Stories (Page 2)

Alan Blaustein My name is Alan Blaustein and I was diagnosed with stage IVa thymus cancer on May 18, 2005 (by the way, I also have thyroid cancer). Since that time I have had surgery to remove the thymus and half of my left lung. The disease still exists in my chest cavity, diaphragm and left lung. I am having PAC chemotherapy at the suggestion of Dr. Loehrer. I began treatment at Sloan Kettering on July 5. They’ve worked with Dr. Loehrer in the past and everyone (including Pat) is in agreement that treatment locally with him as an extensive resource is the way toRead More →

Alessandro Marzi Hi group, my name is Alessandro Marzi, I’m 38 years old from Rome, Italy, and following is my story. I was diagnosed with Thymic Carcinoma in July 1997, after a rx made for another reason. I received my first surgery to remove a mediastinic mass (10x7x5), part of left lung, part of succlavia, part of pericardium and phrenicum. After surgery i have received radiation (about 5000 G) and chemo (six cycles of Cisplatinum and Epi). In November 2000, due to some doubt about the course of follow up, I decide to change my doctor and go to IEO in Milano (Italy), probably oneRead More →

My sister Amy was diagnosed with a malignant Thymoma in August 2002. She and her husband in Cincinnati, OH had just purchased their dream home in July and Amy was just too tired and sick to unpack. She had hives covering her body, but the family physician said there was nothing wrong with her–it was all in the mind!–and that it would clear up once the stress of the move was done. Only problem is, it didn’t. Amy finally received a referral to see an allergist, and he recommended a chest xray. A spot showed up on her lung. She went in for a biopsy,Read More →

Barbara Canfora In June of this year, I was told I have Thymic Carcinoma. It was found in a CT Scan. I am female and 56 years old. I have had surgery, 33 radiation treatments and so far 3 sessions of chemo. I have my last session of chemo on 12/1-3. I am on Cisplatin and Etopaside. bcanfora@aol.comRead More →

After reading the horror stories this disease brought upon us I thought I would share my story. I was diagnosed Jan 04 with stage IVb Thymic Carsanoma. I also had pneumonia, anemia and periocarditis when I showed up at the emergency room (PS I am a male 36 years old and was in excellent shape prior). After the biopsy surgery I needed surgery to remove the tumor (11×16×7 mm in size) in my chest. First, I needed heart surgery for the pericarditis, I had about two liters of fluid drained. After that they next removed the tumor (along with my left frenetic nerve) and startedRead More →

2005 Chris passed away on April 18th….the kids and I miss him terribly, but are going on as best we can. There is a terrible void in all of our lives that will never be filled. He turned 46 on April 12th and we celebrated our Wedding anniversary on the 13th. I am hopeful that someday we will find a cure for this terrible disease. I pray even more now, in hopes that Chris can hear me too. God Bless you and yours. Jamie —————— I am a 45-year-old male and the father of five. I have been fighting cancer for seven years and IRead More →

I am a 28-year old male. I was diagnosed with Cushing’s in November of 2003 after I went from 6’5″ 210 lbs. and 8% bodyfat to 6′ 3″ 225 lbs and 25% (I guess my back started curving making me shorter.) I had all of the classic symptoms of Cushing’s (you name it, I had it). I had surgery in December 2003 to remove my thymus, the 8x5x4 cm tumor surrounding it, and 2 lymph nodes. It was deemed an atypical thymic carcinoid. I then underwent chemotherapy with Etoposide and Cisplatin followed by radiation therapy. All of my chemo and radiation doses were the highestRead More →

My husband Danny fell and hurt his shoulder in November and the doctor ordered an x-ray on his shoulder to see if he had any damage or just bruised. His shoulder turned out to be bruised, but there was a spot on the xray that he wanted to have checked out. After visiting several other doctors and more xrays and CT scans they said he had a possible Thymoma and sent him to a Cardiovascular/Thoracic Surgeon. This doctor ordered a biopsy, which came back inconclusive. Since the tumor was so close to the heart they decided to do surgery (same as open heart surgery)on DecemberRead More →

Elaine Ciminna I just finished 3 cycles of treatment with cisplatin but had some awful side effects. My hearing has suffered and I’m loosing feeling in my fingers. I’ll be seeing my thoracic surgeon on Monday to see if he feels my thymoma is operable yet. (Notice I said yet…..I’m thinking positively). If not I guess it will be more chemo for me. I’m putting off radiation as long as possible. Happy holiday wishes to all, Elaine Ciminna New York champk9@aol.com Update: Well the decision is in regarding the next step in my treatment. The chemo did not achieve the results we had hoped for.Read More →

Giulio, Fede’s husband. Sadly, Fede passed away recently. Giulio and Fede are Italian. Her complete story is below in both an Italian and an English version. The English version is an automatic translation done on-line, so please excuse its condition. La malattia incomincia molto prima del sintomo, ma sembra che nessuno lo ricordi o lo insegni. 03/03/2005 La storia di Federica non è a lieto fine. Quello che viene presentato qui è solo Il resoconto del suo ultimo anno di vita; questa descrizione non vi dirà chi era Federica, ma come ha vissuto il suo dramma. In realtà chi l’ha conosciuta sa che Federica haRead More →