From the Heart and Mind of Barnabas

“On the banks of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who on the dawn of victory sat down to rest, and in resting died.”

If memory still serves me, I trust I have quoted that correctly. I must have been on the authors mind, for I have hesitated for well over a month to publish this issue of C-Word.

This is to be the last issue of this four-year adventure. There is no lack of interest in things cancer-related. There is no lessening of hope and encouragement. There are only compelling health issues that have said to me for some time, “Barnabas, it’s time to back away.” (Not the least of which is going back to correct typos caused by my arthritic hands.)

I want to assure all of you who have supported, cared and encouraged the efforts of C-Word that you are and will be much in my continuing prayers.

Together we shall all continue to pray for and look for the new insights, new medicine advances and procedures, and the exciting research being done in world-wide institutions and laboratories which will one day see the end of that dreaded c-word.

So, thank you sincerely for being with me on the journey. God’s blessings be with all of you. Keep on surviving.

Your surviving friend, Barnabas

Back to the Future: Issue One

It was called an epistle of new intention which arose out of my first diagnosis of prostate cancer. It arose out of my instinct to be an encourager (thus the pen name Barnabas) to all involved in any way in the cancer scene.

These sentences from page one tell of that intention. :...like old Job, we feel alone in our affliction: ‘If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his throne and talk with him there,(Job 23:3) Perhaps something, somewhere in this effort will give you a clue of where to find and talk to God.” If anything like that has happened to you through Horizons of Hope, I am delighted, and thank God.

In that first issue, and in some subsequent issues, there appeared this
version of the

Cancer Credo

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the spirit.
It cannot lessen the power of the Resurrection.

I might even suggest to you to post this on your bulletin board or fridge door as an encourager.

In Issue One there was a book suggestion: “Journey Into Day-Meditations for New Cancer Patients,” Rusty Freeman; Judson Press, Valley Forge, PA, 19482-0851, ISBN 0-8170-1350-4.

Here is my final recommendation, also from Judson Press (1-800-4-JUDSON):
“Battling Prostate Cancer -Getting From “Why Me” to “What Next.”

There followed suggestions for contributions to cancer research and treatment, and for local support groups (check for those in you own community), and ended with web sites for computer internet surfers. There are “tons” of web sites out there. The best and most reliable are university, hospital, government, and cancer foundation sites.

That first issue was dedicated “to my good and long-time friend, and fellow-afflicted on the journey, Bill Moser,” who has since passed into the Heavenly Father’s House of Eternal Healing.

Now, enough of reminiscing–on to the present and future.

“Faith lifts the shattered hopes once more, and binds them fast to the feet of God.”
...Streams in the Desert

Meet the People

A note came from a friend of mine, Colleen, a cancer survivor. She had a severe fall that broke a vertebra that was repaired by cement-medical, not construction).

Her comment is “Thank God for the technology to put us clumsy folks back together again...Keep up the good work as “Barnabas.” You truly inspire and give helpful knowledge. In the name of God’s great love.

Well, Colleen, Barnabas may no longer publish, but will continue the encouragement of hope.

Next, meet Connor, a 4 year old lad, the son of Travis and Brandee in Oregon. Connor is under treatment for childhood leukemia (lukeNia, he calls it). His treatment is so far going quite well, even though Connor is enduring lots of harsh treatments, most delivered through those nasty “pokeys.” He’s a wise boy.

He was recently heard telling a little friend who was experiencing some unpleasant situation that he would just have to do it even though he did not like it, just like he had to do his “pokeys.” If you have an extra prayer, send it heaven-ward for Connor, his younger brother, mom and dad in Oregon.

Reports on the Disease

There are many kinds of cancer. Most all have their origin in cells gone wild and rogue regardless of where it seeks to abide, like the prostate cancer that recurred of reside in my spine. Here are some recent reports.

Colon Cancer

This is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the USA. Latest studies have questioned some of the standard risk factors, like high fiber diet.

Dana Farber Cancer Institute in boston says the main risk factors still remain the same: lack of exercise, too much red meat, overweight, smoking, low veggie intake, too much booze, and not enough folate. Each of these independently can increase your chances of colon cancer.

Research has a fairly clear understanding of what causes it, but trying to prevent it is still in debate. One element is a “slam dunk,” say the experts – screening and early detection. Side effects of chemo are often as devastating to folk as the cancer itself, and so some quit their chemo treatments too early.

Too soon can be as bad as no chemo. “A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that late-stage colon cancer patients who had five to seven months of chem survived twice as long as did the 31% who dropped out after one to four months.” Reasons noted were physical frailty, medical complications, and lack of psychological support.

Skin Cancer

Summer is upon us. That means more bare skin for more folk. Mayo Clinic says that more than ½ of all new cancers diagnosed are skin cancers. Squamous and basal cell cancers are more common, but melanoma is the most dangerous, and often fatal.

The American Academy of Dermatology calls it an unrecognized epidemic. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in his or her lifetime. If you have had 5 or more sunburns, it doubles your chances. “Typically, 90 percent of non-melanoma cancers develop on sun-exposed skin, such as the head and neck.”

