A Cure? HAWMC 20

Miracle  Cure.  Write  a  news-­‐style  article  on  a  miracle  cure. What's the cure? How do  you  get  the  cure?  Be  sure  to  include  a  disclaimer    ;) 

Many times in this blog I write about reading news media articles where they tout a cure for cancer. I stress how we should be savvy advocates and be able to separate the good news reporting from the bad. Thanks Gary Switzer, Health News Watchdog blog (http://www.healthnewsreview.org/blog/) for providing the steps for evaluating the health news articles we read. So it is a bit difficult for me to write this entry which is basically a bad news article. But no one said the prompts this month would be easy to do. 

Here is this totally fictional account of a cure for ovarian cancer. 

CURE Found for Ovarian Cancer

Ten years ago researchers at the Super Cancer Center  reported that they had developed a drug that killed ovarian cancer cells in mice. Ovarian Cancer is the most deadly gynecologic cancer. Researchers at the Center were able to develop the drug , RuiNA, that would disrupt the RNA of  epithelial ovarian cancer cells. Epithelial is the most common type of ovarian cancer. RNA is used during cell reproduction. By disrupting that RNA sequencing the cells are unable to replicate. Dr. Masters is please that not only did the drug work in mice  but in phase I, phase II and phase III clinical trials. 


More than 50% of the women in the phase III trial were diagnosed as stage IV patients (metastasized disease. ) of those 725 women , 700 were disease free within the first three months of treatment. 
RuiNA was taken daily in pill form by the women in the trial. The 200 mg pill costs  $2150 for a month of treatment and will be covered by insurance. RuiNA will be produced by Bristol- Merck beginning next year. This is a major step in the treatment of Ovarian Cancer. Work still remains in finding a screening test. 




Still part of me wishes this was true. 


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

Dinner Guests - HAWMC 19

5  Dinner  Guests.  ␣Who are five people you'd love to have dinner with (living or deceased)  and  why?

Well this is an interesting prompt. I'll give you the names of those I would love to meet in person. 

Walt Disney

Pope John Paul II

Cesar Milan

Rosalind Franklin

Werhner von Braun

Now here is why I chose these people and why they were the first ones to come to mind. 

Walt - I love Disney World and Disney animation. I also think he is a creative genius and would love to hear where his ideas came from.

Pope JPII- I have always respected how JPII was able to connect with so many people- young, old , from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. I also respected how he handled his suffering and pain during the later years of his life.

Cesar Milan- I am a dog lover and I have read Cesar's book. He has had an interesting life and would love to have him meet my dogs.

Rosalind Franklin- I would like to talk to her about her DNA research and how it was to be a female doing such ground-breaking research. I'd love to ask her what areas she would investigate now to find a screening test for ovarian cancer.

Werhner von Braun- Since grammar school I have loved science and space flight. I would like to hear how Werhner decided to study aeronautics and how he adjusted to living in the United States. 

It sure would be an interesting dinner. 

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

Feel the Pain...HAWMC 18

Open  a  Book.  Choose  a  book  and  open  it  to  a  random  page  and  point  to  a  phrase.   Use  that  phrase  to  get  you  writing  today.  Free  write  for  15-­‐20  without  stopping. 

This morning I picked up the book " Words of Wisdom for Women" by Rachel Snyder. My friend and I are always sharing books. Recently she gave me this book and said "This is not the type of book you sit and read it cover to cover. Just pick it up and read a passage. That is what I have been doing the past few weeks. 

This morning it opened to FEEL  - "Feel the pain , feel the joy , until you feel you will evaporate." 

Well on this cancer journey I must admit I have felt the pain. Emotional pain from hearing the words you have cancer and you need chemotherapy. Emotional pain from seeing your family and friends worry about you. Emotional pain from getting the phone call where your doctor says "I got the results of your CT back - we found two spots on your spleen and liver". Emotional pain from watching your hair fall out. Emotional pain from looking in the mirror and not recognizing who you are. Pain from worrying about a recurrence. 

And oh there is lots of physical pain too from the surgeries, from the neuropathy, from the Neulasta shots, scalp pain from loosing your hair and pain getting up out of bed. 


But there is Joy in hearing "There is no evidence of disease". Joy in the first day you go out without a scarf or wig. Joy when you stay awake all day!  And of course Joy in  experiencing the special occasions you never thought you would experience- a daughter's weddings, a son's graduation, the birth of a grandson and trips to places you always wanted to visit ( loved Switzerland and Alaska) . And of course the Joy of time.


I hope you find lots of Joy today!


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

I Finally learned to Say No - HAWMC

HAWMC 16 Learned  the  Hard  Way - What is a lesson you learned the hard way. Write about it for 15  today. 

The lesson that took me the longest to learn was how to say No. It was not until I was diagnosed with cancer did I really learn to say No! 

Sure I would try to say no before that but it really didn't take much to twist my arm to get me to volunteer for something. So tell me what a good job I would do or that no one else volunteered and our kids wouldn't have a troop and I caved. So I was a girl scout leader, a CCD teacher, sang in the choir, chaired a Middle States Accreditation committee, took on an extra class and taught a class on internet safety to parents. Now don't get me wrong, those were not bad things to volunteer for but at the time it really did add stress and took time away from my family. 

But once I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and the future was so unsure, time with family and friends became more important.  It was easier to say NO when I did not know if I would be physically able to help out. I began volunteering for things I was really interested. And  in the process learned more about myself. I still volunteer and have still had my arm twisted once or twice. And by really loving the things I volunteer for makes me a more dedicated volunteer. 

