Last year around March I returned to a treatment option I had used in the past. I had also moved on to a new doctor, one who is more aggressive and willing to try different combinations of drugs for me. It is important to remember that for my treatment, there is no CURE, only TREATMENT of the cancer. At times the treatment options have proven very effective, actually reducing the amount or severity of cancer in certain parts of my body. My liver and my lungs are the most widely affected. Throughout the treatment from last year to March of this year, we have seen a steady increase in the number and size of the tumors in my lungs. It was a slow growth, and for the most part we were keeping the growth at bay to the point it didn’t interfere with my daily health.

In March we noted that the treatment plan I had been using was beginning to fail. Three things indicate this: CAT Scan results, CEA (cancer protein) measurements, and my physical signs and symptoms. These three measurements are the ones we have used to evaluate the overall effectiveness of chemotherapy options. In March and April we noted a drastic rise in the CEA levels, moving from 400 to 600 to the 800 range. (0=no cancer).  A CAT Scan also showed progressive, although slow, growth in tumor size in my lungs. And I wasn’t feeling as well as I had been at the beginning of the year. I was fatigued much more easily in a given day, coughing more frequently, and stopping to catch my breath too often. I was also beginning to lose weight.

In April we decided to take a long shot and use a brain cancer drug in combination with another supportive agent to attempt to stop or slow the growth. Although this is not a normal treatment option for colon cancer, it was worth a try because there were some reports of success with patients with similar symptoms as myself. So we tried it. The drug made me very nauseas, and I did vomit a good bit while taking it. I also had a great deal of pain in the abdominal region on my liver, where some of the tumors were. My fatigue didn’t get any better, and my cough grew worse. We tried that regiment for 3 cycles (3 months).

Along with my progressively worse symptoms, a chest xray showed incredible damage and tumor existence in my lungs in nearly every lobe and every part. I had a CEA drawn at the end of May, which was 980. Just last week, June 23rd, my CEA level was reported as 4002.
That jump, coupled with the other symptoms and signs, clearly indicates that chemotherapy is not working for me. The CEA rise is incredibly significant. My physician and I have discussed returning to other treatment options I have used in the past, and he feels that both they would not be effective, and that my body now would not be able to tolerate the fight. I’ve lost 22 pounds in the last 8 weeks, and don’t have the strength I used to have. Hardly.

So this past Friday my doctor recommended that I discontinue chemotherapy treatments and focus on staying as healthy as possible to enjoy the remaining months I have. He gave no timetable prognosis, and I have no idea how long I might be able to continue fighting the cancer without chemotherapy. I could last days, I could last years. No one really knows.
It’s been a really hard weekend, digesting all this. This month I also lost my job because I can’t consistently get to work any longer. I can’t teach anymore, it is just too stressful trying to talk all day, with only 10% of lung capacity left as it is. I still have some other work options I’m keeping in my back pocket.
 
So my life has taken a drastic change in just a month, and there are a lot of things to consider. A year and a half ago, I sat in a doctor’s office and heard the same thing: It’s time to stop, nothing else will work. And I’ve learned how to listen to that advice and evaluate it as well as what I feel I can do.

This may be the time to stop chemo. Or not. I’m not sure yet. There are others I need to talk to, more data out there that can be helpful, and more strength to find in different ways.

But this is where I stand right now with my treatment options. And if anyone has advice or words of encouragement, please send them my way.

Brian

I'm proud to be from Louisiana, I'm proud of our state and what it has to offer and what is here that makes America stronger. I disagree with my own statement above, I believe we are truly important to the rest of the nation, and in some respects the world. Few people outside of Louisiana hold this view. The facts are that politicians don't need to court our few electoral votes for elections anymore. Our local politicians have proven they can be bought off for fewer $$$'s than anyone else. Our several jurisdictions in legal, law enforcement, administrative, and such that pervade our state and local governments are content to scrounge the scraps from the federal government table, and if those scraps are enough to appease them, they forget about helping the rest of the state.

Our local politicians have learned that creating and protecting their own little fiefdoms within state government are an easy way to remain at the financial trough. They remain in power, protecting one aspect of our diverse culture or unique makeup. In doing so, they become sated, and no match for true political manoevering that other states have perfected.

Look at the ease in which the Morial family turned the New Orleans business community into its own personal wallet. The Jefferson family, none of whose members present any formidibly challenge on an intellectual level, nevertheless were able to pilfer the coffers of the poor and deprived to maintain a supplemental income.

And there are many more examples. So here comes a budget bill to Congress, and our legislators have tacked on a rider for Katrina Aid. But fearing a Bush veto, and knowing there aren't enough votes in Congress to override the veto, our legislators have to back down and accept some cuts in their own proposal.

Let's just think about that: The most unpopular president in modern history is in his last year of his last term. He is so unpopular even his own political party has asked him to stay out of the campaign for president. Yet we are STILL afraid to challenge, and happy to get what we get.

We aren't the only ones getting the shaft. The Republicans aren't too keen on raising the financial support for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan conflicts. This support would directly increase their GI Bill benefits. One of those benefits, the main one, is college enrollment and tuition costs. So the party that brought us to war, that sent soldier after soldier to the conflict over and over again, has no regard for its own soldiers after they return. We saw the same attitude at Walter Reed, injured vets being treated no better than animals.

Where do we go from here....?

Crime is prevalent in New Orleans. Well, that is never a top news story anymore. It has always been that way, at least over the last 25 years. Every now and then we get a spurt of shootings in a few-hour period which prompts the reporters to take note. But for the most part, crime in New Orleans is an ever-present ordeal citizens have learned to cope with.

Why is there so much crime in New Orleans? There shouldn't be, for one very big reason. There are just so many federal, state, and local departments who are entrusted to protect and serve the citizens of New Orleans. Think of how many there are. I am asking readers here to submit any entries I may miss. But check this out: In New Orleans alone there are over 15 entities which are ARMED and charged with protecting some part or all of the community.

New Orleans Police Department
Orleans Parish Sheriff's Department (Criminal)
Orleans Parish Sheriff's Department (Civil)
Louisiana State Police
Orleans Parish Levee Board Police
Crescent City Connection Police
Harbor Police
City Park Police
Tulane University Medical Center Police
Louisiana State University Medical Center Police
Tulane University Police
FBI
ATF
Louisiana National Guard (especially post-Katrina)
U.S. Army (post-Katrina)

There are more, I am sure. All of these "jurisdictions" charged with "protecting and serving" some or all of us. Most, especially the local entities, are useless wastes of taxpayer money. The NOPD is only good for crowd control during Mardi Gras. The criminal Sheriff's office couldn't find its way along any street beyond Tulane Avenue, where the courthouse is. The State Police are a bunch of scared white boys from Walker and Denham Springs, and Nachitoches who can't bring themselves to patrol unless there are 4 of them together.

If all of these departments together can't keep the crime rate down, what recourse do we have to fight? Maybe Mr. Clio is right; arm the children. Seems everyone else is armed and dangerous. Dangerous to everyone else except the criminals.

rizzo