My father has CANCER! HELP!

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Treatment will take a long time and will not be pleasant. I wish him, you and your family all the strength and luck you'll need.


Edit: My mother survived multiple types of cancer, but I also lost my stepfather to cancer.
The most important is to never give up the fight, and to keep doing as much as possible to keep your body in as good as possible shape. One of the biggest killers is people giving up the fight, and their bodies therefor not fighting hard enough to aid the chemo.

 

[BoomerD]

One thing that may need to be considered at some point is the quality of life issue.

Most of the treatments will make your dad sick. Radiation and chemo are both VERY hard for the patient to take.

At some point, it may come down to deciding whether the potential extension of life given by the treatments is worth the greatly reduced quality of life. Granted, that's NOT your choice in any way...it will be your dad's decision, and hopefully, made with your mom if she's still married to him, and all you can do is support his decision either way.

 

[skyking]

Googer, I'm very sorry for these troubles, and wish your dad a speedy recovery.
You need to help yourself so you can help your dad. Seek out help from support groups and counseling ASAP.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: moshquerade
How old is your dad? What prognosis did the doc who diagnosed him give him... months... years... or haven't you all pressed the doctors for an answer?

Please don't tell Googer to calm down. At this time he has the right to scream dismay from the mountaintops.

Googer, be there for your Dad, as I'm sure you will be. Hug him, kiss him, tell him you love him like you never have before. Listen to him and let him calm you. He will.

I hope you can get him into the best treatment center closest to you asap. God bless.

Mid 50's. He was almost retired, but decided he wanted to keep going.

So was my father.

Keep us updated, k?

Originally posted by: BoomerD
One thing that may need to be considered at some point is the quality of life issue.

Most of the treatments will make your dad sick. Radiation and chemo are both VERY hard for the patient to take.

At some point, it may come down to deciding whether the potential extension of life given by the treatments is worth the greatly reduced quality of life. Granted, that's NOT your choice in any way...it will be your dad's decision, and hopefully, made with your mom if she's still married to him, and all you can do is support his decision either way.

BoomerD is absolutely right here.

 

[wwswimming]

Have you ever known anyone close to you that survived cancer? If so, what did they do to survive; who did they see and where did they go? Are there any new drug trials or treatments? Descriptive details are appreciated.

i met a guy in Vancouver that had a form of cancer
related to exposure to carcinogens.

he beat it with - marijuana.

do a search for the "Madrid study" or "antineoplastic cannabinoids".

i have a copy of the original study, what you see images of in this page

http://www.ukcia.org/research/...nabinoids/default.html

that one has the "legalize marijuana" backdrop. one thing at a time, eh.

an abstract at NIH
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1159836

the original study was done at a university or research center in Virginia
in the '70's.

they injected rats full of carcinogens, and gave some of them
marijuana, injected or eaten.

there was a 40%+ (a significant number, not 1%) higher survival
rate for the rats that got the cannabis.

the cancer survivor i met, his form of cancer was related to what
you read about in those articles.

he didn't have colon or abdominal cancer, though.

he was given the proverbial "six months to live". i met him about
5-10 years after that. he had an acrylic shop (making retail displays
for candy shops, as an example), then moved to Canada when he
needed to treat his cancer.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
MD Anderson Center in Austin Texas
Sloan-Ketterling in New York
Johns Hopkins in Maryland

Good luck.

This is as good a list as you're likely to find (except that MD Anderson is in Houston). St. Judes is also excellent, but it's for children. In any case, you'll want to go to a big institution just because they'll have a lot of resources and they see a lot of patients. This is good b/c if you need surgery, the surgeon likely has a lot of experience in that area, the nurses know exactly what sort of complications to look out for etc. etc.

Anyway... if it were me, I think I'd go to Houston. Lots of cutting edge stuff, big place with a lot of resources, very big emphasis on cancer treatment and research.

Some overseas places might be just as good, but it's not likely they're significantly better, and it's VERY important to get treatment started ASAP.

<----Ph.D in cancer research. Colon cancer isn't really my specialty, but PM me if you would like me to snoop around. One of my best friends (also a Ph.D cancer guy) works for MD Anderson.

Good luck.

 

[NanoStuff]

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/...olorectal+Neoplasms%22
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/...22Colonic+Neoplasms%22
http://www.physorg.com/news113150870.html
http://www.physorg.com/news82653370.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/si...ch&term=colon%20cancer
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/si...ch&term=colorectal
http://www.sciencedaily.com/ne...olon_cancer/headlines/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...07/12/071218154220.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_...-05/uotm-ris052306.php

 

[alien42]

i know a woman who had breast cancer and virtually zero chance to live and she has been cancer free for almost a decade now. i am sure she received good medical treatment but i know that she won the war with her own mind. she is one of the most outgoing and positive people i have ever met and she beat cancer. science may not be able to explain it and religious folks would call it a miracle, i just call it the power of a humans will and mind.

 

[aroundincircles]

So sorry about this. As much as I hate UPMC, they do have a decent cancer center:
Hillman Cancer Center

 

[Electric Amish]

My mother-in-law had a tumor in her brain. She was dead in 2 years.

Some of the best cancer specialists are at the University of Utah.

Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah

 

[ITJunkie]

If it hasn't already been mentioned, check with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, fhcrc.org.

Good luck to you and your family...

 

[ViviTheMage]

my dad had testicular cancer, chemo saved him. He was in chemo for 9-10 months and now its gone, no trace...so far...its been 6 years now.

 

[CptCrunch]

I dont have any advice on cancer specialist, but good luck to you and your family

 

[destrekor]

I don't have much to say except I'm sorry to hear the news, but whatever happens, whatever any doctor says, simply show your dad love. I can imagine that he is going to want to have good times with his family if it is indeed terminal. Don't constantly keep the idea of the cancer beating him in your head though. Have a clear mind and simply enjoy the time you get to spend with your father. If it proves to be beatable, then that's more time you get.
I wouldn't want my family spending insane amounts of money on me, worrying about my survival, if I had terminal cancer. If it was a good prognosis, then yes I want to live, but if I have led a good life, I'd rather share some good enjoyable time with my family.

The James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University is ranked at the #15 hospital for cancer treatments. There comes a point where being the top doesn't matter, and good doctors will possibly refer you to places with better treatment capabilities if they don't have the resources for proper treatment of the specific cancer.

Oh, and suggest to your dad to toke up. THC has been researched and discoveries have been made (a few years ago even, and I can look up the articles again if you do indeed want them), that detail THC as having anti-tumor properties. Of course, nothing is guaranteed.. and it was researched in rats, not humans. And it's mostly hormone-controlled organs and tissues that received the beneficial effects, and it was over a 2 year period the individual rats were monitored. It's something I'd definitely take up if I were dying and had only a few possible treatment options. I'm not sure if the colon and liver are under hormonal control at all or not... so I don't know if the THC could do anything, or if it even does anything in humans. But, a chance is a chance, right?

And if he does receive treatment by means of radiation & chemo, he can be a candidate to be prescribed Marinol... it's a pill that contains THC (synthesized to 99% purity). It's meant for nausea and trouble eating, side effects of chemotherapy. But still provides that THC, which if taken over a 2-year period (not sure if you can continue to take it for 2 years straight, daily... could be hard getting that kind of lengthy prescription), could still produce the possible results you'd be looking for.

 

[Uppsala9496]

My mom has matastic breast cancer. She has been "cancer free" for the past couple of years now. She goes to the University of Chicago for her treatments. She made it into a clinical trial for the drug herceptin and it has basically kept her alive.
She goes in for a treatment every 3 weeks and will continue to do so for the rest of her life.

As others have mentioned, stay positive.

 

[Lola]

My mom had Non hodgkins lymphoma. She went to the University of Michigan for treatment. She first had a huge round of chemo, after that she had another type of "therapy". Shortly after she finished it, the "mass" was gone.

It might sound stupid, but we are a rather religious family... at the last few months of her cancer, we went to a local Catholic church in the area that had a guest speaker one night. She was a nun and said to have performed "miracles". She prayed over my mom, gave her a bless and we left.

So, we learned a lot from this very scary experience.

A positive, strong attitude will help a LOT. Both from the person suffering and those around them.
A lot of folks I have talked to have gone to eating very organic and vegitarian food.

She did that. It is now about 10 years later and she is offically considered "cancer free".

I will get the information about the other treatment after the chemo.

My very best wishes and prayers to your father and family. God Bless.

 

[RbSX]

My grandfather went to the Swedish Clinic in Washington State, he got an experimental surgery for his prostate cancer and is doing wonderfully now.

 

[ockky]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
MD Anderson Center in Austin Texas
Good luck.

i second md anderson

edit: i guess at this point, i'm not really 'second'ing it am i ...

 

[NuclearNed]

Cleveland Clinic

My dad was there for heart surgery this past May; they are one of the top heart hospitals in the world. So while he wasn't treated for cancer, I can attest to the fact that they did a great job with him and treated us very very well. I did some reading up on them after the fact, and they also have a world-reknowned cancer center.

 

[hiromizu]

Talk to the guys at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NY. I've recently lost a friend after 15 years of fighting cancer.
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/44.cfm

 

[PrinceofWands]

My mother was diagnosed terminal when I was in 2nd grade. They gave her 1-3 months, even with treatment. She lived until I was 18, almost 19...most of it with a fairly good quality of life still.

The biggest key, in our opinion, is that she had the will and desire. She wanted to live 10 years so that I was 'grown up'. She felt that after that I could take care of myself and, as the baby, I was the last duty she had on the Earth.

Some will call it God granting a prayer, and that's ok too. Whatever you call it, it seems to come down to having a reason to live, and the will/desire to fight for that long.

Best of luck to you all, you're in my thoughts.

 

[Gand1]

Another for Sloan Kettering....

My friends 11 year old daughter developed a tumor behind her right eye. She is cancer free now but has lost sight in the eye. Much better then having the cancer still.

 

[Stiganator]

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN is probably your best bet. Good Luck.

 

[cardiac]

This place is outstanding. Have a few relatives that were patients there:

Cancer Centers of America.

They use a very integrated plan. Pharmacutical, medical, spiritual, etc. All together.

They have centers all over the US.

 

[bigrash]

I don't really know what to say since I don't know much about cancer centers, but I just wanted to wish him and your family luck. Stay positive for him.