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MAPS: Fwd: 6/5 update on Terence
I am forwarding this message from Dennis McKenna. If anyone wants to reply to
him, please do so directly at: DJMcKenna@xxxxxxx
NOTE: DUE TO COMPUTER PROBLEMS AND TRAVEL PROBLEMS IT HAS NOT BEEN
POSSIBLE TO SEND THIS BULLETIN UNTIL TODAY, SATURDAY, JUNE 6, ALTHOUGH IT
WAS WRITTEN ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3. THE REPORT IS STILL CURRENT; TERENCE IS
DOING WELL AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS SINCE WEDNESDAY.
To All,
This is a further brief update on Terence, from his brother Dennis.
Terence has had the first "intervention" for his cancer, in the form of the
"gamma-knife" radiation treatment, which was performed Tuesday at the St.
Francis Hospital in Honolulu. We decided to proceed with this treatment
after thoroughly evaluating other options. We came to the conclusion that
this was the least invasive and most effective procedure in terms of the need
to meet three criteria: 1. To do something *now* to begin to arrest or slow
the growth of the tumor; 2. following the "first, do no harm" doctrine, this
treatment will do the least harm and at the same time will not preclude
Terence from further treatments of an alternative or conventional nature,
including experimental treatments. 3. It "buys time" -- maximum time for
Terence with maximum quality of life; and time for us to continue researching
and evaluating other treatments that can be brought into play at any time, or
whenever appropriate.
The treatment yesterday was apparently completely successful. Terence
suffered no immediate ill effects and was able to spend the night at home
rather than in the hospital. Our post-op meeting with the Drs. confirmed
this; they are pleased with the outcome so far.
The protocol for the gamma knife treatment requires that Terence also undergo
a further series of "soft" radiation treatments, basically focused
x-irradiation treatments of the portions of his brain adjacent to the tumor,
to kill residual cancer cells in those areas. This treatment will take about
6 weeks (30 total treatments spread over that time-frame) and although we
have not made a final decision, we're leaning toward carrying out that part
of the treatment here in Honolulu. Due to the kindness of friends, T and
Christy have an apartment to stay in here, and can easily reach the hospital.
On the Big Island, the nearest treatment center is in Hilo, and since they
are daily treatments, he would have to either commute from his home on the
Kona side every day (too much travel) or find an apartment in Hilo and stay
there 5 days a week. Given the options it seems to make the most sense to
remain in Honolulu for the treatments. He will be able to spend weekends on
the Big Island if he feels up for it.
Spirits are high here, as is hope and even joy. We've now entered a new
phase, we have "struck a blow" against this terrible thing and now we have
(hopefully) bought some time, to develop a further strategy and put a plan
into action. Please keep sending all your good thoughts, good vibes and
prayers coming; we need those things, they are the most important of all and
believe me we do appreciate it.
This may be the last, or nearly the last, of these somewhat irregular emailed
bulletins. Further bulletins will continue to be generated but will be
posted at www.levity.com/eschaton instead of sent in broadcast emails.
Keep an eye on that site for on-going developments and fast-breaking news.
There should be something posted there within the next 48 hours, and there
will be regular updates after that.
Also, we are trying to implement a slightly less chaotic process of gathering
information and evaluating suggestions for treatments. Many of you have
approached us with ideas for alternative therapies; we welcome all
suggestions and dismiss none of them out of hand. However, in instances
where the treatments involve experimental medications, and/or in some cases
herbal therapies, and/or invasive treatments such as surgery, our consensus
is that we will make decisions and choose options *only* on the basis of full
information, after evaluating the information very carefully, and probably
also after bringing Terence's physicians into the consultation. His
physicians are completely open to alternative treatments of all sorts *if*
there is evidence that 1. they will not be harmful and 2. there is some basis
to think that they may help. In this connection, we must be very concerned
that any alternative treatments chosen for Terence do not preclude him from
eligibility for other treatments, some of which are part of experimental
protocols. The qualification criteria to get a patient into certain
protocols are sometimes quite strict, and depend on previous treatments, what
medications they have received, etc. So we've adopted a policy that we will
not precipitately rush into any treatment without investigating it thoroughly
first, and making sure that it will not preclude T from other treatments down
the road which may be even more promising.
So, having said that, I want also re re-emphasize that we do welcome any and
all suggestions, but also ask that you respect our option to evaluate them on
our own terms and in some cases, choose not to implement them. This does not
mean we do not value them! It does however provide a filter that friends of
Terence can apply on their own to decide whether a potential treatment is
worth bring to our attention. Particularly, treatments which must be done in
a rush, and without full information available or on the basis of sketchy
details will simply not be considered until we have the information we need
to make a decision. If you have a treatment that you know about that you
really feel may be promising and worth looking into, you can be most helpful
to the process if you can supply enough information on it to make evaluation
possible *or* supply references to publications, websites, and other
information resources so we can access them and decide for ourselves whether
the proposed treatment should be pursued.
Its now two days since I began writing this, and events have kept me from
finishing it until now. Apologize for anyhing out of date, but it looks like
this bulletin is still more or less current.
Stay tuned to the website at www.levity.com/eschaton for further bulletins.
