My buddy's wife has brain cancer.

[RJman]

Sorry to read this.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

She's 27 or 28 years old. Pretty. Has two kids, one of whom is going to need careful explaining to. Tragic.
I'm so sorry to hear this.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Bradford

Brain cancer is nasty. Had a couple of friends who lost their fathers that way. Once the diagnosis is made, events tend to go fast.

I lost a good friend a few months ago to brain cancer. She was diagnosed in February and left us in July.

 

[NorCal]

Sorry to hear that Slim, prayers and best wishes to her and her family.

 

[imageWIS]

That's horrible

. This chick I know (nowhere as well as you know your buddy's wife), has had Leukemia since she was 14 and she relapsed again recently, and it's been getting worse.

 

[wmmk]

Sorry to hear that. I'm no medical expert, but a friend of mine from school had [what I understand to have been] a similar tumor and the doctors were able to remove it almost completely. She's doing well now.

 

[Night Owl]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

My friend Ryan's wife Heather was just diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme. Two seperate tumors. I hear the median survival rate with treatment is something like 15 months. Incredibly sad news. I was pretty close friends with both of them, sort of drifted out of touch a bit, and got an email today out of the blue. She's going through chemo and the works, and her hair is falling out, blah blah blah.

Not sure what I expect any of you to do, but hey, maybe there's a brilliant brain surgeon trolling SF looking for a charity case.

do they know youre sharing their private biz online, what do you want some indirect pity? i dont get these type of threads at all

 

[hopkins_student]

Originally Posted by wmmk

Sorry to hear that. I'm no medical expert, but a friend of mine from school had [what I understand to have been] a similar tumor and the doctors were able to remove it almost completely. She's doing well now.
Unfortunately, the nature of GBM is such that it spreads into the brain beyond the visible margins, making complete resection essentially impossible.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Night Owl

do they know youre sharing their private biz online, what do you want some indirect pity? i dont get these type of threads at all

So you chose to be an asshole and post in it?

 

[Pennglock]

I lost an uncle to this type of thing, young but nothing as bad as 28.

The thing to realize about certain nasty cancers is knowing when to fight it and when not to put yourself and your family through tremendous pain by undergoing experimental treatments with extremely poor prognosis. Doctors are often the last people to tell you that the oncology units at the top hospitals aren't much more than human trial labs... I doubt it's your place to influence the decision, Slim, Ive seen families make poor decisions and thought I'd throw my opinion out there.

Originally Posted by Night Owl

do they know youre sharing their private biz online, what do you want some indirect pity? i dont get these type of threads at all

To commiserate, share stories, information, etc. Pretty typical human interaction, no? Same principle as the clothing forum, different topic.

 

[wmmk]

Originally Posted by hopkins_student

Unfortunately, the nature of GBM is such that it spreads into the brain beyond the visible margins, making complete resection essentially impossible.

Gotcha. My friend must've had something different, then.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Night Owl

do they know youre sharing their private biz online,

If they were keeping it a secret, they wouldn't have sent out a mass-email and set up an open online journal detailing her treatment and physical condition. Maybe that's a poor assumption to make, but I made it anyways.

what do you want some indirect pity? i dont get these type of threads at all

Maybe its one of the ways that people sort **** out. You know, talking to other people about it?

 

[hopkins_student]

Originally Posted by Pennglock

The thing to realize about certain nasty cancers is knowing when to fight it and when not to put yourself and your family through tremendous pain by undergoing experimental treatments with extremely poor prognosis. Doctors are often the last people to tell you that the oncology units at the top hospitals aren't much more than human trial labs.
+1 mostly. I don't know any attending neurosurgeons who aim for a cure in GBM. Everyone knows that operating on a GBM is a palliative procedure aimed mostly at relief of symptoms and so they won't set up unfair expectations. But, I'd also say that offering participation in clinical trials has its place, if only to allow patients the opportunity to make their contribution to fighting the disease for future patients. I think a lot of them gain peace of mind that way.

 

[Alter]

Sending good thoughts to your friend, TS. Thanks for posting about this difficult topic, it is good to be reminded of the fragile state of life.

 

[dragon8]

Sorry to hear. Thoughts and prayers to you and your friends. We are near the Holiday season and miracles do happen during these times.