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Old 11-18-2009, 12:16 PM   #6
StephN
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Misty woods of WA State
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Re: New mammo guides - more pushback

Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN this morning.
Had an interview with a female member of that "panel".

She is said to be a head nurse someplace and was very inarticulate and slow to answer his tough, tough questions. She admitted that they were making the recs based on statistics. He bristled and I could see him wanted to shout that "people are more than statistics!"

He was ramming at her with the question of the tradeoff of a "small percentage" of lives the would not be saved versus the money saved going elsewhere in the medical or research fields. He got her to say that she was NOT saying those few lives are not worth being saved. But she could not answer with any ease on that, because she knew she was shooting down the reasoning she had just stated as to why to cut backon the screenings.

He also jabbed at her on the idea being put forth that fewer mammos will result in fewer false positives and less anxiety for the women being double checked. She did not have a good answer when he turned the statement around saying the peace of mind gained and the vigilance to a suspicious area might be worth more to the women involved. Such as their lives?

The representative of the panel did not come off well. HA! I was gleeful!
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MY STORY SO FAR ~~~~
Found suspicious lump 9/2000
Lumpectomy, then node dissection and port placement
Stage IIB, 8 pos nodes of 18, Grade 3, ER & PR -
Adriamycin 12 weekly, taxotere 4 rounds
36 rads - very little burning
3 mos after rads liver full of tumors, Stage IV Jan 2002, one spot on sternum
Weekly Taxol, Navelbine, Herceptin for 27 rounds to NED!
2003 & 2004 no active disease - 3 weekly Herceptin + Zometa
Jan 2005 two mets to brain - Gamma Knife on Jan 18
All clear until treated cerebellum spot showing activity on Jan 2006 brain MRI & brain PET
Brain surgery on Feb 9, 2006 - no cancer, 100% radiation necrosis - tumor was still dying
Continue as NED while on Herceptin & quarterly Zometa
Fall-2006 - off Zometa - watching one small brain spot (scar?)
2007 - spot/scar in brain stable - finished anticoagulation therapy for clot along my port-a-catheter - 3 angioplasties to unblock vena cava
2008 - Brain and body still NED! Port removed and scans in Dec.
Dec 2008 - stop Herceptin - Vaccine Trial at U of W begun in Oct. of 2011
STILL NED everywhere in Feb 2014 - on wing & prayer
7/14 - Started twice yearly Zometa for my bones
Jan. 2015 checkup still shows NED
2015 Neuropathy in feet - otherwise all OK - still NED.
Same news for 2016 and all of 2017.
Nov of 2017 - had small skin cancer removed from my face. Will have Zometa end of Jan. 2018.
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