Now, isn’t there a clue there? Avoid long sun exposure, use high number suns screen, avoid
tanning light. Make it your summer activity to avoid skin cancer – and that leathery look. Protect your DNA.

And particularly protect the children.

Lung Cancer

“One day, a man who smoked for several years looked out of the window and saw that it was raining Rather than go to the store to pick up another pack, he decided enough was enough. Another man accidently dropped his cigarette in his drink at a party, much to the disgust of his host. He thought, 'Those damn things,' and has never smoked since.”

These are but two stories of many heard by Dr. Lynne Larabie, a Canadian researcher. She began to research cold turkey quitting, and found it more effective that motivational tapes and New Year’s resolutions. The conclusion of a number of these studies: to quit smoking, just stop.

Eighty to ninety percent of all lung cancers are caused by smoking

Cancer Vaccines

If you were a woman worried about cervical cancer wouldn’t you appreciate protection that was no more invasive than a flu shot? Two types of HPV (human papilloma virus) cause 70% of all cervical cancers, and kills 270,000 women worldwide each year, 4000 of them in the USA.

A new vaccine from Merck called Gardasil kills these two types of HPV 100% of the time. As US News and World Report says, “This is a historic moment: the first real attempt to wipe a cancer off the face of the planet.” A similar vaccine from Glaxo Smith Kline (Cervarix) is headed for FDA approval this year.

Now, Guys, here’s the good news for you. Other cancers may also soon be a needle poke away. These vaccines do not prevent cancer from beginning, but attack tumors already existing, killing them or stopping them from growing. One therapeutic vaccine has shown success against advanced prostate cancer and promises to extend lives longer than the best therapy we now have.

The new vaccine called Provenge guides immune cells in a search and destroy mission against the prostate tumor. The vaccine encounters tumor killing T-cells and shows them cancer molecules. They assault the molecules and destroy them. This is one of those new targeted therapies.

Hang in there fellows! Ain’t research wonderful?

Breast Cancer News

Factors that contribute to risk for Bca include aging, family history of the cancer, having no children, previous breast biopsies, and ones first period at an early age. Nine million postmenopausal women are at high risk and 4% will develop it within 5 years.

A drug that is now used to prevent osteoporosis (Evista) has been shown to cut in half a woman’s risk after menopause. Tamoxifen, for a long time the drug of choice, over time has some serious side effects, notably uterine cancer and blood clots. Evista (raloxifene) appears t o be a safer choice. It does not, however seem to decrease the risk of two types of early-stage breast cancer.

Tamoxifen does decrease the risk of these two. (Healthology)

Heating Cancer

Another new tool is on the horizon to fight cancer. It has been around since creation, and it’s called heat. A clinical trial at Duke University Medical Center is using hyperthermia to assist radiation and chemo destroy cancer tumors improving standard treatments.

The temperatures of the instrument, which is sort of like microwave, is a range between 104 and 113 degrees F. With that range, the effect sought is there without burning tissue. The heat weakens the tumor in two ways. It damages tumor cells and makes them more vulnerable to chemo and radiation. With this action, 30 times more drug can be delivered to a tumor than just the drug itself.

The Duke team is using the procedure on stubborn cancers like breast, melanoma, cervical, and ovarian. As they go along in the trials, they design and develop intricate heating systems. It is expected that in several months they will be able to use some new equipment to heat up entire bodies in people whose cancers have metasticized.

After their experiments are complete, the team will seek FDA approval and marketing. Heat may not necessarily cure, but can have dramatic anti-tumor effects. For someone with prostate cancer metasticized to the spine, that last experiment gives me warm thoughts. (CBS News)

Cancer as a Metaphor

Suzanne Lindley, at 31, was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer and declared terminal. She began to see her cancer as a metaphor for what was happening in her life. Battle, fight, war was the first metaphor she saw. Tests and treatments were seen as artillery barrages; cancer was the invading enemy. Even her doctors said her body was a land mine waiting to explode. (Is that really the best way to talk to a terminal patient?)

The metaphor began to mellow as she began to think of the cancer as a roller coaster ride without end, dips, twists, turns, even upside-down events. Suzanne began to cherish even the least straight bit of track.

Next she thought of it all as an incredible journey that has heaven as its destination depot. There are, of course, stops, different directions and course changes, just the end result does not change. She has said she discovered the trip is ultimately her own, and she can make it what she desires, knowing she will ultimately “walk in beauty and balance.”

Now she sees the metaphor as personal enhancement of her life, a wake-up call to self-discovery, knowing that tomorrow is never promised and today is a gift. She is reminded that there is only one certainty for any of us–we all die, all are terminal. We loose sight of that, and loose the spontaneity of life: the rising sun, the bright full moon, the changing season, the fresh morning dew, to friend, lover, family nearby. And we forget the hope is ever present. To say there is no hope is just someone’s opinion, doctors or your own. Yours is the key to hope. Embrace the present and live it wholly. That is where hope lives. Simply be thankful for now.

Suzanne believes life is what she makes of it, and cancer is a metaphor for life. How do you see it?

Disclaimer

Nothing in this issue is to be considered diagnostic. Always check with your physician on health problems.

Now, in the words from “The Sound of Music”-
“Adieu, adieu, adieu, kind friends, adieu....”