Cure -- Word for the Day -- Tuesday, November 3, 2009

CURE

Definition: recovery or relief from a disease; something (as a drug or treatment) that cures a disease; a course or period of treatment; a complete or permanent solution or remedy

I keep looking for the word - Cure

UAMS myeloma program gets cash

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ myeloma program is getting $19.5 million in federal research money over the next five years to continue its research into the causes of the cancer and develop new treatments.

This is the fourth time the UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy has gotten the five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The last grant, for $17.9 million, was awarded in 2004 and ended in June. The institute competes with research programs around the country for the funding.

“It’s very highly competitive,” said Dr. Elias Anaissie, professor of medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine and director of supportive care at the Myeloma Institute.

Myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, a type of white blood cell most commonly found in bone marrow. Myeloma affects a person’s ability to form new bone tissue.

Seventy-five percent of patients diagnosed with the cancer have symptoms such as bone pain in the back, pelvis, skull and long bones such as the thigh bone.

Ongoing research at the Little Rock institute examines development and progress of the disease and new individualized treatments.

“This grant enables us to focus all efforts toward the common goal of controlling and defeating multiple myeloma,” institute Director Dr. Bart Barlogie, a UAMS professor of medicine and pathology, said in a statement.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 20,580 new cases of multiple myeloma will be diagnosed this year, including 11,680 men and 8,900 women. An estimated 10,580 Americans died of the disease last year.

The Myeloma Institute, founded in 1989 by Barlogie, is part of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

Since then, it has grown into one of the world’s largest centers for treatment and research into the disease, attracting patients from around the globe, Anaissie said. More than 2,250 patients are treated there each year.

Institute researchers have developed new treatment methods that they say are showing positive results. The median survival rate of patients at the institute is eight years, according to a UAMS news releaseWednesday. By comparison, the median survival rate of myeloma patients nationwide is about four years.

The five-year survival rate of patients at the UAMS institute is about 65 percent, compared with a 34 percent five-year survival rate nationwide, the institute says.

One study at the center, called Total Therapy 4, looks at tailoring treatment to patients based on the aggressiveness of their cancers.

UAMS researchers look at patients’ molecular genetics and categorize them as low-risk or high-risk depending on how quickly the cancer spreads and how well they’re predicted to respond to treatment.

“We basically do a riskadjusted treatment strategy,” Anaissie said.

Some patients are given smaller doses of chemotherapy but at more frequent intervals to reduce side effects while maintaining the treatment’s effectiveness.

“We’re looking at can we possibly achieve the same results but cut down the toxicity,” he said.

In a new study, researchers are examining whether a type of cell called a “natural killer cell” can be transplanted from a healthy person to a myeloma patient to help kill tumor cells.

Other studies are looking at the genetics of the disease and how myeloma cells grow and interact with other cells. Such data would give researchers valuable information that could lead to new treatments, Anaissie said.

“The overall theme is to try to understand the growth of multiple myeloma and the interaction of these cells within the environment in which they operate,” he said.

Hope -- Word for the Day -- Thursday, October 15, 2009

Hope

Definition: 1 archaic : trust, reliance
2 a : desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment came in hopes of seeing you; also: expectation of fulfillment or success no hope of a cure b: someone or something on which hopes are centered c: something hoped for

I have hoped all week for the words to write and the opportune time to write them. It has come. ChemoSabe has travelled a lot this week. That is good because I haven't been a good companion. I have cried much of the week and have been having my own "Pity Party". Haven't really shared the reason.

Last year, this week, was when we were faced with my mom being in hospice. We were told she had about two days. We prayed she wouldn't pass on my younger brother's birthday, which is the 18th. Today, also, is when his wife was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. She had brain surgery a year ago today. He lost his best friend on Valentine's Day (mom) and lost his most precious friend of 36 years in May on her 52th birthday (Sharon).

We have grown. We have laughed. We have endured. Then this week came around. We have cried.

ChemoSabe got home around 8:00 p.m. from Mississippi. Just in time to watch Grey's Anatomy with me and The Mentalist. We spoke about his day and he told me he wanted to share a miracle with me.

He has a client that has a five year old grandson. This young boy has grand mal seizures and has for a couple of years. It has caused him difficulty in school with friends, grades, etc. One night last week when he went to bed he asked his mother when the angels were coming back. Obviously she was confused and asked him more questions. He told her the angels came and rubbed all over his head the night before and it felt very good.

Since that evening, he has had no more seizures and the doctors cannot explain why. Isn't that a fabulous miracle? A miracle of hope for a young child and his experience with angels. Suddenly, my Pity Party didn't seem so important.

ChemoSabe is asleep. I hear him lightly snoring. All week I have had to push myself to keep the hope I have in my heart. To be able to focus on our lives down the road. I have found myself stepping away from him and losing my closeness because I'm afraid something will happen suddenly that will bring his health down again. I am selfish. I don't want to be hurt like that again.

BUT --- isn't it he that would be hurt. To have built that hope up and some little bug or something makes it come crashing down. He gives me strength. Strength through watching him work, do the things he enjoys doing (except mowing and weedeating). He continues on like live hasn't changed. And, I keep looking back wanting things the way they use to be.

Guess I am going to have to make a date with him to take me dancing. That is a way for us to get close... Whenever we were bored, had a spat, or just needed to rejuvenate, we would go out to dance.. We are the best on the floor... Yep -- that will be my hope. That we can find a safe decent place to do that.

We are on the two weeks off and will be back on the steroids and Velcade shots week after next.

Please pray for my brothers and me this week that we get over this sad hump. Everyone goes through it with a lost loved one, but we never have. If I could just touch her hand one more time.

When ChemoSabe came to bed he said, "You know, Millie watched over me today." That is what he called my mom. I have our two computer's screensavers set up with photos I have taken... There are loads. So when either computer is idle it takes you through our albums. He said when he sat down at his desk in our spare room this morning, there she sat waiting for him. He knew then she would be with him all day.

Good night and Love -- Pepper Keep your hopes up.