This is Terence's brother Dennis, sending love to all.
--- Begin Message ---
NOTE: DUE TO COMPUTER PROBLEMS AND TRAVEL PROBLEMS IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE
TO SEND THIS BULLETIN UNTIL TODAY, SATURDAY, JUNE 6, ALTHOUGH IT WAS WRITTEN
ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3. THE REPORT IS STILL CURRENT; TERENCE IS DOING WELL AND
THERE HAVE BEEN NO MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS SINCE WEDNESDAY.
To All,
This is a further brief update on Terence, from his brother Dennis.
Terence has had the first "intervention" for his cancer, in the form of the
"gamma-knife" radiation treatment, which was performed Tuesday at the St.
Francis Hospital in Honolulu. We decided to proceed with this treatment
after thoroughly evaluating other options. We came to the conclusion that
this was the least invasive and most effective procedure in terms of the need
to meet three criteria: 1. To do something *now* to begin to arrest or slow
the growth of the tumor; 2. following the "first, do no harm" doctrine, this
treatment will do the least harm and at the same time will not preclude
Terence from further treatments of an alternative or conventional nature,
including experimental treatments. 3. It "buys time" -- maximum time for
Terence with maximum quality of life; and time for us to continue researching
and evaluating other treatments that can be brought into play at any time, or
whenever appropriate.
The treatment yesterday was apparently completely successful. Terence
suffered no immediate ill effects and was able to spend the night at home
rather than in the hospital. Our post-op meeting with the Drs. confirmed
this; they are pleased with the outcome so far.
The protocol for the gamma knife treatment requires that Terence also undergo
a further series of "soft" radiation treatments, basically focused
x-irradiation treatments of the portions of his brain adjacent to the tumor,
to kill residual cancer cells in those areas. This treatment will take about
6 weeks (30 total treatments spread over that time-frame) and although we
have not made a final decision, we're leaning toward carrying out that part
of the treatment here in Honolulu. Due to the kindness of friends, T and
Christy have an apartment to stay in here, and can easily reach the hospital.
On the Big Island, the nearest treatment center is in Hilo, and since they
are daily treatments, he would have to either commute from his home on the
Kona side every day (too much travel) or find an apartment in Hilo and stay
there 5 days a week. Given the options it seems to make the most sense to
remain in Honolulu for the treatments. He will be able to spend weekends on
the Big Island if he feels up for it.
Spirits are high here, as is hope and even joy. We've now entered a new
phase, we have "struck a blow" against this terrible thing and now we have
(hopefully) bought some time, to develop a further strategy and put a plan
into action. Please keep sending all your good thoughts, good vibes and
prayers coming; we need those things, they are the most important of all and
believe me we do appreciate it.
This may be the last, or nearly the last, of these somewhat irregular emailed
bulletins. Further bulletins will continue to be generated but will be
posted at www.levity.com/eschaton instead of sent in broadcast emails.
Keep an eye on that site for on-going developments and fast-breaking news.
There should be something posted there within the next 48 hours, and there
will be regular updates after that.
Also, we are trying to implement a slightly less chaotic process of gathering
information and evaluating suggestions for treatments. Many of you have
approached us with ideas for alternative therapies; we welcome all
suggestions and dismiss none of them out of hand. However, in instances
where the treatments involve experimental medications, and/or in some cases
herbal therapies, and/or invasive treatments such as surgery, our consensus
is that we will make decisions and choose options *only* on the basis of full
information, after evaluating the information very carefully, and probably
also after bringing Terence's physicians into the consultation. His
physicians are completely open to alternative treatments of all sorts *if*
there is evidence that 1. they will not be harmful and 2. there is some basis
to think that they may help. In this connection, we must be very concerned
that any alternative treatments chosen for Terence do not preclude him from
eligibility for other treatments, some of which are part of experimental
protocols. The qualification criteria to get a patient into certain
protocols are sometimes quite strict, and depend on previous treatments, what
medications they have received, etc. So we've adopted a policy that we will
not precipitately rush into any treatment without investigating it thoroughly
first, and making sure that it will not preclude T from other treatments down
the road which may be even more promising.
So, having said that, I want also re re-emphasize that we do welcome any and
all suggestions, but also ask that you respect our option to evaluate them on
our own terms and in some cases, choose not to implement them. This does not
mean we do not value them! It does however provide a filter that friends of
Terence can apply on their own to decide whether a potential treatment is
worth bring to our attention. Particularly, treatments which must be done in
a rush, and without full information available or on the basis of sketchy
details will simply not be considered until we have the information we need
to make a decision. If you have a treatment that you know about that you
really feel may be promising and worth looking into, you can be most helpful
to the process if you can supply enough information on it to make evaluation
possible *or* supply references to publications, websites, and other
information resources so we can access them and decide for ourselves whether
the proposed treatment should be pursued.
Its now two days since I began writing this, and events have kept me from
finishing it until now. Apologize for anyhing out of date, but it looks like
this bulletin is still more or less current.
Stay tuned to the website at www.levity.com/eschaton for further bulletins.
This is Terence's brother Dennis, sending love to all.
--- End Message ---