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Cancer Patient Starts Treatment 9th Relapse Rod Heart Bypass Surgery

5503 -
5503 -    ..
5504 - Summary/Objective
5505 -
550501 - Follow up ref SDS 9 0000. ref SDS 4 0000.
550502 -
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550504 -
550505 -
550506 -
550508 -  ..
5506 -
5507 -
5508 - Background
5509 -
550901 - We've seen Laura a few times since the report on 090204.  At that
550902 - time, she looked better and sounded in good spirits. ref SDS 1 7Z6I
550904 -  ..
550905 - On 090616 we saw Laura and her mom in the waiting room for the Breast
550906 - Care Clinic at UCSF.  Cancer was diagnosed in the brain; Laura seemed
550907 - to get successful treatment with "gamma knife" radoology surgery.
550908 - ref SDS 4 LR40  Cancer has since spread with treatment using clinical
550909 - trials; Laura was discouraged, and did not look well.  She planned to
550910 - end care at UCSF and move back to Minnesota with her mom. ref SDS 4
550911 - ZY73
550913 -  ..
550914 - On 090826 Millie received a letter from Laura on progress moving to
550915 - Minnesota, and submitting a link to an internet address with Laura's
550916 - reports on her condition. ref SDS 6 KS6M
550918 -  ..
550919 - On 091125, Millie received a letter from Chris, which forwarded a
550920 - letter from Maryann at the Nixonpeabody office reporting that Laura's
550921 - cancer progressed beyond the reach of treatment, and so Laura opted
550922 - for Hospice care. ref SDS 9 155V  Millie responded asking Chris to
550923 - forward the letter to to Maryanne at Nixonpeabody, and for Laura and
550924 - her mom, Clare. ref SDS 9 4Q41
550926 -  ..
550927 - Mil also checked Laura's blog Internet address, ref SDS 9 8X8G, which
550928 - Laura provided in an earlier letter to Millie on 090826. ref SDS 6
550929 - KS6M  Turned out that Laura updated her diary on the Internet to
550930 - 091125, the day of Maryann's letter, and Laura requested
550931 - communication.  Laura says in her blog on 091125, that, after taking
550932 - care of buisness issues, she is looking for a "trashy romance" novel.
550934 -  ..
550935 - On 091130 1106 Millie sent a follow up letter transmitting the earlier
550936 - letter for Laura on 091125, ref SDS 9 9C6T, and Millie also updates
550937 - her own struggles getting treatment for IBC. ref SDS 0 JZ3Y
550938 -
550939 -
550941 -  ..
5510 -
5511 -
5512 - Progress
5513 -
551301 - Millie submitted the following letter to Laura...
551302 -
551303 -    1.  Subject: Trashy Romances??
551304 -        Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:35:32 -0800
551311 -         ..
551312 -    2.  Loved your blog on Nov 25th.  We share a common interest in
551313 -        literature.  Please keep me posted if you find a good "trashy
551314 -        romance"!!
551316 -         ..
551317 -    3.  Last week, Chris at Nixon Peabody forwarded a note from your
551318 -        friend Maryanne [reported on 091125. ref SDS 9 155V].  Don't
551319 -        know if my response got back to you.  Just wanted to say you
551320 -        are a very classy lady with tons of panache and verve.
551321 -        ref SDS 9 4Q3M
551322 -
551323 -            [On 091209 1104 Laura responded explaining she is getting
551324 -            weak after starting Hospice due to cancer; but, planning to
551325 -            forward any good "trashy romances." ref SDS 10 JZ3Y
551327 -             ..
551328 -            [On 100106 0301 Millie received notice that Laura died.
551329 -            ref SDS 11 LP5I
551331 -         ..
551332 -    4.  I'm hanging in there.  Lasted 5 months on Gemzar, which was 5
551333 -        months longer than expected.  Just started Navelbine to recover
551334 -        from 9th relapse.  My doctor at Kaiser has been prescribing
551335 -        Hospice since February.  A week ago, finally got Kaiser to say
551336 -        they have more treatments lined up for me [reported on 091112
551337 -        0930. ref SDS 8 KB4F], despite saying for a year that they have
551338 -        none [reported on 090325 0830. ref SDS 2 L15M].  This means
551339 -        continual reminders eventually got someone to read the record
551340 -        that lists about 20 treatments that might work for me [cited in
551341 -        the letter to the medical team on 090326. 090326 0947,
551342 -        ref SDS 3 QM3V].
551344 -         ..
551345 -    5.  After a Homeric battle during April - June Kaiser and UCSF
551346 -        agreed to give me treatment.  Hope told me on June 16th that
551347 -        everybody was "on board" to treat my cancer as a "chronic
551348 -        disease," and that she had a number of treatments lined up.  On
551349 -        July 16th she just gave up and sent me back to Kaiser on a lame
551350 -        excuse.  The health care community will not take "yes," for an
551351 -        answer: that cancer can be treated as a chronic disease.  So,
551352 -        still plugging away [complementing report to Millie's family on
551353 -        090630 1237. ref SDS 5 IY6M].
551355 -         ..
551356 -    6.  Flash, Rod had quadruple heart bypass surgery on Oct 22.  He is
551357 -        doing fine - hiked 8 miles on Saturday, but it was touch and go
551358 -        in September.  He has a strong team, headed by Elaine Tseng.
551359 -        Much of the professional staff at the VA in San Francisco work
551360 -        under contract from UCSF.  You might get a kick out of a
551361 -        meeting with the chief of Surgery for UCSF, who did post-op on
551362 -        Oct 30th for Rod's cardiothoracic surgery team. ref SDS 7 03GF
551364 -         ..
551365 -    7.  Doctor Rugo and Doctor Ratcliffe now have a common experience!!
551367 -         ..
551368 -    8.  Again, loved your blog.  I think of you often.
551370 -         ..
551371 -    9.  My best to you and your mom.
551372 -
551379 -         ..
551380 -   12.  PS.  Don't forget to let me know if you find a good "trashy
551381 -        romance."
551382 -
551383 -            [On 091209 1104 Laura responded explaining she is getting
551384 -            weak after starting Hospice due to cancer; but, planning to
551385 -            forward any good "trashy romances." ref SDS 10 JZ3Y
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5514 -