Dr. Ian Gawler, a veterinarian, suffered from osteogenic sarcoma (a form of bone cancer) of the right leg when he was 24 in 1975. Treatment of the cancer required amputation of the right leg. After completing treatment he was found to have lumps in his groin. His oncologist at the time was confident this was local spread from the original cancer, which is highly aggressive. Gawler later developed lung and other lesions as well, and was given 6 months to live due to his metastatic disease.

Gawler decided to embark on an alternative treatment regimen, involving coffee enemas, a vegetarian diet, and meditation. Eventually he was completely cured of his terminal metastatic cancer. He has since become Australia’s most famous cancer survivor, promoting his alternative approach to cancer treatment, has published five books, and now runs the Gawler Foundation.

At least, that is the story he believes. There is one major problem with this medical tale, however – while the original cancer was confirmed by biopsy, the subsequent lesions were not. His oncologist at the time, Dr. John Doyle, assumed the new lesions were metastatic disease and never performed a biopsy. It was highly probable (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*

High blood sugars come in three different tiers for me:  No Big Deal (NBD), Tricky Little Sucker (TLS), and What The Eff (WTE).

No Big Deal (NBD) highs are the ones I see when I first hear the Dexcom BEEEEEEEP!ing.  They are the 180 – 240 mg/dL highs, where I’m cruising out of range, but not so far outside that it takes hours to correct.  The NBD highs are usually mild in their symptoms (kind of thirsty, sort of tired, maybe wouldn’t have noticed if the Dex hadn’t hollered) are thankfully short in their duration, so long as I’m on the ball about keeping tabs on my blood sugars.

Tricky Little Sucker (TLS) highs are obnoxious pieces of garbage that hang on for hours.  These highs are the ones where you hit anything over 200 mg/dL and just ride there for hours.  HOURS.  Like you can undecorate the Christmas tree and pack up all the holiday nonsense back into the attic and STILL find yourself rolling outside the threshold.  They’re the ones that (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

The call never should have been made.

It broke every proscribed rule.

After all, I was not on call. Thanks to the wonders of computer technology, it was very clear that I was being covered by my colleague. And yet, despite this, it came.

“Dr. Fisher, I’m so sorry for calling you at home, but I received a call from Ms. X, the wife of your patient Mr. Y. who said she really needed to speak to you about her husband… she seemed quite concerned and insisted I call you…. I told her I’d see if I could reach you at home… I’m so sorry, but it sounded urgent… I have her number, could I connect you?” (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*

I was just making preparations for the top 2011 posts I’m planning to write in the upcoming days when I bumped into this cute story about a diabetic kid who felt ashamed to wear the insulin pump so his parents got insulin pump tattoos.

Some parents get tattoos of their child’s name, but Philippe Aumond and Camille Boivin went one better.

In a show of solidarity, they each have an image of an insulin pump tattooed on their abdomens, declaring that they are “forever linked” to their son Jacob.

“It is a great thing for him, and we were thrilled just to see his smile when he saw those pumps. It made our day, that’s for sure,” said Boivin, 36, from the family’s home in La Sarre, Que.

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

That old Tom Petty song, “The Waiting is the Hardest Part,” keeps running through my mind. Four of my friends are waiting to hear the results of medical tests taken last week.

• Lucas has exhausted all of the standard cancer therapies for rectal cancer and is waiting to hear if he is a candidate for any experimental treatments.
• Sam, who has lived through aggressive treatment for multiple cancers, is waiting to hear results from a test that will tell him if the fact that he is so very, very sick is due to one of them recurring.
• Lucy just had major abdominal surgery and is waiting to hear the results of the pathology report that will determine whether or not her cancer can be treated at all.
• Phil, who has been in remission from two different leukemias, had (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Prepared Patient Forum: What It Takes Blog*

Film adaptation of "Tuesdays with Morrie"

Many of you know about, or have read, the highly recommended book, Tuesdays With Morrie. I am reading it now with my 14-year-old son, Eitan, as part of an assignment for his ninth grade English class. Morrie, a college professor in Boston, was dying, withering away with ALS. Each Tuesday he would have a visit from one of his favorite former students, Mitch, a journalist from Detroit. Morrie, a man in his 70’s, mused about many things including the meaning of life and the inevitability of death. He was prepared for his end.

