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
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I am a 45-year-old male and the father of five. I have been fighting cancer for seven years and I am desperate and out of options as far as I know. I would like to give you a brief history of my situation in hopes that you will contact me with some direction as to where to go.
In 1997 I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Subsequently, I was treated with radiation and chemotherapy. After five years of being on and off of chemotherapy the doctor told me there was nothing more he could do for me and sent me to another hospital for a trial drug called Iressa. When I went to see the doctor that was overseeing the program he said that I did not have lung cancer. The condition I was suffering from was thymic cancer.
After confirming the thymic cancer, my records were sent to several institutions in the United States. I was having problems breathing and walking because the tumor had grown larger and was pushing on my aorta and other organs. It was very difficult to find a surgeon to resect the tumor because it was so close to major organs and it was hard to say what damage had been done by the radiation I had received (6000 Rads).
Finally, we found a surgeon willing to try and help me. After 10 1/2 hours of surgery the doctor thought he had gotten it all.
Recently, during a routine CAT scan, two spots were found on my liver. I went back on chemotherapy. The chemotherapy was making no difference on the tumors so we decided to try a procedure called RFA.
One month after the procedure a PET scan was ordered. The two small tumors on my liver still showed on the scan along with a spot from where the surgery was done on my chest and a spot in my groin area. Now they want me to get on the drug Iressa because they have nowhere else to turn.
I am not willing to give up and I feel that if the right person reads this, it may very well save my life! I would like to thank you for reading this and my family and I pray that there is someway you can help me.
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Chris Points – Medical Review
October 1997 – Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital – Pathology Report
Mediastinal Mass – Fibrous tissue with poorly differentiated carcinoma.
Stage IIIB. – Unknown primary with mediastinal involvement – No areas of squamous or glandular differentiation.
October through December 1997 – Chemotherapy
• Carboplatin
• VP 16
• Cisplatin
October 1997 through March 1998 – Chemotherapy & Radiation
• Cisplatin
• 5,940 centigray radiation to anterior mediastinum
March 2002 through September 2002 – Chemotherapy
• Carboplatinum
• Taxol
April 2002 – Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN
• Peter Pairolero, Thoracic Surgeon refers to Thymic Carcinoma in a letter to oncologist (we are unaware of this until recently).
May 2002 – PET Scan & CT Scan
• Reports a poorly differentiated carcinoma with large focal area on right side of mediastinum
June 2002 – We request second opinion
• Oncologist informs us records sent to Minnie Pearl Cancer Center in Nashville, TN and to M.D. Anderson
August 2002 – Minnie Pearl Cancer Center – Dr. Pass
• Told not resectable due to involvement with vital structures
September 2002
• Called a non-small cell lung cancer
• We begin looking for a Thorasic Surgeon to resect tumor
October 2002
Oncologist says no more radiation and further chemotherapy would not benefit.
October 2002 – Creighton University – Dr. Arcidi
• Does not represent a primary lung cancer based on patient’s longevity and absence of any lung parenchymal masses.
• Tumor two-thirds removed for biopsy. Biopsy showed “Mediastinal mass, poorly differentiated carcinoma, favor thymic primary.”
• Differential diagnosis should include basaloid squamous cell carcinoma and indifferentiated carcinoma.”
February 2003 – Second Opinion – Dr. Laxmi Buddharaju (Dr. Budd)
• Suspicion poorly differentiated germ cell neoplasm of mediastinum, thymic carcinoma, or thymic carcinoid. Sending records to Indiana University Medical Center…
• IUMC confirms misdiagnosis of Lung Cancer, rather primary thymic carcinoma.
June 2003 – Chemotherapy
• Mesna
• VP16
• Ifosfamide
October 2003 – Dr. Arcidi – Creighton University Med. Center – Omaha, NE
• Radical resection of thymic carcinoma invading the pericardium, superier vena cava and right pulmonary hilum.
December 2003 – January 2004 – Chemotherapy
• Cyclophosphamide
• Etoposide
• Cisplatin
• Doxorubicin
April 2004 – CT Scan – Metasis Found
• two spots on liver
• one lymphnode in groin
April 2004 through July 2004 – Chemotherapy
• VP 16
• Efosfamide
• Mesna
August 2004
• RFA Surgery
• Interventional Radiology Center – Methodist Hospital – Dr. Van Marcus
October 2004
• PET Scan
• Notified metasis still present in liver
• Chemotherapy no longer effective
October 25, 2004
• Start Iressa
November 2004
• Monitoring Blood Counts