And you know what I am actually considering singing in the choir again at my new church. La la la....

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

I Agree with the USPSTF

The US Preventative Services Task Force is updating its Screening for Ovarian Cancer document. See the complete document here. The recommendation follows.

" The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against routine screening for ovarian cancer. 
Grade: D Recommendation.

D—Not Recommended: The USPSTF recommends against routinely providing [the service] to asymptomatic patients. The USPSTF found at least fair evidence that [the service] is ineffective or that harms outweigh benefits." 

They have posted a great info sheet so women can better understand the conclusion they have reached. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf12/ovarian/ovarcancerfact.pdf

The Task Force does not believe that the general population should receive a routine CA-125 blood test or an ultrasound( transabdominal or transvaginal) as screening for ovarian cancer.

Why did they make this recommendation?

• Routine screening with CA-125 and Ultrasound does not reduce deaths from Ovarian Cancer
• The task force is moderately certain that harms from screening ( surgery etc) outweigh the benefits

NOTE: The recommendation does not apply to those at risk- women with BRCA mutations or women with a history of ovarian cancer in their  family.

The decision to not recommend screening asymptomatic women was not made in a void. The document is based on the results of large studies.

1. The Prostate Lung colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening trial had 78,000 participants. (I wrote about this trial last June after hearing results at the ASCO meeting. )There was no difference between the stage of diagnosis or number of deaths from ovarian cancer in the screened group vs the non-screened group.    Buys SS, Partridge E, Black A, et al. Effect of screening on ovarian cancer mortality: the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA.2011;305(22):2295-303.
2. The ongoing UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening preliminary results show that l ess than 1% of the women had surgery after the screening process. Of the 16 women who underwent surgery , 11 had false positives ( no cancer was found) . There were a number of women who had complications from the surgery . Menon U, Gentry-Maharaj A, Hallett R, et al. Sensitivity and specificity of multimodal and ultrasound screening for ovarian cancer, and stage distribution of detected cancers: results of the prevalence screen of the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS). Lancet Oncol. 2009;10(4):327-40.

One thing I learned last year as a Focus on Research Scholar was that a biomarker/ screening test must be specific and sensitive. The CA-125 is not specific ( it can be high from other cancers and gastrointestinal illnesses) nor is it sensitive enough that the cancer may be detected in early  stages.  

This article by Dr Otis Brawley discusses the recommendation and  why we need a screening test for ovarian cancer.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/13/health/ovarian-cancer-test-brawley/index.html

I know many women will not agree with this recommendation but as a scientist and a survivor whose CA-125 was normal on recurrence , I agree with the conclusion drawn by this Task Force.

Now let us get to work and fund the research to find a better, specific and sensitive screening test for Ovarian Cancer!

Dee

 Every Day is a Blessing!

Do I have a writing style? HAWMC #15

  Writing  with  Style. What is your style ? Do your words flow from your mind to  your  fingertips?  Do  you  like  handwriting  first?  Do  you  plan  your  posts?  Title  first   or  last?  Where  do  you  write  best? 

Writing style ? I don't know I've not really thought about it. Do I need a writing style? I am not a professional writer. I am more of a scientific writer rather than  one who writes flowery creative pieces. When I took English Comp in college the professor would hand back my assignments and say "Add words, make it more descriptive". That is not me though. I guess I try to look for the most concise way to say what I want to say. 

I do think for some time about what I will write about. Sometimes I write about my experiences , sometimes I write about how I feel, sometimes I write a commentary on something I have read, seen or done  and sometimes I just read research articles and then try to relay them to my readers in easy to understand terms. 

Then I start writing. I don't usually have a title before I write. Probably 99% of the time I write the post and then come up with the title. I don't think I write catchy titles like some of my blogger friends. Wish I could do that sometimes. 

I now love writing posts on my computer while sitting in my new mission style chair in the sun room of my home. I can pause , look at the ducks in the pond, birds in the trees and flowers in bloom.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

Dream Day HAWMC 14

My  Dream  Day.  Describe  your  ideal  day.  How  would  you  spend  your  time?  Who   would  you  spend  it  with?  Have  you  had  this  day?  If  not  ␣  how  could  you  make  it   happen? 


This is a tougher prompt to respond to then I thought it would be. I can't seem to make up my mind. The only thing I was certain about was that all these dream days would be with Nick . Why? Because when I experience things without him it just does not have the same feelings. 


So far my dream day could be spent in


Alaska- Trip to Denali - did this 
Alaska- Horseback riding - did this
Rome - Vatican - did this
Hawaii - Big Island Kilauea volcano- did this
Hawaii - Perfect evening sunset on the beach and the star filled night- did this 
California- San Francisco , golden gate and seals - did this


Wyoming - Yellowstone National Park - tour just looking at the mountains- on my bucket list 
Australia - Sydney a city tour and evening beach -on my bucket list
England - London and Stonehenge - on my bucket list


Kansas - Manhattan Visiting Theresa , Andy and John - have done this but would love to do it over and over 


See how hard it is to narrow it down? I would love to redo some things I've experienced already and would love to have some new experiences. 


So how about I just decide that my Dream Day would be any day where I can be outside in the sun preferably the mountains by a lake would be great. I love nature and the wonderful colors  you find in the great outdoors. Of course Nick, Terry ,Andy, Matt and John would be there too.  No computers allowed!


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!