The other day I spoke about that book with a former high school English teacher – not Eitan’s. The circumstance was not good. The woman, 37, had been diagnosed with stomach cancer just six weeks ago. She’d been having heartburn and it wouldn’t go away. Endoscopy showed the cancer and other tests revealed its spread to her liver and lung – stage 4. The woman and her husband, her high school sweetheart, sat across from me at lunch. They have three young children, age (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*

Over the weekend I developed another bout of diverticulitis. Did the usual: fluids, antibiotics, rest, avoided going to the ER, cancelled travel plans.

One of my doctors asked a very simple question: is this happening more frequently? The answer, we both knew, was yes. But I don’t have a Personal Health Record (PHR) that in principle, through a few clicks, would give a time-frame graph of the bouts and severity of the episodes over the past several years.

The last time this happened, and the time before that, I thought I’d finally start a PHR. Like most compulsive patients, I keep records about my health. In the folder in my closet in a cheap old-fashioned filing box, the kind with a handled top that flips open, I’ve got an EKG from 15 years ago, an (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Medical Lessons*

Two weeks ago, I was in the emergency room for some severe stomach pain, down on the lower right hand side of my abdomen.  After consulting with Dr. Google (bastard), I realized that it could be appendicitis.  Knowing I was heading to Toronto the next afternoon, I didn’t want to take any chances with this pain.  So I headed off to the ER to check things out.

Looooong story made Twitter-esque short, I didn’t have appendicitis.  I just had some rogue stomach pain.  However, while I was at the hospital, I asked to have my A1C run.  I figured I was there, they were already drawing blood, so what’s one more vial?

“Can you guys grab an A1C while you’re at it?” I asked.

“Is your diabetes under control?”  asked the doctor.

“Um … define control?  I wear a pump, I wear a CGM, and I’m very aware of my disease.  But I’ve been having a hard time juggling things lately, on just about every level, so I’m pretty sure my A1C is crap.”

The doctor shot me a very rude, very judgmental look.  I shot one back at him.

“I’m asking you to run an A1C because I’m trying to regain control.  I don’t have this nailed down and perfected, but I’m trying.  Is that the wrong thing, in your opinion?” (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

We posted previously on Oneal Ron Morris, a transsexual charlatan who has been injecting clients with his own home brew of filler agents resulting in disastrous consequences. A victim of his facial services has surfaced:

Rajee Narinesingh apparently met Oneal Ron Morris via referral in the transsexual community. She (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*

Two weeks ago, I was in the emergency room for some severe stomach pain, down on the lower right hand side of my abdomen.  After consulting with Dr. Google, I realized that it could be appendicitis.  Knowing I was heading to Toronto the next afternoon, I didn’t want to take any chances with this pain.  So I headed off to the ER (conveniently, the one my best friend works at) to check things out.

Looooong story made Twitter-esque short, I didn’t have appendicitis.  I just had some rogue stomach pain.  However, while I was at the hospital, I asked to have my A1C run.  I figured I was there, they were already drawing blood, so what’s one more vial?

“Can you guys grab an A1C while you’re at it?” I asked.

“Is your diabetes under control?”  asked the doctor.

“Um … define control?  I wear a pump, I wear a CGM, and I’m very aware of my disease.  But I’ve been having a hard time juggling things lately, on just about every level, so I’m pretty sure my A1C is crap.”

The doctor shot me a very rude, very judgmental look.  I shot one back at him.

“I’m asking you to run an A1C because (more…)

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*