plus 4, Teresa Heinz Says She's Fighting Breast Cancer - ABC News |
- Teresa Heinz Says She's Fighting Breast Cancer - ABC News
- Robotic Surgery Expert Dr. David Samadi, MD Discusses Recent Study ... - Yahoo Finance
- Teresa Heinz Says She’s Fighting Breast Cancer - WBUR
- Cancer patient who defies odds gives back to Phoenix Children's ... - AZCentral.com
- Rita Brial LaGow - Half Moon Bay Review
| Teresa Heinz Says She's Fighting Breast Cancer - ABC News Posted: 23 Dec 2009 11:34 AM PST Teresa Heinz says she is being treated for breast cancer discovered through mammography and argues that younger women should continue undergoing the tests despite a federal panel's recent recommendation to reduce their frequency. The 71-year-old wife of the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, told The Associated Press that the cost of mammography is far lower than the physical and personal tolls women ages 40 to 60 face if their cancer goes undetected early and they later have to be treated with aggressive chemotherapy. "Chemotherapy is serious. It also costs a lot of money. It's very painful. And it's very destructive of people's — most people's — lives for a while, anyway. So why put people through that instead of just having a test that's done, and it's done?" Heinz told the AP during an interview this week. "So that's why I was so upset about that decision of this panel." She recalled nurses in a hospital where she was receiving a magnetic resonance imaging procedure, or MRI, being "so livid" when they heard the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend last month that women start receiving mammograms at age 50, rather than the long-standing practice of 40. "They said, 'We've taken all these years to teach women to do preventive mammograms, and now look at this,'" Heinz said. President Barack Obama's administration later backed off the recommendation amid criticism from many medical and women's groups. It said the government's policies "remain unchanged." Kerry helped launch Obama on the national political stage by giving the then-Illinois senator the keynote speaking role at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Heinz — the widow of Sen. John Heinz, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune — said she found out in late September that she had cancer in her left breast after having her annual mammogram. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Robotic Surgery Expert Dr. David Samadi, MD Discusses Recent Study ... - Yahoo Finance Posted: 23 Dec 2009 11:06 AM PST NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - 12/23/09) - On the heels of the American Cancer Society's recent controversial response to breast and prostate cancer screenings guidelines, a new study from the Mayo Clinic has emerged analyzing the correlation between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and prostate size. The study discovered that routine annual evaluation of prostate growth does not predict the development of prostate cancer. The study also suggests that a rapidly rising PSA level should automatically prompt a biopsy to determine the possibility of prostate cancer. Dr. David B. Samadi, Chief of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, agrees. To date, Dr. Samadi has performed over 2,100 robotic prostatectomy procedures, making him one of the most experienced prostate cancer surgeons in the world. He believes that the change in prostate size should not determine the decision to biopsy the gland for cancer. "It's the rising, or rapidly fluctuation PSA level, among other indicators, that should prompt the decision to investigate the possibility of cancer further," stated Dr. Samadi. The study, based on data in the Olmsted County Study of Urinary Health Status among Men, followed the prostate examinations of 616 men between the ages of 40 and 79, who did not have prostate disease, every two years for 17 years. Out of the study group, 9.4 percent of the subjects developed prostate cancer. Those who were diagnosed had a faster rise in PSA levels, at an increase of 6 percent per year. Those who were not diagnosed with cancer only experienced an increase of 3.3 percent per year. Interestingly, the increase in prostate size was similar between these two groups, with a change of 2.2 percent per year. "What the study seems to demonstrate is that there is no relationship between the growth rate of the prostate and the rise in PSA levels," concluded Dr. Samadi. However, the study indicated that a rising PSA level alone prompted the need for a biopsy to determine the likelihood of cancer. "Of course rising PSA levels are a great concern, but the amount of fluctuation between the numbers is what I look for when determining the need for a biopsy in my patients," said Dr. Samadi. Dr. Samadi, an experienced oncologist and robotic surgeon, takes into account not only three sets of recent PSA screenings, but also a digital rectal exam (DRE) and Gleason scores (which classifies the stage and grade of prostate cancer). The disease progresses differently in every patient. Therefore, these three numbers, factored in with age and family history, are what give Samadi a clearer picture of what kind, stage, level and progression of prostate cancer he is dealing with. Additionally, the study followed the subjects on their