’t go to ICU post-op as I did well after surgery. I was discharged in 6 days, not 12. I walked 3 miles 8 days after my surgery. I was driving my car in 2 weeks and back to my normal life in three weeks.

I started chemotherapy with no pre-conceived notions of my life being altered, and it wasn’t. I was nauseated only once during my 7 months of chemotherapy, ate well, gained weight and never vomited. I didn’t lose my hair. I drove myself to and from chemo treatments and ran errands on my way home from chemo. I did athletic training while on chemo. Six months after I completed chemo I rode my bicycle 100 miles in one day (I trained for that event while on chemo). I lived a normal life…the few chemo side effects I had were cured with medication once I brought them to the attention of my oncologist. I felt a bit washed out on chemo days, but hey, I’d had days where I felt a bit washed out prior to chemo. They’ve come a long way with chemo, nowadays drugs are given prior to chemo treatments to prevent side-effects.

I had a friend with my same cancer who was in her 70s. She was also discharged from the hospital following her extensive surgery in a week. She was soon after surgery kayaking and hiking and doing the things she loved. My 79 year old aunt is experiencing a breast cancer recurrence, but is living a normal and full life while on chemo, following 39 uneventful radiation treatments.

I know of others who after the same surgery I had spend months recovering. Who don’t resume their lives and interests for the better part of a year.

And I wonder sometimes if expectations play a part in outcomes. If we expect to be ill and disabled, maybe we will be. If we expect prolonged recovery, maybe it will become our reality. It’s not so much that we need to think positive when we enter cancer treatment, maybe it’s more that we go into it open-minded? Maybe our attitude in part determines whether we will be victims or victors?

Observations from the Scientist-Survivor Program at the AACRs 100th Annual Meeting

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:07:36 +0000

In April of this year I attended the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research as part of their Scientist-Survivor Program. My involvement in the Scientist-Survivor Program has impacted me in several ways. I have come to truly appreciate the scientists who have dedicated their lives to ending cancer’s destruction in our lives. I learn so much at these conferences; and the more I learn about cancer, the more I understand why finding a cure is so difficult. Cancer cells are truly “intelligent” and have devised many ways to overcome our own natural defenses and those we use to attack them from the outside.

I am equally as amazed at the new and innovative methods and technologies scientists are using to work toward a cure, at seeing what the future holds in finding new ways to combat the age-old and destructive disease.

I want to share some highlights of what I learned at this conference:

Cancer Genomics: The study of genomics has led to the finding that cancer is usually not caused by single genetic mutations, but by a series of genetic mutations that occur over time. Studies are underway to identify groups of mutations common to different cancer types. It has also been discovered that there are often individual differences in the genetic mutations of patients diagnosed with the same cancers.

In the near future, every individual’s cancerous tumor will be genetically tested to identify both the common and specific mutations in their particular tumor. This will result in personalized cancer treatment- pharmogenetics. Based on unique genetic changes, physicians will one day be able to determine which treatments and chemotherapies will be most effective for a particular patient. This will also allow physicians to identify which treatments will have no effect on a particular patient’s cancer and which patients are likely to have a toxic response to a particular treatment. The types and dosages of cancer treatment drugs will be individualized. Cancer genomics has also identified genetic variations in cancer that are common in other systemic diseases, such as diabetes. This may lead to findings of common metabolic pathways that enhance the treatment of many other diseases in the process of eradicating cancer.

Nanotechnology: Nanotechnology involves the use of particles one-billionth of a meter in size. A sheet of paper is 100,000 nanometers thick; a single gold atom is about nanometer in diameter. Technology is using particles of this size in several ways to advance cancer science. Nanoparticles may be one day used to deliver toxic drugs directly to cancerous tumor cells, preventing some of the toxic reactions common with current systemic cancer treatments.

Nanotechnology will be the basis for new diagnostic technology that will detect cancers at earlier stages, when they are more easily treated and have better outcomes. It is possible nanotechnology will allow metastasis to be discovered when it is still in the microscopic stage. Nanotechnology will allow particular cancer promoting protein molecules to be targeted and destroyed.

Tumor Microenvironment: Often agents that are effective against cancer cells in a lab have little to no effect on patient tumors. This is because the patient’s body provides the environment in which cancerous cells grow. Inflammation, hypoxia, low glucose levels, and pH are all things that may affect tumor growth. Cancerous cells can recruit the immune system to support cancer cell growth; cancer cells can also secrete proteins that dissolve connective tissue to allow metastasis. Learning how to manipulate the microenvironment in which the tumor grows may have as a great of an impact on cancer growth as attacking the cancerous tumor cells.

