Stories (Page 3)

Gary died on June 14, 2005. Our thoughts and prayers to his wife Sarah. From Sarah: Gary certainly was a fighter and never let the disease stop him doing what he wanted to do. He even built a fish-pond in April of this year (whilst on chemotherapy) and also managed a precious family holiday, with me, the kids and his sister, to Greece this May (even though he was extremely breathless, on morphine and in a great deal of pain). He never felt sorry for himself and was always smiling and joking throughout all his treatments. I am so proud and thankful to have beenRead More →

Robert L. Humbel Robert Louis Humbel passed away peacefully December 3, 2005 in his home as he wanted. He has had thymic cancer for four years and it was his time. On August 12, 2002, I reported to my local Network Provider for my HMO reporting a breathing problem. A mass was discovered on an x-ray, note was made of it but no follow up was done because I didn’t know about the note or the mass. I especially bring up the subject of HMO because the second hospital was a non-network provider. The medical bills from that facility were over $150,000. Insurance paid roughlyRead More →

Jan Headberg tomboybt@yahoo.com or jheadberg@madbbs.com My name is Jan, age 50. I went on this site once, along time ago. My background was working in an Air Force Lab with chemicals for almost 16 years. Medical History of Sarcoidosis. I found out this past year I have Invasive Epithelial Thymic Thymoma, Stage 4 and Myasthenia Gravis. Now they are thinking it is something other than MG. My blood is now being tested in England. I have had 4 cycles of chemotherapy, Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin and Cisplatin. No help, just a lot of missing hair. I guess like many of you, I have been told I amRead More →

Here is the short version of my wife Jeannie’s losing battle with cancer. Her primary medical oncologist first diagnosed lymphoma, soon changed it to lung cancer–and then held steadfast to that diagnosis despite the fact that two of his colleagues (a radiation oncologist and a pulmonary oncology specialist) at the Helen Graham Cancer Center here in Delaware believed it was thymic cancer, and two older, very experienced and well-respected physicians (a medical oncologist and a thoracic surgeon/oncology specialist) at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia confirmed that it was indeed “thymic,” not lung cancer. At every point, we were told that it did not *matter,*Read More →

I was diagnosed with Thymic Carcinoma in July 2002 after my Doctor noticed something in the front of my neck. After an ultrasound in emergency they found that I had blood clots in my juggular vein and a vein across my shoulder. I was only 39 and when they did the CT scan they found that I had a tumour the size of a tennis ball that had wrapped itself around my superior vena cava (which caused the blood clots). It took 34 days to diagnos and then I had to remain on blood thinner shots (one a day to my tummy)until they decided ifRead More →

I am a 44 yo white male. I have a rare one. An atypical carcinoid (neuroendocrine tumor)of my thymus. No symptoms and discovered by accident on 9/3/03 on an xray taken after a freak fall down some stairs. Surgical biopsy and subsequent resection on 11/3/03, included the 5cm x 5cm x 4cm tumor, the upper lobe of my left lung, a portion of the pericardium, remainder of my Thymus gland, and several lymph nodes and fatty tissue. No malignancy detected in anything removed other than the tumor itself and one of the five lymph nodes. Excerpts from surgical pathology report: Classified as a grade 2Read More →

John passed away August 28, 2005. Our thoughts and prayers to Teresa and her family. John is a 46 year old engineer. We have 3 children; a daughter, 22, beginning law school this Fall; a son, 20, in college; and another daughter ,7, in second grade this Fall. John has worked full time throughout his illness up until this May. Now, he is on disability. I go to all of his doctor’s appointments and always stay with him in the hospital. Thanksgiving weekend 2001, broke a rib. Christmas day 2001, had an x ray in the emergency room for the same broken rib and theyRead More →

Karen passed away in August 2004. I was diagnosed with thymic carcinoma late last year, stage IVB with lymph node metastasis. To date I have undergone six rounds of chemo (carbo and taxotere). I have to meet with my doctor to determine the next step. Are there either patients or physicians whom I could contact to discuss what to do? My doctor doesn’t seem very hopeful. One of the worst things is that i just feel so alone. I’ve had chemo but not radiation. My doctor is waiting to see what the chemo does and is also hoping to put me on Iressa when itRead More →

Hi, I’m Karri. a 43 year old female. I have been diagnosed with thymic carcinoma. I had surgery December 15,2004 at Harrison Memorial Hospital in Bremerton, Washington. The surgeon said he removed a mass the size of his closed fist. The heart muscle, larynx, and into neck were coated with a substance like “spilled tapioca pudding.” (surgeon’s quotes) He was able to get all of the coating except at the back of the heart muscle between the main heart valve. He also removed three enlarged lymph nodes in the left shoulder – two were benign and the other malignant. Some nerves in the diaphragm hadRead More →

See www.caringbridge.org/nc/katelynntreakle for details My 10yr old daughter is undergoing testing for suspected thymic carcinoid. She has had positive blood work and scans and the uptake in the octreoscan and in the PET scan are in the thymus area. The insurance will not allow us to go out of state unless the local doc can’t handle it. Any helpful info would be so appreciated. There are a couple of docs listed as knowing more than others but no locations mentioned. We live in Charlotte NC Thank you so much MariaRead More →