prostate exams every two years. "It's no surprise that a PSA level should rise so high in two years, which is why I use a variation of testing factors to determine a baseline for fluctuations, as well as recommending screenings annually, sometimes bi-annually for patients with high risk factors," said Dr. Samadi. This method appears to be upheld in another recent international study by the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. The findings showed that patients who had undergone radiotherapy and experienced a rapid PSA level rise within 18 months were more likely to die from the disease. Early PSA failure predicted more than a 25 percent decline in five-year survival rate of the group compared with failure after 18 months. In a separate analysis for this particular study group, the time to PSA failure overrode Gleason score, tumor stage, age and PSA doubling time as a predictor of mortality. Even though the study group had been diagnosed with cancer and treated with radiotherapy, the findings indicated that it is not advisable to wait until the PSA rises or other clinical evidence manifests itself. Initiating treatment sooner without waiting for other signs or symptoms of prostate cancer is the best course of action. "The take-away message for both of these studies is first that PSA levels and prostate growth rates work independently of each other, and second that the length of time that PSA levels are not actively monitored, and allowed to fluctuate and rise, can deeply impact mortality," concluded Dr. Samadi. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1142610 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Teresa Heinz Says She’s Fighting Breast Cancer - WBUR Posted: 23 Dec 2009 12:17 PM PST BOSTON — Sen. John Kerry's wife is being treated for breast cancer. The 71-year-old said she was diagnosed in September after her annual mammogram. She had lumpectomies on both breasts in October, and again at Massachusetts General Hospital in November. Heinz is urging younger women to continue to get mammograms — contrary to new guidelines that recommend less frequent testing for women under 50. Heinz said she will receive radiation treatments next month. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Cancer patient who defies odds gives back to Phoenix Children's ... - AZCentral.com Posted: 23 Dec 2009 11:20 AM PST Every Christmas Eve, Rosie Garcia marks the anniversary of the day she got a second chance at life. It was Dec. 24, 2005, when Dr. Kim Manwaring, a neurosurgeon at Phoenix Children's Hospital, removed most of two golf-ball-sized tumors from the Mesa girl's brain. Nine months earlier, her mother, Jackie, collapsed when she learned the reason why her active 15-year-old daughter was having severe headaches. "I said, 'This shouldn't be happening to her. It should be happening to me,' " said Jackie Garcia, herself a stage-three breast-cancer survivor. " 'Don't give it to her, give it to me.' " Manwaring was able to remove 80 percent of the tumors. "I got my Christmas miracle," said Rosie, now 19. "Christmas to me means that I got a second chance at life." After her surgery, Rosie stayed at the hospital for eight months. She was sent home in August 2006, but it wasn't because she was cured. With 20 percent of the tumor still on Rosie's brain, her future remains perilous. Doctors told Jackie Garcia initially that her daughter probably had two months to live. They recommended hospice care. Instead, Rosie confounded her doctors, taking on the disease with an optimistic attitude. Dr. Michael Etzl, a pediatric oncologist and director of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, is just as surprised by Rosie's survival. He said Rosie's cancer is unpredictable and her condition is terminal. Although pediatric cancer patients often have better odds than adults, the location of Rosie's tumors made it impossible to remove them entirely. "It's really unexpected that she's alive," Etzl said, praising the support of her family. "She's a great kid. Her parents have given her a great quality of life." Chemotherapy also stopped the cancer from progressing, Etzl said. "I'm going to live my life day to day. I don't take anything for granted," Rosie said. "I'll be a guinea pig for anybody." Rosie wasn't always so optimistic and accepting. Before her diagnosis, she acknowledges she was a moody 15-year-old and often depressed. But she also ran track and field at Mesa High School and never got in trouble, so Jackie just hoped Rosie was going through a phase. Doctors found the tumors while trying to learn why Rosie had bad headaches. "I wanted to finish high school and college and be a veterinarian," said Rosie, who loves animals. But four years after her surgery, Rosie said, "I just want to make it through life and help someone in the future." She's already doing that. This year, Rosie was chosen as one of eight patients to design Christmas cards that are sold each year to raise money for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Each year, the Christmas card program raises $200,000 to $250,000. The card sales have added up to $5 million to $8 million in donations during the past 23 years, said Elaine Falkner, development coordinator for the art project. The money sends children like Rosie to Camp Rainbow in Prescott every summer, assists