Immunology and Cancer: Twenty-three percent of malignancies are associated with infectious disease, and twenty percent of human cancer deaths occur within the context of inflammation and infection. The bacteria Helicobacter pylori is associated with gastric cancer, Hepatitis B and C viruses are associated with hepatic cancers, the Human Papillomavirus virus with cervical cancer. While acute inflammation can have an anti-tumor effect, some cancers are more common in those with autoimmune disease. Up to 50% of cancerous tumors can be composed of white blood cells. Many areas of investigation into how inflammation affects the tumor microenvironment are in progress. Trials are in progress testing cancer vaccines.

Biomarkers: Cancerous cells can release unique proteins and molecules, called biomarkers, into the blood and bodily fluids. There is ongoing research into identifying these biomarkers, correlating them to cancer types and using the identified biomarkers to help diagnose and guide patient treatment. There are thousands of biomarkers. Nanotechnology will come into play in the identification of biomarkers; using nanotechnology, it is possible there will one day be a barcode chip that using blood from a finger prick will in 5 minutes be able to identify biomarker proteins at a cost of 20 cents per protein.

Targeted Therapies: As more genes, proteins and molecules are discovered that promote or hinder cancer cell growth, specific therapies are being developed to target these particular biological entities. These therapies will be effective at destroying cancerous cells and preventing tumor formation while having little effect on normal cells. Some are already on the market, many more are being developed. Targeted therapies will soon revolutionize cancer treatment.

Prevention: There are things we can do to prevent ever getting a cancer diagnosis. We should quit smoking, or better yet, never start. High fiber diets decrease colon cancer risk by half. Exercise helps prevent cancer occurrence and recurrence. The Western diet contributes to cancer risk, as does vitamin D deficiency. More than diet though, obesity is becoming recognized as one of the greatest risk factor for the development of cancer.

Besides lifestyle, there are other means to help prevent cancer. The HPV vaccine, Hepatitis B vaccine and the eradication of helicobacter pylori infections can reduce or prevent cancers of the cervix, liver and stomach. As some cases of oral cancer are also now being associated with the HPV virus, the HPV vaccine may come into play in preventing these cancers one day too. Research is also in progress as to chemoprevention strategies…using medication to prevent cancer in those who are known to be susceptible to certain cancers.

I think in the end, the biggest impact the annual meeting has had on me was to make me aware that the only way we will see cancer defeated is by working together as a worldwide community in an unprecedented way- combining our resources and technology, sharing our discoveries, becoming a global team battling our common enemy. While more are living longer with cancer, more are being diagnosed with cancer as populations age. In the past 30 years, cancer death rates per 100,000 population have not decreased. By the year 2020, cancers will increase by 30-50 percent, and undefeated, it will take a catastrophic toll on our populations.

The deputy director of the NCI said that they are now adding to their research teams mathematicians, engineers, and physicists. The public and private sectors are starting to work together to support each other. Advocates and survivors like myself are uniting with other advocates to support research, to educate patients, to increase awareness of resources. There are so many new discoveries and technologies available that we are entering a time when working together, we have the opportunity to see cancer eradicated as a threat to humanity.

My Kids

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:07:01 +0000

Back to the cancer diagnosis and it’s effects on my kids……

The cancer diagnosis and my treatment had many effects on our family. There were many difficult times…my kids hated when I was hundreds of miles away for surgery, but I wrote them and called them every day. They had to face at too early an age insecurities I never had to face as a child.

When I was a kid I was like most kids, my mom was the rock of my life, I never doubted for a second that my mom wouldn’t always be there. My kids did have to contemplate losing their mom at a very young age. It was tough, they were old enough to understand what was happening and how uncertain my future was. They did contemplate their mom dying and leaving them.

My youngest daughter had nightmares. She crawled into my bed in the middle of the night several times sobbing “Mom, I just dreamed you died”. I was glad she was able to talk to me about it, but it was so difficult trying to counsel her when I myself didn’t know how long I would live. I couldn’t promise her I wouldn’t die, because I didn’t know. I didn’t want to lie and promise her I would live forever, though I so wanted to reassure her.

My kids and I have had a lot of heart-to-heart talks over the past several years. We’ve talked about things most parents probably never talk to their kids about.

My kids were also able to talk to my husband’s mother, their grandmother. Their grandmother became their counselor and their confidant, I can never thank her enough for the emotional support she provided my kids. She was their rock when I couldn’t be. I will forever be grateful to her for that. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law had them over for weekends when I left town for check-ups, they kept them busy and made them feel special when I couldn’t. Teachers pulled them aside at school to talk to them and make sure they were alright. I received a lot of support from so many people, but the support I am most grateful for are the people who supported my kids.

