My uncle, who was like a second father to me, died from a class IV Glioblastoma multiforme a few months ago. I spent about a week in the hospital with him and the family (we spent xmas in the hospital, actually). He was 60, played hockey every week, super healthy, super smart, loved life.
Within two months of being diagnosed he was dead. He first had a seizure playing hockey and evrybody thought it was a stroke or an aneurysm. A month later he lost control over half of his body, then went in and out of coma for the final week... I had a chance to talk to him and hold his hand, tell him how important he was for me and all that stuff that we never tell each other. He could understand what we said, but had a hard time communicating... And then he was gone.
Terrible disease.
I'm getting married in 4 days, and we've decided to give money to charities working on cancer in the name of the wedding guests. We figured it was better than spending the money on chocolates or whatever (though we also have some of those).
Are you working with NIH by any chance? I obviously really appreciate the research you're doing (and as far as cancers go, I know there are much more significant ones - from a statistical pov - but your work is very much appreciated by the Ohanian family). Any not-for-profits you'd recommend for exceptional work? ABTA.org has been our goto thus far.
I'm part of a research group at UMASS that has close collaborations with MGH and two cancer centers in The Netherlands (where I'm originally from). Concerning the statistical significance you are right, breast tumors are probably having an impact on more families around the world. However, we are trying to develop strategies that work for all cancers so with a bit of luck we will help other patients and families too.
The work we do is financed by multiple sources. I am not too familiar with specific charity organizations since I am not from the United States. I will ask around in the lab(s) what people believe are the best organizations to donate to in you want to help Glioblastoma Multiforme research.
My dad died of a Glioblastoma Multiforme. So thankyou for choosing that field to study. It must be a pretty daunting area of research though. The first thing you do as a loved one is research it like crazy, and then you lose all hope.
Answering this question will require multiple pages so I will just stay with the work I am doing: gene therapy. Some new strategies seem to be relatively successful. For instance my group has developed a way to target the healthy surrounding area of the tumor to start "attacking" the tumor. Read this if you're interested in this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2863297/?tool=pu...
As for the challenges the blood-brain barrier makes reaching the brain difficult. And even when we reach the brain its size makes it hard penetrate it deeply. However new research is coming out every month that one by one solve these obstacles. There is a long road ahead though.
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My uncle, who was like a second father to me, died from a class IV Glioblastoma multiforme a few months ago. I spent about a week in the hospital with him and the family (we spent xmas in the hospital, actually). He was 60, played hockey every week, super healthy, super smart, loved life.
Within two months of being diagnosed he was dead. He first had a seizure playing hockey and evrybody thought it was a stroke or an aneurysm. A month later he lost control over half of his body, then went in and out of coma for the final week... I had a chance to talk to him and hold his hand, tell him how important he was for me and all that stuff that we never tell each other. He could understand what we said, but had a hard time communicating... And then he was gone.
Terrible disease.
I'm getting married in 4 days, and we've decided to give money to charities working on cancer in the name of the wedding guests. We figured it was better than spending the money on chocolates or whatever (though we also have some of those).
Your money will be appreciated. I can tell because I'm doing Glioblastoma Multiforme research myself, so thank you.
Are you working with NIH by any chance? I obviously really appreciate the research you're doing (and as far as cancers go, I know there are much more significant ones - from a statistical pov - but your work is very much appreciated by the Ohanian family). Any not-for-profits you'd recommend for exceptional work? ABTA.org has been our goto thus far.
I'm part of a research group at UMASS that has close collaborations with MGH and two cancer centers in The Netherlands (where I'm originally from). Concerning the statistical significance you are right, breast tumors are probably having an impact on more families around the world. However, we are trying to develop strategies that work for all cancers so with a bit of luck we will help other patients and families too.
The work we do is financed by multiple sources. I am not too familiar with specific charity organizations since I am not from the United States. I will ask around in the lab(s) what people believe are the best organizations to donate to in you want to help Glioblastoma Multiforme research.
My dad died of a Glioblastoma Multiforme. So thankyou for choosing that field to study. It must be a pretty daunting area of research though. The first thing you do as a loved one is research it like crazy, and then you lose all hope.
Thank you for what you are doing! I'd give you a hug if this wasn't text.
How would you summarize the state of current research on it? What looks promising? What makes it difficult?
Answering this question will require multiple pages so I will just stay with the work I am doing: gene therapy. Some new strategies seem to be relatively successful. For instance my group has developed a way to target the healthy surrounding area of the tumor to start "attacking" the tumor. Read this if you're interested in this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2863297/?tool=pu...
As for the challenges the blood-brain barrier makes reaching the brain difficult. And even when we reach the brain its size makes it hard penetrate it deeply. However new research is coming out every month that one by one solve these obstacles. There is a long road ahead though.
Wow. Thank you for sharing this. Now I'm going to insist that you post a link to your registry (or email me - alexis@breadpig.com)