the families of cancer patients and funds research, she said. But revenues are down about $15,000 this year because of the financial setbacks experienced by Bashas' supermarkets, a founding sponsor. The cards are sold at Bashas' stores. Falkner tried something different this year by having the children decorate sugar cookies donated by Bashas'. Rosie designed the "Baby Reindeer" cookie. "It made me feel special, that I could help the kids," Rosie said. Her focus on others is even more remarkable when you consider what the future holds. The family's house along Mesa Drive is in foreclosure due to crushing medical bills. Rosie's father, Robert, once a truck driver for a construction company, just lost his job. In addition to the financial worries, doctors are recommending Rosie stop the chemotherapy she has been receiving for two years. Her family worries the cancer will spread. But Etzl said each case is different, and there is a risk of the chemotherapy could induce an unintended secondary cancer, such as leukemia, that could prove fatal. Any change in treatment causes stress because Rosie and her family have watched as fellow patients have died. "When someone dies, you feel sad, but it eats at you. You're glad it's not her," Jackie Garcia said. "You know the inevitable. That's the hardest thing for me, not knowing when." For now, Jackie is grateful for every day with her daughter. "All I want for Christmas is her, that she's happy and healthy," she said. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Rita Brial LaGow - Half Moon Bay Review Posted: 23 Dec 2009 11:34 AM PST
Rita Brial LaGow October 16, 1923 – December 3, 2009 Rita was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 16, 1923, and graduated from South High School in Columbus and continued her formal education at Capitol University in Columbus. During World War II she volunteered as a Red Cross Nurse's Aid and in 1943 she left Columbus for Washington D.C., continuing her education at George Washington University. She again volunteered at Gallenger Hospital in Washington, earning the Army and Navy "E" for Excellence. Rita also volunteered at the Lutheran Service Center befriending servicemen. Her aversion to war came early, as her fiancé perished during the Second World War. She abhorred war all her life, and was actively involved in organizing protests against it during the Vietnam years, while always in support of our troops sent to war. She also tried to obtain housing for the Martin Luther King's Poor People's March from the Silver Spring, Md., churches, to no avail. Rita met her husband Herman LaGow, an officer in the Navy, while working at the Naval Research Laboratory. They raised six children together. Herman worked for the National Space Agency, and Rita volunteered as a nurse's aide at the Alexandria, Virginia Hospital. Rita was instrumental in establishing the Washington D.C. chapter for the American Field Service, and for two summers hosted the D.C. bus stop for students. On the day the Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Rita had busloads of students from 58 different countries at her home. She also took in children who were wards of the Montgomery County Maryland Court System until their cases were resolved (a very difficult period in her life). After Rita's children were grown, she worked for the Washington Mutual Life Insurance Company, and then for Dr. Charles Townsend. During this time she continued to reach out to others by volunteering at AIDS clinics. Rita moved from Washington D.C. at age 73, answering the call to come to live in Loma Mar and help her youngest son Andy and her daughter-in-law Susan with their youngest child, Taylor, born with a mitochondrial disease, and who required round-the-clock care. She loved California and spent her last 13 years learning about and enjoying the many wonders of the South Coast of Northern California. Rita is survived by her husband Herman LaGow. She was one of five Brial sisters, and is predeceased by Lois Shupert and Ruth Reedy and survived by Carol Morgan and Barbara Bowers of the Columbus, Ohio, area. She is predeceased by two of her sons, Roger and Peter, and survived by her son Andy of Loma Mar, Calif., and three daughters Joanna Reynolds of Incline Village, Nevada, Karen Sheplee of Columbia, Md., and Lynn Walker of Kailua, Hawaii. She has 15 grandchildren, and is predeceased by her heart of her heart, Taylor Ann LaGow. She has 11 great grandchildren and predeceased by a tiny little Lily. Rita died at her home in Loma Mar, surrounded by her loved ones as a result of metastasized breast cancer. She lived a remarkable life, filled with social awareness and an open door attitude. She enjoyed showing the world and all it has to offer to everyone she met, often with a nudge of encouragement to be involved. We encourage everyone to plant a butterfly bush in her memory, or if you wish to give a gift in Rita's honor, please support our local non-profit that helps create educational, recreational and cultural opportunities for youth in our community, to carry on Rita's passion after she is gone. The address is: South Coast Children's Services, P.O. Box 525 Pescadero, Ca 94060 Copyright © 2009 Half Moon Bay Review Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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