More info on Neutron Therapy

Here is an excerpt from a study written on Sarcomas and Neutron Therapy.

In our curative patient population, neutrons provided a
68% local relapse-free survival at 4 years, comparable to
results described in our previous report. Significantly, neutrons
were able to provide this efficacy for patients with the
most worrisome of high-risk features, such as the presence
of contaminated surgical margins or unresectable gross disease.
Standard photon radiotherapy fails locally in up to
70–80% of such cases.

But at the same time the opinion from my oncologist at Indiana University is that "There is nothing in the world's literature to suggest this has any superiority to standard radiotherapy, in my opinion. This technology has been around for over 20 years and that is why it hasn't been widely endorsed."

Confused yet? I sure am. I am got a list of the top Sarcoma hospitals in the country. I am going to see if I can get an opinion from one their specialists. I also still plan on talking to a doctor from the University of Washington to discuss the benefits/risks of Neutron therapy vs.Conventionall radiotherapy. I have about two - four weeks before I need to begin treatment. I'll keep everyone posted as this goes forward.

Below is an email sent today from Dr. Andy von Eschenbach, Director of
the National Cancer Institute.

This weekend the Tour de France begins and Lance Armstrong, a member of the President's Cancer Panel, will be competing for an incredible 7th consecutive win. His is a story of making the impossible possible.

The passage of the National Cancer Act in 1971 committed our national will and resources to fight cancer. In that same year, Lance Armstrong was born.

In 1971, a young cancer patient with testicular cancer that had metastasized to his lymph nodes, lungs and brain had no hope of survival. This was the shocking diagnosis that Lance Armstrong received 25 years later in 1996, just at the time when his cycling career was beginning to flourish.

But due to the commitment we made in 1971 with the passage of the National Cancer Act, progress in cancer research and treatment made a new future possible for Lance. He not only survived cancer, he is accomplishing the incredible and the unimaginable. He is the greatest cyclist in the history of the Tour de France, but he is most grateful to be a symbol of hope and inspiration to all cancer survivors.

As the Tour de France kicks off and we enjoy the Fourth of July weekend with family and friends, I would like to take this time to reflect on Lance's story. He is able to race because of the tremendous progress that we have made in understanding and pre-empting cancer as a disease process. There is no doubt that this progress is attributable to the extraordinary scientists and staff who have committed their professional lives to working toward a time when no one suffers or dies from cancer.

NCI thrives on making the impossible possible for all who face cancer.

Cool LIVESTRONG wallpaper

Go to this website: www.amd.com/livestrong

And click the "Cool Downloads" tab for some real nice LIVESTRONG wallpaper for you PC or MAC.

LIVESTRONG - Andrew

Aidan, the son of our friends Bennie and Jodi, made this drawing for me. I think Aidan is a very good artist. 

Every light is a bag with a survivor's name on it. 

A friend from Ireland ran the Relay for Life in my honor after my surgery. Here is a scan of the bag that was lit in the following photo. 

Hope and Chloe are wearing yellow for me on my surgery date. Chloe was in Kindergarten with my son Liam last year. 

A Good Friday

Today is a good day, we actually got a "cool-front" in Tulsa and some rain. I'm feeling better energy wise and emotionally about my situation. And Monday is my 30th birthday. So I'm going to enjoy the last weekend in my twenties and the 4th of July. I hope to hear back from the doctors at the University of Washington early next week so I can begin planning the logistics. I need to get the therapy started in 2-4 weeks in order to find the right time window so I can heal enough and yet not give the disease a chance to come back before it can be zapped.

LIVESTRONG - Andrew "Neutron" Molenda

Neutron Beam Therapy?

Well, I may be going west for a special kind of radiation called Neutron Beam Therapy. It could be more effective at destroying the cancer than conventional radiation. I cleared the first hurdle getting in contact with the right doctors and I am waiting to hear back from them regarding specifics. I don't feel like I have much to lose as long as my insurance will agree to cover it (I have no reason to believe they won't but you never know). This is an aggressive cancer, and I want to be equally as aggressive in killing it dead.

LIVESTRONG - Andrew

Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

Lifetime TV's website is running an online petition to support the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. This will guarantee that women and their physicians, not insurance companies, will decide when they are ready to go home.

I signed the petition this morning.

LIVESTRONG - Andrew

STAPLES !!!!!!

The staples are just getting to the point that they are more irritating than anything else. I know how much better it would feel to get them out, making it even worse. I have to wait till next Tuesday to get them removed along with the catheter.

It'll be a relief to get rid of both. I meet with the Radiation Oncologist Thursday, so I'll find out when I can start radiation therapy. I'm hoping it will happen sooner rather than later, because the options get dimmer if another tumor comes back.

But I'm at the mercy of the doctors, they can't radiate me if my incision is still healing otherwise it can get infected or have other problems. Kind of a catch-22. Hopefully after my appointment I'll have a plan and I can relax a little bit more.

LIVESTRONG - Andrew

Update(s)

I'm healing well, I braved Super-Target with Amy and the kids this morning, and I'm in relatively good spirits. I'm working on updating the "My Cancer Story" articles on the main website since they are pretty much out of date. I was please to hear that I received a $1,000 donation from a local company! Once their check is logged that will make my total raised for cancer survivorship to $3,190.00. Getting closer to my goal of $7500 every day.

Of course feel free to share my donation link and my website/blog with anyone that might be interested.


LIVESTRONG - Andrew

BTW - The Tour de France begins this Saturday on OLN if you want to watch Lance in action. Discovery channel has also been running lots of shows about Lance that are pretty cool.