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A Bad Week for Health, My Friends
The older you become, the more likely you will have to deal with health problems, not only your own, but those of your close friends and relatives.
Last year, it was a friend's wife with lymphoma and my sister-in-law with breast cancer. This week, one of my best friends was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer. And, yesterday, one of our closest friends was rushed to the hospital when he could no longer speak. Later in the ER, a CT revealed the cause. He had a brain tumor.
Prostate Cancer
Bob has been my friend since college. We met in line since our school felt it necessary that everyone stand in alphabetical order for various functions. Both of our last names began with "M". We were even assigned dorm rooms in alphabetical order, so he lived two doors down the hall. His major was music, and he could really blow the saxophone, plus play the piano and sing. It didn't take us long to join forces with his roommate Danny (now a Baptist minister in the Midwest) before we had a singing trio - the "A-Courtians". The name originated from the fact that we lived in a dorm called A-Court. For the next several years, the A-Courtians would sing for assemblies and a few gigs for the Office of Admissions.
We were both from Pennsylvania and now, over thirty years later, we both live in California. Of course, I pursued a medical career; Bob used his music background to prepare him for a very successful career owning a pump company. After years of losing touch living our separate lives, we found each other's friendship again. We only get together one or two times per year. That is about all my splitting sides can take, since it is a non-stop laugh fest.
Bob's doctor has been monitoring his PSA levels - an indicator of troublesome prostate activity - for a few years. Sometimes the level was elevated; other times, it would go back in the normal range. It was never at the point where his doctor felt further investigation was needed; until recently, that is. His doctor decided it would be a good idea to do a prostate biopsy, in the office, without any anesthesia. This, of course, would never be something that I would agree to. I am personally at the point where I want anesthesia for a hair cut. Bob agreed to this transrectal procedure, telling me it was the most painful thing he has ever experienced - even worse than the time I hit him in the head with an entire sheet of plywood. A complication quickly developed when the surgeon hit a bleeder - an artery. Bob was rushed from his urologist's office to the hospital, losing about three pints of blood in the process. Having cheated death, Bob felt that he deserved to have the biopsy be negative for cancer. Unfortunately, it was not. Although I do not know the details of my friend's case, Bob tells me that it is a particularly aggressive type.
Aggressive types of cancer require aggressive treatments in my opinion. I insisted that he contact the best oncologist in the area. He was particularly fond of the oncologist that took care of his life-partner's lung cancer several years ago. I told him to make that call. Cancer treatment has made leaps and bounds over the years, and newer, more effective therapies orchestrate actual cures, not just palliative treatments. In the experienced hands of a good oncologist, I expect to be laughing and singing with my friend for decades to come.
Brain Tumor
It started with a phone call from George's wife.
"I think George had a stroke. I gave him three baby aspirins. Should I take him to the hospital?"
"Get off of the phone NOW. Call 911."
The paramedics arrived promptly and the stroke team at the ER was waiting for him. Prompt anti-clot treatment is critical; minutes or even seconds can determine outcome. However, George was not having a stroke.
George is a retired professor of anthropology. He speaks about four languages and has traveled and lived and lectured in many parts of the world, from Iceland to Pakistan. As a connoisseur of all foods ethnic, he was preparing a chicken dish for a lunch. He came up to his wife and started to talk. Instead of the usual rhetoric of a learned scholar, what came out of his mouth was gibberish. George thought he was communicating, but the words were not words at all - they were not words in any of his four languages either. They were aphasic words from a damaged brain.
A CT scan revealed the source of George's sudden loss of speech, and subsequent seizures. Silently, a tumor had been growing in the left side of his brain. Was it a cancer? Was it a metastatic tumor from a cancer somewhere else in his body? At this point, we do not have those critical answers.
Throughout the day, George was having periods of normal communication, followed by odd periods where he was speaking in tongues unknown. The hospital's only neurosurgeon met with him this morning and he is scheduled for surgery in two days. We will keep you posted.
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Last year, it was a friend's wife with lymphoma and my sister-in-law with breast cancer. This week, one of my best friends was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer. And, yesterday, one of our closest friends was rushed to the hospital when he could no longer speak. Later in the ER, a CT revealed the cause. He had a brain tumor.
