My 15 Minutes of Fame (this is it, huh?)

Well, everyone is said to have their own 15 minutes of fame in a life time and here's mine. I was in the news paper this past week. It was for the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk, which takes place this Saturday. I got to talk a little bit about my sister and the problem of finding a cure for brain cancer. Hopefully, it helped the cause a little bit. That's all I can ask for.

A couple of months ago the "Events Specialist" for the walk called me to see if I would be willing to be interviewed for the Issaquah Press to help promote the walk this year. She somehow saw my blog from last year's event and thought I was a good candidate. I, of course, agreed. Anyway I can honor Jenny by helping others with the same disease is all good in my book.

The article was really great. Here's the link http://www.issaquahpress.com/2009/05/19/brain-cancer-remains-incurable-fatal/ if you didn't get a chance to see it. The reporter did a good job in conveying something that really bothers me about the research for brain cancer. Since it is such an obscure cancer compared to some other cancers it gets little in the way of money to help fund the research and development of new treatments. If there could be anywhere near the amount of money raised for brain cancer that is raised for other cancers, there would be some serious advancements. That is why breast cancer and prostate cancer sufferers are surviving at a much higher rate now. What a blessing! I understand brain cancer doesn't affect as many people, but it is a death sentence for a lot of patients. Advancements are always a good thing no matter what cancer!

There were a few misunderstood points in the article. Several of the finer points about Jenny's diagnosis and story were not quite on, like her age and circumstances. For example, she was able to have radiation therapy while pregnant with Phoenix which was quite possibly the route of treatment they would have chosen even if she hadn't been pregnant. I am of the opinion that she would still have had the same life expectancy had she not been pregnant. Anyway, that is a minor detail.

I do think the author made too broad of an assumption in saying that all brain cancer is deadly. A diagnosis of brain cancer, in and of itself, does not mean the patient should expect to die. However, the stage of brain cancer Jenny had, Glioblastoma, is usually fatal within 2 years. Glioblastoma is a term referred to patients with stage 4 cancer cells, or late-term cancer. When Jenny's tumor was biopsied it showed very few stage 4 cells but the oncologist told her that if the tumor contains any stage 4 cells at all they technically had to call it Glioblastoma. And it is true that the cancer almost always comes back even after treatment. I don't know for sure, but I would assume that a person with stage 1 or 2 brain cancer has a much better chance of eradicating the cells for good. But I'm no oncologist!

This was really a great experience for me. I hoped to really raise a lot of money for the walk this year! I'm way short of my goal, but that's okay. With family and the life of a mom always looming, I haven't had much time. I'm so excited to walk on Saturday!