Saturday, September 15, 2007

Whispers of Angels by Pavarotti

pavarotti whispers of angelsIt's getting quite clear now for me that Pavarotti's pancreatic cancer news is helping me to cope with father's loss and getting father's picture back to the foreground of my daily actions. Why Pavarotti?

Because Pavarotti had a powerful voice and that's what this blog is all about: being a powerful voice of cancer patients who don't have any strength anymore to power their voice!

Father was no opera singer, but he and his grandfather (who died having jaundice, so we can only speculate that probably he also had liver cancer and on top of that he died at exactly the same age like father)... Anyway, father and grandfather were very active singers in the local church community.

So it comes with a big detour but father is back to tell me I need to continue to raise awareness that cancer is amongst us and answer as much questions as possible. Because believe me: you can live all your live without much wondering until suddenly you are your loved one gets hit with cancer, and suddenly the questions come poring in.

Why so many questions? Because you can answer a lot but you cannot answer:

  • why a nice person gets picked to die an ugly cancer death

  • why anybody of us these days can get cancer so quickly

  • why human kind is supposedly so advanced, but has no clue why cells become tumors and cancer. After all, we are just a very organized bunch of cell, so what is so difficult that we can't even understand ourselves?

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Pancreatic cancer end stage symptoms

Be prepared that whatever you read in the books doesn't have to apply to yourself or the person you are taking care of. Although father had metastatic liver cancer he actually died of old age in his sleep with a smile on his face (meaning he was not in pain). Father didn't have jaundice and the water in his body never accumulated higher than his knees. This is considered "clean", although from my point of view, metastatic liver cancer still is a very ugly disease.


Pancreatic cancer end stage symptoms


We are no gossip blog so we wont reveal the last days of Pavarotti's pancreatic cancer. We will only talk in general.


If the cancer has spread too much to the surrounding organs and tissues, it would not be possible to completely remove the cancerous tumors by surgery. In which case, the primary goal of the physician or heath care personnel would be to provide treatments to make the patient more comfortable. This will include:



  1. Surgical bypass to ease some of the symptoms of jaundice and itching.

  2. Stent insertion in the bile duct to keep it open. This is normally done for patients who have metastatic cancer or who are very weak.

  3. Insulin therapy to help control the blood

  4. Pain management as the pain is a real concern in the later stages of the disease. Treatment with morphine or similar medications will provide relief in many cases.


Itching is said to be the last stage in metastatic liver cancer as well, so father never reached that stage, he never had jaundice either. Just normal tears in his eyes...

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Stage 4 pancreatic cancer

pavarotti pancreatic cancerI saw the funeral of Pavarotti the day before yesterday. Pavarotti whose voice was silenced by a pancreatic cancer. I was especially moved when Italian fighter jets flew over Pavarotti's hometown, leaving in their trail the colors of the Italian flag. Moved, because father was also in love with airplanes...


It also reminded me on fathers spread metastatic liver cancer, which then reminds me on stage 4... once I let my mind flow free: I keep on thinking, so I better make something positive out of it and write down the thoughts that could be useful for others having cancer.


Stage 4 pancreatic cancer


This stage refers to a new growth which has invaded surrounding tissues and has spread to other organs such as the liver, lungs or adjacent organs including the stomach, spleen and or the bowel.


Treatment during stage 4 pancreatic cancer


Treatment may be one of the following:-



  1. surgery or other treatments to alleviate symptoms

  2. pain management (which means palliative care, in proper English: the patient is going to die and we doctors cannot do anything anymore)

  3. clinical trials of chemotherapy or biological therapy


Stage 4 pancreatic cancer can be localized or locally advanced : it is locally confined but involves organs or blood vessels. If it has spread to other distant organs most commonly the liver then it is said to have metastasized.


In the end, as with all cancers, general advice sounds familiar: treatment of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer may consist of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, biological therapy, or a combination of these treatments. Try to give an answer like that if you are going for an interview: how are you going to solve the problem? Well: maybe like so, or so, or so or a combination of all these "so"...

Friday, September 7, 2007

Pavarotti pancreatic cancer

I just read about the last silent song of Pavarotti due to pancreatic cancer whispering his way all to heaven today...

We wish to send our condolences to Luciano Pavarotti who passed away today with pancreatic cancer. We know that his loved ones have gone a long way already, and we want to give them an extra hug for the long way still ahead.

I was totally unaware that Mr Pavarotti had cancer in the first place. Maybe I didn't notice it in the news?

Again it is sad that people that can get the media still keep cancer into the secret world of silence...

People do need to know that there are to many people around us suffering from cancer and that hardly anything is known why we get cancer and how we can prevent cancer.

So called cancer treatments are providing an industry of lots of money, but so little research is done in preventing the disease let alone trying to pinpoint the causes.

So if you are suffering from cancer: please speak out: use this site as your platform to speak out and reach others who are going the same road.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Pavarotti pancreatic cancer

Pavarotti pancreatic cancer


Operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti dies at age 71 with pancreatic cancer.


 


Pavarotti pancreatic cancer


 


Pavarotti had pancreatic cancer surgery on July 2008 and died on Thursday at the age of 71.


 


Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and had surgery in July 2006 at a New York hospital to remove a pancreatic tumour.


 


He cancelled all remaining concerts for his Worldwide Farewell Tour and since then had not made any public appearances.


 


The tenor underwent another two weeks of pancreatic cancer treatments last month, and was released from hospital in his hometown of Modena, Italy on Aug. 25. He was being attended to at home by cancer specialists up until his death at 5 a.m. local time.


 


Surviving pancreatic cancer is not easy and passing away from cancer is even a worse battle. Pavarotti fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. He remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness.


 


Pavarotti's pancreatic cancer death comes the day after he received a new government award for his work in promoting Italian culture in Italy and abroad.


 


He became the first recipient of the Excellence in Italian Culture Award, the Italian Culture Ministry said in a statement Tuesday evening.


 


Pancreatic cancer survival rate is low with the cancer usually being fatal. Only a 4 per cent survival rate five years after pancreatic cancer detection. Up to 80 per cent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within the first year.


 


Faced with speculation in July that Pavarotti was close to death, his second wife Nicoletta Mantovani told Italian newspaper La Stampa: "He's fighting like a lion and he has never lost his heart."


 


Pavarotti pancreatic cancer left in grieve three daughters with his first wife and one with his second wife.