Yes, grade is correct. Not a mistake, so much as just typing/thinking too fast before leaving for work this morning.
I should tell you, he was diagnosed with an Astrocytoma, but WHO reclassified tumors after his diagnosis and he was later re-diagnosed as an Oligodendroglioma. For 6 years we thought it was an Astrocytoma. When he had a reoccurrence last year they had to do a second biopsy and we found out it's an Oligodendroglioma. Grade 2.
Regardless, you have every reason to have hope. A positive attitude and believing that you still have life to live is just as important, if not more so, than chemo and radiation. This book got us through the first few years which are the hardest. https://www.amazon.com/Anticancer-New-Life-David-Servan-Schreiber/dp/0670021644
Hopefully that link works. I'm new to reddit and don't post very much.
I think that was about his age, too. I don't think they use that pesticide anymore. If you're interested, this is the book where he talks about it.
It's a fantastic book by the way. I highly recommend it. Just now, looking at the ratings, it's solid 5 stars with 788 reviews.
It seems there is a consensus that cruciferous vegetables are the thing, and cooked tomatoes (liberate lycopene when cooked). Also, curcumine (with pepper or ginger to make it more powerful). It is an anti-inflammatory and that helps fight cancer. And green tea.
This lady must eat correctly. Hope you can persuade her, and that it is not because of money.
I read this book and found it fantastic.
Used copies go for under $10.
Might want to check this book out. Dude who wrote it had a type of brain cancer that usually kills within a year, maybe two. He lasted from 1992 to just a few weeks ago by doing what he describes in his book.
Very sorry to hear this.
Check out these books:
https://www.amazon.com/Anticancer-New-Life-David-Servan-Schreiber/dp/0670021644
anti-cancer : a new way of life
https://www.amazon.com/Anticancer-New-Life-David-Servan-Schreiber/dp/0670021644
Read the book Anticancer: A New Way of Life, by cancer survivor David Servan-Schreiber, which offers a good layman's introduction to the science.
Personally, I'd reduce intake of pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid, and add plant foods known to suppress inflammatory signalling wherever possible. This paper offers a brief summary of anti-inflammatory plants. The same plants and compounds also inhibit local-inflammation mediated angiogenesis.
Mushrooms (even white buttons) include β-glucans which increase natural killer cell activity.
More advanced approaches include methionine-restriction diets (lower protein mostly vegan) and extremely-low carb ketogenic diets. There's good evidence favoring both approaches in animal studies with certain cancers, but human pilot studies have been limited.
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[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51y1d0?context=1) (something_facetious):
> You should check out this book. The guy who wrote it lost his cancer battle, but he lived wayyyy longer than he was supposed to and wasn't sick the whole time. > > This book helped me when I got my diagnosis and has helped my aunt through hers. It might help you to not be scared because you will feel better by being more active in your fight. I am now cancer-free and my aunt had surgery a few months ago and has had clear scans thus far. > > I wish you the best. Take care of yourself and good luck!!
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51y284?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Thank you very much. I will check it out. Congratulations on winning the war against cancer! I hope to be in that club too.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51ygy8?context=1) (iamrewriteable):
> My mother just recently finished her chemo/radiation for breast cancer. She told me that antihistamines (she took zyrtec) helped with the bone soreness/pain associated with the treatment. Just a friendly suggestion you can bring up with your doctor if you feel like it.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51z7ho?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> I am sorry to hear about your mother. Thankfully I learned about antihistamines from my support group. They make a huge difference in decreasing side effects for me. Thanks for the suggestion just the same.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51y7li?context=1) (ENTonioBanderas):
> There are also medicinal cannabis doctors and growers in California doing the same thing. There are a number of cannabinoids (the psychoactive chemical group found in cannabis), but primary among them are TCH and CBD. THC is the one that works predominantly to get you high. CBD is key to cannabis' ability to relieve pain, as well as help with sleep. Recently, growers have been isolating and breeding strains that are very high in CBD with virtually no THC, and they have found that these strains of cannabis work exceptionally well for pain, insomnia, and many other medical issues, without the side-effect of "getting high." > > To be clear, I'm not encouraging you do seek it out or anything like that, but am just letting you know about whats going on :) > > Thank you for doing what you do. My future Mother in law was in the South tower, and we are incredibly thankful that she was able to make it out okay. I cannot thank you enough for your sacrifice, and I hope that you overcome whatever problems come your way. > > You are an awesome person.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51z7yr?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Thank you for the information and encouragement!
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51z1dh?context=1) (Fuzzykins):
> I know it doesn't mean a lot, that there's a lot of stories, but my aunt had breast cancer, and it didn't look very good for her. She did very well in Chemo and never lost her smile, and she's absolutely fine now. She's been cancer free for so long. Don't lose your smile. :)
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51z958?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Thank you so much for telling me about your aunt. I love happy outcome stories! Congratulations to your aunt!!