Prostate Cancer
Bob has been my friend since college. We met in line since our school felt it necessary that everyone stand in alphabetical order for various functions. Both of our last names began with "M". We were even assigned dorm rooms in alphabetical order, so he lived two doors down the hall. His major was music, and he could really blow the saxophone, plus play the piano and sing. It didn't take us long to join forces with his roommate Danny (now a Baptist minister in the Midwest) before we had a singing trio - the "A-Courtians". The name originated from the fact that we lived in a dorm called A-Court. For the next several years, the A-Courtians would sing for assemblies and a few gigs for the Office of Admissions.
We were both from Pennsylvania and now, over thirty years later, we both live in California. Of course, I pursued a medical career; Bob used his music background to prepare him for a very successful career owning a pump company. After years of losing touch living our separate lives, we found each other's friendship again. We only get together one or two times per year. That is about all my splitting sides can take, since it is a non-stop laugh fest.
Bob's doctor has been monitoring his PSA levels - an indicator of troublesome prostate activity - for a few years. Sometimes the level was elevated; other times, it would go back in the normal range. It was never at the point where his doctor felt further investigation was needed; until recently, that is. His doctor decided it would be a good idea to do a prostate biopsy, in the office, without any anesthesia. This, of course, would never be something that I would agree to. I am personally at the point where I want anesthesia for a hair cut. Bob agreed to this transrectal procedure, telling me it was the most painful thing he has ever experienced - even worse than the time I hit him in the head with an entire sheet of plywood. A complication quickly developed when the surgeon hit a bleeder - an artery. Bob was rushed from his urologist's office to the hospital, losing about three pints of blood in the process. Having cheated death, Bob felt that he deserved to have the biopsy be negative for cancer. Unfortunately, it was not. Although I do not know the details of my friend's case, Bob tells me that it is a particularly aggressive type.
Aggressive types of cancer require aggressive treatments in my opinion. I insisted that he contact the best oncologist in the area. He was particularly fond of the oncologist that took care of his life-partner's lung cancer several years ago. I told him to make that call. Cancer treatment has made leaps and bounds over the years, and newer, more effective therapies orchestrate actual cures, not just palliative treatments. In the experienced hands of a good oncologist, I expect to be laughing and singing with my friend for decades to come.
Brain Tumor
It started with a phone call from George's wife.
"I think George had a stroke. I gave him three baby aspirins. Should I take him to the hospital?"
"Get off of the phone NOW. Call 911."
The paramedics arrived promptly and the stroke team at the ER was waiting for him. Prompt anti-clot treatment is critical; minutes or even seconds can determine outcome. However, George was not having a stroke.
George is a retired professor of anthropology. He speaks about four languages and has traveled and lived and lectured in many parts of the world, from Iceland to Pakistan. As a connoisseur of all foods ethnic, he was preparing a chicken dish for a lunch. He came up to his wife and started to talk. Instead of the usual rhetoric of a learned scholar, what came out of his mouth was gibberish. George thought he was communicating, but the words were not words at all - they were not words in any of his four languages either. They were aphasic words from a damaged brain.
A CT scan revealed the source of George's sudden loss of speech, and subsequent seizures. Silently, a tumor had been growing in the left side of his brain. Was it a cancer? Was it a metastatic tumor from a cancer somewhere else in his body? At this point, we do not have those critical answers.
Throughout the day, George was having periods of normal communication, followed by odd periods where he was speaking in tongues unknown. The hospital's only neurosurgeon met with him this morning and he is scheduled for surgery in two days. We will keep you posted.
Related Topics:
- Cancer Support: Tips for Family and Friends
- Ear, Nose & Throat Message Board with Rod Moser, PA, PhD
- Living Better Newsletter - Wellness news to keep you healthy and strong!
Labels: friends, health and wellness, prostate cancer, stroke
3 Comments:
Cancer touches all of us so often - you hear stories everyday. But, that doesn't make it any easier. I hope the best for your friend.
Christa
AN UPDATE:
My friend had five hours of brain surgery yesterday. The biopsy revealed a particularly aggressive glioma - a malignancy. The tumor was removed in total and his spirit and sense of humor has not changed. The family is doing just "okay". Radiation treatments and many more health challenges are to follow, I am sure.
Thank you all for caring. Friends are good medicine.
HEre is an excellent resource for brain cancer...
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/brain_cancer/article_em.htm
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