1. Having relapsed several times...I understand the dreaded fear and apprehension as the next check-up creeps closer and closer. It really does stink. One thing I have learned throughout my years of having to deal with cancer and relapses is it's important, if "signs" start showing up, to go immediately to the doctor, regardless of whether it's time for my check up or not. We know our bodies better than anyone, and over time I've learned one BIG sign for me is weight loss. When that starts happening, it's time to see my oncologist. Each person has their own "triggers"...it's just a matter of paying attention to them...no matter how afraid we are.

Posted at 4:14PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Laura

2. Excellent advice in paying attention to our own "triggers." That's an excellent way to look at it. I think that you're right . . . many times there are things we try to ignore either out of fear or denial, and it's important to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us.

Posted at 4:14PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Michelle Dellino

3. I've always felt the way my wife was treated for her ovarian cancer back in 1972 was the reason she survived so long (24 years before recurrence). Her postoperative chemotherapy drug was among the slowest acting and least toxic of the alkylating agents (oral dose). Depression of the immune system was slow and reversible, allowing it to regenerate and contribute to healing. The lower-dose regimen was meant to attack the blood vessels that fed the tumor. Tumors create their own supply lines by secreting substances that stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and researchers suspect that frequent low doses of certain drugs may disrupt the growth of those new vessels, starving the tumor (she also may have had some of her own anti-angiogenesis predisposition).

Of course, after 24 years, why had ovarian cancer cells proliferated inside her diaphragm in 1996? She had been taking Premarin for over twenty years. NIH had published articles about two large studies indicating the increased risk of ovarian cancer linked to ERT. For women who used estrogen for 20 years of more, it was increased by more the 300% (3-fold), compared to women who had never taken it. And from the North American Menopause Society, it has been known for many years that estrogen therapy is also associated with an increase in DVT's and pulmonary embolism. As one email respondent to me noted, "well that interesting, I wonder why they didn't choose to let us in on it."

Posted at 12:03PM on Aug 16th 2005 by Gregory D. Pawelski