In the end, the effects have only been positive. My husband and daughters and I don’t take the time we spend together for granted. As a family we’ve developed a much greater faith and dependence on God. We talk more, we share more, we appreciate each other more. We make sure to spend one-on-one quality time with each other whenever we can. We are very close, my kids talk to me about everything– things I know I never shared with my parents growing up. We all realize how short our time is on this earth and want to make a difference in this world while we are still here. And we all know death can only separate us from those we love for a short time.

I’ll be gone for three days beginning Monday. One of my daughters, who is 16 now, previously said that right before she got married she wanted she and I to spend time together in a fancy hotel with a spa. About 8 months ago she rethought that idea…why wait? She got a job and I worked some overtime so we could have the money to do it now instead. We leave Monday .

Things we have in common….

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:17:34 +0000

I’ve been a part of the community of cancer patients for 8 years now. I’ve communicated with hundreds of cancer patients via my web site, cancer survivor events, conferences, walks. I’ve noticed common themes arise in the cancer community. Things I thought were unique to my experience are not.

Life is different for all of us after cancer. We don’t finish treatment, enter remission and go back to our old lives. Cancer changes us forever. A new friend who is also an 8 year survivor of advanced cancer told me a day doesn’t go by that cancer does not enter her mind. Mine either. Cancer is in our thoughts every day after we are diagnosed, even years down the road. I communicate with cancer patients daily, so I will always be in the cancer world, but I noticed after I finished cancer treatment and before I became an advocate that I thought of cancer every day even when I tried not to. Life after cancer was not what I expected it to be…cancer isn’t something you leave behind; you take the experience with you everywhere you go for the rest of your life. Your life becomes divided into “before cancer” and “after cancer”. Interesting, I’ve had a few 20 year appendix cancer survivors write me after finding my web site. Two decades later, they are Googling appendix cancer.

I’ve noticed many of us have a great need to find purpose in our lives. After cancer treatment, I became obsessed with finding a purpose for my existance. I read a bazillion books on finding your life purpose. I’d actually had been looking for possible new career paths and thinking about my purpose before my diagnosis. Searching for purpose is also a middle age thing, but since most of us with appendix cancer are diagnosed at middle age, I think our quest for purpose becomes compounded. Sometimes it almost seems we feel a need to feel worthy of our survival, to earn the right to remain cancer-free, to stay alive. Kind of funny, but before cancer I didn’t feel such a great need to be worthy of being alive, I don’t think. I was a good person, but I took being alive and planning a future for granted. It’s kind of ironic that I didn’t appreciate being cancer free before I was diagnosed with cancer. I should have.

I’ve also noticed that after cancer most of us place much less value in our careers. After cancer we go back to work, but it’s not the same. Before cancer our careers defined us, gave us value. But after cancer, they aren’t quite so important, they fall short, they often aren’t enough. Our values have changed. Now for me my nursing career has become almost a side job, my purpose is more about the things I don’t get paid to do.

We also become much more spiritual. For me spirituality is not the same as religion.
I was always more spiritual than religious, but now I spend more time asking bigger and more profound questions about time and life. Simple and pat answers aren’t enough anymore. I do a lot more exploring, a lot more searching, a lot more wondering. In a spiritual sense, I have become more open-minded, more accepting of wonder. I’m much more into the big picture now, less into the small details.

We also learn to value quality over quantity. We all want more time, but we want it to be time we can use to live well. We’ve learned from being in the cancer community that living longer is not always better. We’ve all lost friends and are grateful when their suffering is finally over. But whenever we’ve lost someone, we’ve wondered, just for a bit, if we might be next.

Can Vitamin D Help People with Mesothelioma?

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:35:38 +0000

A surprising new option for cancer treatment may one day be useful in managing cancers of all types, including mesothelioma. The new treatment is vitamin D, which scientists have discovered can prevent cancer cells from growing.

One man who is currently receiving vitamin D treatment is David Rose, who for 40 years had a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit. To make matters worse, he also spent 18 months working with asbestos. Rose explains, “I got down in the pit with a broom and swept all this stuff up to the end and shoveled it out with a shovel. I lived in a cloud of asbestos for a year and a half.”
David Rose eventually developed lung cancer as a result of his high-risk lifestyle. However, doctors detected the cancer early, and were able to remove it completely. In order to prevent the cancer from returning, David Rose is currently receiving a new experimental treatment that involves high doses of vitamin D.

