Cure Cancer!

Once again we are blessed with good news. Heather's tumor has not grown and the scar tissue is not as enhanced as before. Dr. Chang said, "This scan is the best I could hope for." We will take it!

For the first time I did not go to San Fransisco with Heather; Jon went instead. School has resumed and I had some meetings I should not miss - new technology that is generations ahead of me! Anyway, even though I knew she was safe with Jon and my sister, I wanted to be there. Once I was on speaker phone and heard Dr. Chang's message, all was good. Then I wanted to be there to help celebrate. Oh well. . .

The plan remains as last time: Temador through December. I am very nervous for her to go off Temador because things are going so well on it. In fact, she handled her tiredness better this time I think. She will see Dr. Chang in October, December, February, and then every three months instead of two if all goes well. That will be another adjustment for us.

In the meantime, we continue to pray for new advancements in treating this aggressive form of brain cancer. I know there are studies and trials all the time, but we need one that WORKS! So I'm thinking, a cure for ALL cancers would be awesome! Never settle, so let's go for the best.

Heather likes her new job and the people with whom she works. She is so lucky to have a job and to work with such a great group of doctors, nurses, and medical support staff. She feels at home.

Some other exciting news: Old Chicago (downtown) is sponsoring Monster Bash Thursday, October 29. Doors open at 6:30, $20 per person, appetizers, live band, costume contest, raffles, and silent auction - it should be tons of fun! In addition, instead of drink tickets this year, we are offering a special brew (made just for Monster Bash) and it will be free! Can't beat that offer. More information will be posted on the "events" link on the website soon. Old Chicago is preparing posters and t-shirts.

Other good news: "Wear Gray for a Day" on Friday, September 18. If your business would like to participate, let me know. LFAC will provide stickers to wear and raffle prizes for the office. Someone in Atlanta is promoting this same event, so it's our first step for a national effort. WEAR GRAY on September 18 and show your support for brain cancer awareness!

Again, we are so excited about Heather's report. She is fighting to win this war, and I think she will succeed. Have you tried to cross her before? I don't think even brain cancer wants to do that! Thank you for all your prayers; please keep them coming. I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe it is working for Heather. And as you are praying for her, please add Bob Sitzman to your list. He is currently fighting his battle with recurring lymphoma, and he needs the power of pray to work for him too. Pray for a cure for cancer.

In closing, I find a spark of hope in the following:

The different ways that patients respond to drugs make brain cancer hard to treat, but a new way to analyze brain tumors could help pinpoint which patients will benefit from a newly-approved drug.Bronnie McNabb underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy to fight brain tumors, but he always developed new ones. Since taking the new drug Avastin, however, his tumors are gone. "This is probably the best I have felt since this (cancer) first came on," McNabb said.

Although Avastin worked for McNabb, about half of patients with recurring cancer don't respond to it. A new way to analyze brain scans, developed by researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles, could help determine which tumors might respond to Avastin. Some glioblastoma tumors – the deadliest form of brain cancer – are more solid, while others contain more moving water, according to researchers' findings published in the July issue of Radiology.

"What we're looking at is the movement of water molecules within the tumor," explained Dr. Whitney Pope, director of radiology resident research at UCLA. "And what we've found is that tumors that have a lot of water molecules due to the death of cells within the tumor, those are tumors that respond well to Avastin."

Glioblastoma strikes about 12,000 Americans a year. When every day counts, knowing if tumors will respond to certain drugs is critical. "I've gone several months beyond what they told me would be my outside length of time to survive," McNabb said.

Researchers hope that one day they'll be able to tell exactly which tumors will respond to Avastin and other cancer-fighting drugs.