Kennedys Surgeons Operate and Remove as Much of the Tumor as Possible .

**megimoo** · 06-02-2008, 09:35 PM

Doctors say Kennedy was awake during tumor removal

"There is little or no pain because there are no nerve endings in the brain to 'feel' pain "!

His surgeon said the operation met its goal: removing as much of the tumor as possible to give the radiation and chemotherapy he'll face next a better chance to help. snip

What's next: Kennedy will stay at Duke for about a week, then return to Boston for further treatment.
"Almost no malignant gliomas are cured by surgery, but many of us believe that the more you get out, the next treatments, whether they be radiation or chemotherapy, have a better chance of working because there's less tumor there to fight," Ewend said.

Typical radiation treatment is five days a week for a month, using 3D imaging techniques that narrowly deliver the beams to the tumor, affecting as little surrounding tissue as possible.

Kennedy also likely will receive the chemotherapy drug Temodar during and after radiation. It can cause typical chemo side effects — nausea, vomiting and fatigue — but treatments are much better for these than even a few years ago, doctors stressed.

Kennedy also may be treated with Avastin, a newer targeted drug to deprive the tumor of its blood supply, though this is still experimental as initial treatment, rather than after patients have relapsed.

Median survival for glioblastomas is 12 to 15 months, but the range is wide, said Dr. Mark Gilbert, a brain tumor expert at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080602/...rgeted_surgery

**lurkalot** · 06-02-2008, 09:38 PM

a doctor friend of mine told me once that a glioblastoma is like trying to remove a tumor that is the consistency of soft serve ice cream...
its one of the "kiss your ass goodbye" diagnosis on my list

**Jumpy** · 06-02-2008, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by lurkalot

a doctor friend of mine told me once that a glioblastoma is like trying to remove a tumor that is the consistency of soft serve ice cream...
its one of the "kiss your ass goodbye" diagnosis on my list

It does give the diagnosed time to say goodbyes.. and having lived a full life, being diagnosed in your late 70s is not the worst way to die, ya know?

Unfortunately, none of us get out alive.

**megimoo** · 06-02-2008, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by lurkalot

a doctor friend of mine told me once that a glioblastoma is like trying to remove a tumor that is the consistency of soft serve ice cream...
its one of the "kiss your ass goodbye" diagnosis on my list

Well at least he has twelve to fifteen months to sail his boat and drink all the booze he wants to.If it were me I would load up the boat on good single malt and choice food and head for nearest major sea storm I could find .

Or head the boat for the South Pole via Tierra Del Fuego and the South Polar seas that tend to run very strong and stormy .It beats the hell out of waiting for a slow death with the loss of mental capabilities ! All of that cimo crap they will feed him will delay the inevatible but he will be sick as a dog all of the time .Better to say screw it and accept his fate and live for a while as he wants,There are worse things than dying and GOD is good to us!

**lurkalot** · 06-02-2008, 10:13 PM

there are worse ways to go, I would not have chosen Chemo to delay the inevitable, but can understand his hoping against the odds.

**Jumpy** · 06-02-2008, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by megimoo

Well at least he has twelve to fifteen months to sail his boat and drink all the booze he wants to.If it were me I would load up the boat on good single malt and choice food and head for nearest major sea storm I could find .

Or head the boat for the South Pole via Tierra Del Fuego and the South Polar seas that tend to run very strong and stormy .It beats the hell out of waiting for a slow death with the loss of mental capabilities ! All of that cimo crap they will feed him will delay the inevatible but he will be sick as a dog all of the time .Better to say screw it and accept his fate and live for a while as he wants,There are worse things than dying and GOD is good to us!

I can't let that one pass by. You are talking Scotch, right? The stuff tastes like fire.. kerosene.. yuck yuck.. but that was another thread. /end of threadjack.

**megimoo** · 06-02-2008, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Jumpy

I can't let that one pass by. You are talking Scotch, right? The stuff tastes like fire.. kerosene.. yuck yuck.. but that was another thread. /end of threadjack.

It's an aquired taste just as Jack Daniels is ,but IW Harper is choice burbon !