Rose is part of a study where patients are being given high doses of vitamin D, which has shown positive results in treating and preventing several types of cancer throughout the past decade.

Dr. Alex Adjei of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute says, “Vitamin D can actually kill cancer cells grown in the lab, as well as in animal models, and it can prevent cells from dividing, growing, and spreading.”

Dr. Mary Ellen Reid says, “With an agent that’s shown as much activity as vitamin D, that, in this population, we have an opportunity to slow the progression of lung cancer and maybe reverse it.”

This is extremely important for lung cancer patients. In most cases, patients receive a diagnosis when the cancer has already advanced into the late stages of development and treatment options have become limited.

The same problem occurs in patients with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer that commonly develops in the lining of the lungs. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer, which is very difficult to treat effectively.

Although it’s too early to know whether this experimental treatment may be useful in treating or preventing asbestos-related cancers, there is the possibility that vitamin D may one day be part of a mesothelioma treatment regimen if its potential benefits are further explored.

From:news.asbestos.com

Mesothelioma sufferer pioneers new hope

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:43:35 +0000

Leigh Carlisle, a 27-year-old cancer sufferer who is pioneering new treatment for a deadly asbestos-related form of the illness, mesothelioma, is beginning to beat the disease.

Leigh, who is believed to be the country’s youngest sufferer, has been taking part in clinical trials at Manchester’s Christie Hospital.

Leigh may have contracted the disease after she took a short-cut through a Failsworth factory yard, where asbestos was cut, when she was a schoolgirl.

She may also have breathed in the fibres from clothes of a relative who worked there.

Leigh was diagnosed with the condition, which affects her abdomen, in 2006.

Her treatment includes a drug which knocks out a tumour’s resistance so chemotherapy has a better chance of working.

To Leigh’s delight, doctors told her last week that her lungs and stomach are clear of cancer cells, her lymph nodes have returned to near-normal and the tumours in her abdomen have broken down significantly.

Leigh said: “I was overjoyed at being told there had finally been a breakthrough with my clinical trial for Mesothelioma. I have been scared and often faced doubted that treatment wouldn’t prove effective, but my consultant and nursing team at ‘The Christie’ always provided optimism and great support. I know I have some way to go, but the news on my progress is fantastic and I’m looking forward to getting my energy back during my break from treatment now!”

Leigh’s solicitor, Geraldine Coombs, said to Rochdale Online: “I am really pleased for Leigh that she has had such good news about her cancer treatment. The results of the trial sound very exciting. Mesothelioma does not usually respond well to treatment and the trial may give hope to others suffering with mesothelioma. 2,000 people every year in this country are diagnosed with mesothelioma.

“Leigh has been through a very hard time with this illness. Despite that she has been working hard to raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos and raising money for cancer charities which is a great credit to her and does not surprise me having got to know Leigh.

“Asbestos is not a problem that is ‘in the past.’ People are still coming into contact with asbestos today around the world. The campaign in Rochdale to push for the risks of environmental contamination by asbestos is very important.”

Save Spodden Valley spokesman Jason Addy commented: “I met Leigh earlier this year. She is an incredible person with a positive outlook on life. To contract this illness at such a young age is a particularly cruel blow. I am sure many will join in our prayers and best wishes for her health.

“It is a stark reminder of how low levels of exposure to asbestos fibre may be so dangerous. That is why it is important that safe, open and accountable decisions are made about the former TBA site.

“Mesothelioma takes decades after exposure to asbestos before its symptoms are presented.

“The late Abdul Chowdry, T&N’s former Health & Safety manager, suggested on Radio 4 that disturbing soil on the TBA site could ‘unearth a monster’. That certainly was an emotive choice of language from the then serving UK Health and Safety Commissioner.

“As the Independent Atkins Report has acknowledged, there is huge potential for gross contamination of the site.

“We all owe a debt to future generations of Rochdalians to ensure that the Spodden Valley becomes a safe amenity for all.

“When you see Leigh and read about what she has faced this year, it really does bring it home to everyone in Rochdale how important it is to get things right in Spodden Valley.”

SOURCE

Health | Mesothelioma | Cancer » Cancer Treatment

All or nothing?

Related posts

10 in june part one: health

Related posts

When is it Over?

Related posts

dvd review: “visions for cancer recovery”

Related posts

Outcomes and Expectations

Related posts

Observations from the Scientist-Survivor Program at the AACRs 100th Annual Meeting

Related posts

My Kids

Related posts

Things we have in common….

Related posts

Can Vitamin D Help People with Mesothelioma?

Related posts

Mesothelioma sufferer pioneers new hope

Related posts