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51yu58?context=1) (biophile6):
> Thank you from me as well, if that even serves. > > I am moreover brimming with potential dialog though. IAMA 40ish yo former cancer biologist who was also trapped at Ground Zero. We were doing a bioinformatics software startup off Williams three blocks away on the other side of the Fed. I was the last train under, then standing under the south tower 6 minutes before it crushed down, looking up at the hulking wreckage, then rerouted on foot to work off Wall and Pine, and was trapped in my building for a half day, eventually crawling out of there with a wet paper towel mask, to get myself up towards St Vincent where it was safer. > > Now. The buildings were completely pulverized. I was staggered that the debris was only twenty feet tall. We can assume that we both breathed the same stuff afterwards: silica, concrete, insulation, ground up plumbing, paint titanium, cellulose, metals, fire retardant...even (shudder, but I think) persons. It was all pulverized; vaporized into the everything in the atmosphere. We carry them in us, health and poison. Our lives are living sacrament to those whom we worked along side and served. > > Therefore I must ask, partly even for my own illumination: > > Did you cough up anything colored? > How long did you spend there, in hours? > What was the particle size of your mask, just paper? > Were you taking multivitamins at the time? > Tested for lead afterwards? > Long term chronic fatigue? > Do you feel planes fly too low now? > Sleep well looking at skylines in the distance? > > You need not answer any or all of this. It is all horribly grotesque. It was cultural war. To me the experience is unspeakable, but this is your forum and so we fight together. I welcome anything you would share, public or private. I have not reached out to anyone else with the similar experience, and simply left the area to live elsewhere. Bless you.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51zco0?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Thank you for sharing your story. I was coughing up sut tinged sputum for a number of weeks after. I had an N95 mask - which was all that was available for volunteers at the time I was there. I was taking multivits at the time. I don't think I was tested for lead afterwards. I had a number of the PTSD symptoms you refer to in your questions and it took a number of years and counselling to get past my PTSD. I had a very hard time with the fact that a number of people survived the collapse of the towers but were trapped and could never be rescued. That was one of the hardest memories I dealt with.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51z00w?context=1) (17_irons):
> You are a brave and wonderful person. I hope that you and the OP will be able to speak, one way or another. Thank you so much for posting.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51zcuq?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Sorry, what is the OP?
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51ywzk?context=1) (ZineZ):
> the fact that you did this without even being an American makes you even more of a fucking hero. You must update when you get cancer free :)
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51zelj?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Thank you for your kind words. I will absolutely update reddit when I beat this beast - and I will!
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51ykwr?context=1) (ILiveInNYC):
> Lost a family friend on 9/11. My dad being in the fire department knew a lot of people. He now has a nonstop cough because of something in his lungs. (presumably from ground zero). My friends dad is sick from being on the stack for weeks. He isn't expected to make it to next year. > > > No question for you but thanks for what you did.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51zkrm?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> I am sorry to hear about your loss, your dad's and friend's dad illness. The long term impact of the attacks have been horrible for so many. I wish there was a cure or a remedy.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51yy1k?context=1) (allyfizzle):
> my mom is a respiratory therapist & as we watched the events unfold one of the first things she said was how all the emergency response teams & clean up workers were all going to have serious medical issues & how they needed to be cared for & how she could & would help. she named nearly every medical problem all that dust & debris has caused as we watched the towers fall. i could only grasp the momentary horrors & thought of all the people inside & around the towers. my mom was affected on another level, she saw the tragic long term effects the instant those towers were hit.
>
> As someone who volunteered at ground zero did you take the statements made by Christine Todd Whitman (EPA) to be truthful at the time? If so, how did you feel once it was uncovered that those statements were false?
>
> As a New Yorker I sincerely thank you! I will never forget the stench and melancholy of the city in the days and even months following. I can't imagine the things you witnessed and all that you are dealing with now. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask. Our great city owes you a great deal and I hope you are getting all the benefits you deserve.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c5206x9?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> I had heard those statements and knew the government was wrong. The air was so rancid. I don't know that the cover up made a difference to me as it did not change much for me. However, I was bothered by the impact her lies may have had on other volunteers. And, thank you for your kind remarks. Being Canadian, I don't get any benefits for volunteering or for getting sick. I never expected to get anything.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c51zft8?context=1) (sev3ndaytheory):
> Original Poster > > Just means the person who started the thread(you)
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/v73pd/_/c520u7d?context=1) (SpiffNarley):
> Thanks! I am new to reddit.
(continued below)
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