I want to bring awareness to grants available for appendix cancer patients. I met a woman in Washington DC a few years ago after being in contact with her via phone and email for over a year. I liked her a lot.
She had been diagnosed with signet ring appendix cancer and had had cytoreduction surgery and HIPEC about a year and a half prior to my meeting her. We had lunch and talked for a long time in DC, she was doing well and wanting to get back in shape, we talked about health clubs and exercise programs. She passed just a few months after I met her; she had a sudden recurrence of her cancer that was not operable. She left behind a husband and two teenage children.
There were donations given at her funeral, and her husband wants to give a single grant from that fund to an appendix cancer patient yearly for 5 years. They are not very large grants, but are enough to help those going through tough times. I’ve been in contact with over 800 patients newly diagnosed with appendix cancer, and I know some are struggling with job loss and financial difficulties related to their diagnosis and treatment.
The husband wrote this for me to post on my blog/website in looking for candidates for the grants. For those of you who might be interested:
Grants for Appendix Cancer Patients
“An anonymous donor, whose wife had appendix cancer and survived for 20 months before dying, has a limited amount of funding available to help people and families who have received an appendix cancer diagnosis. Please contact Carolyn with your request for a small financial grant and be prepared to show proof of diagnosis.
The donor will provide the limited grants, which can be used for travel, information gathering, second opinions, help with food, babysitters, take a day off from work, whatever is needed.
The donor only requires that you allow him to speak with you and tell you about his wife and also that you keep in touch with him with periodic updates on how you are doing and how the grant helped you, so that he can share that information with donors to his wife’s Fund, and his wife’s family and friends.”
Hair 4 You
I received another email from a woman who is trying to establish a non-profit organization and who is asking for help…not monetary donations, just a vote! I love her idea, as I know how much kids and teens are affected by hair loss and changes in body image. My youngest daughter loves her hair, her greatest concern when I was diagnosed was that chemo might cause me to lose my hair. She couldn’t contemplate a person being bald! I am pasting here the email I received from Rebecca; it would be great if you could help her!
“My name is Rebecca and I am 24 years old, from Chicago. I’m currently in nursing school and I’m also a 2 time cancer survivor. I have set up a charity, called “Hair 4 You” to provide kids/teens with wigs due to medical hair loss. Please keep reading, I am NOT asking for money! I am currently in the running for the Pepsi Refresh Challenge to win $25,000 to get my charity off the ground and become an official non-profit 501(3)c.
The top ten organizations win money at the end of the competition and in the past week I have moved up over 90 spots but am still not in contention to win. Voting is absolutely free and requires a simple email address and password. I am wondering if you can do anything via your blog to help me spread the word and earn more votes. As well as earning more votes, I’d like to get the charity out there so I can start helping people once we hopefully receive money.”
Click here for Voting Site Hair 4 You:
UI would like to thanks you from the depth of my heart as for giving awareness to appendix. It has providing great knowledge.
Jovanovic D et al
Mianserin therapy in advanced lung cancer patients. 8th Central European Lung Cancer Conference. Vienna 2002. Internal Process Division, Monduzzi Editore 2002; 339-343.
Two groups of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were analyzed and compared: Group A-26 patients (12 treated with chemotherapy –CT, 14 with best supportive care BSC), all receiving 10mg/day of Mianserin and Group B-26 patients with comparable corresponding characteristics, who were treated with chemotherapy.
An objective clinical response to chemotherapy was observed in five patients receiving Mianserin, and only two patients who did not receive it. Median survival time for Mianserin patients was also significantly better. A surprising fact emerged in 2 patients with adenocarcinoma: one with local tumor recurrence and diffuse bone metastases, evidently stable with no further progression for 37 months, the other with metastases in the upper mediastinal lymph nodes, with no further progression for 26 months. Symptom control (pain, dyspnea, and emotional functioning) were significantly better in Mianserin Group A. Antidepressants are highly specific and humans variable, thus some of the non responders may well have responded to alternatives to Mianserin.
The idea that antidepressants might be effective for cancer was first explored fifty years ago, and ample proof has emerged. To verify, access Medline or Pubmed, and enter “antidepressants” and “cancer.” With patience, you may retrieve more than seventy studies showing that antidepressants destroy cancer cells, inhibit their proliferation, convert multidrug resistant cells to chemotherapy sensitive, protect nonmalignant cells from damage by ionizing radiation and chemotherapy toxicity, and target the mitochondria of cancer cells, while sparing those of healthy ones. Antidepressants can arrest cancer even in advanced stages, occasionally reverse it, significantly extend life, and have shown effectiveness in malignancies often resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. In 1998, Brenda Penninx showed that at age 70, people who are chronically depressed have an increased risk of cancer of 88%, and an increased risk of dying of it of 50%.
Paradigm shifts may not become medical revolutions unless widely disseminated, so as to bypass vested interests. This one could do wonders for people, and for health economics. I have contributed five reviews to the advance.
Lieb, J. “Antidepressants, eicosanoids and the prevention and treatment of cancer.” Plefa (2001) 65(5&6), 233-239
Lieb, J. “Antidepressants, prostaglandins and the prevention and treatment of
cancer.” Medical Hypotheses (2007) 684-689
Lieb, J.”The multifaceted value of antidepressants in cancer therapeutics.” Editorial comment. European Journal of Cancer 44 (2) 2008 172-174
Lieb, J.”Defeating cancer with antidepressants.” Ecancermedicalscience. DOI 10.3332/eCMS.2008.88
Lieb, J.”The remarkable anticancer properties of antidepressants.” DOI.10.3332/eCMS.LTR.149
Julian Lieb,M.D
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I was diagnosed with PMP in June 2010. My oncologist performed the debulking surgery as well as removing my ovaries and tubes. He told me that there was nothing more that he could do, but that there was a doctor in Washington DC that performs a surgery with heated chemo. I can't afford to fly for consults and I live in Montana. Who do I contact about the grant that you mentioned in your blog?
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Hi Rhonda,
Dr. Sugarbaker in Washington is probably the surgeon your doctor was referring to. There are now many other surgeon specialists offering the heated chemo and treating PMP, I have a list of many on my Physicians and Facilities web page at at my site http://www.appendix-cancer.com, along with a lot of information about heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). There may be a specialist nearer you, though there are still not a whole lot of them in the USA.
As far as the grants, it turns out I will not be able to help the benefactor distribute the grants after all, he is working with another cancer agency to do that, sorry!
Hope that helps!
Carolyn
Looking for financial assistance for Xeloda. I’m 1 years into tx. Need to some assistance on co-pay. Ideas?