Are Brain Tumors Always Deadly? Hope, Individuality, & Shifting Paradigms

May 31, 2008

Widespread media reports about brain tumors in the context of Senator Kennedy’s diagnosis emphasize the grave nature of the disease. A poor and grim prognosis is how most of the media is choosing to portray the outcome of Senator Kennedy’s high grade glioma. The reality is that this is not always the case. There are exceptions. And there are always exceptions since medicine, health care, and healing are much more art than science.

Science suggests that surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy do not offer cures for some types of cancer, including some brain tumors. However, the reality is that people can live for many years in the aftermath of a high grade glioma diagnosis with a desirable quality of life. I personally know several people that have lived beyond 10 years, including the amazing David M. Bailey— a 12 plus year glioblastoma multiforme survivor. Many long term brain tumor survivors worked with very aggressive neuro-oncologists, including those who performed Senator Kennedy’s surgery at Duke. Some have been treated with experimental medicine, including clinical trials. Some use alternative or integrative medicine to address the disease state as well as offer complementary care. The question deserves asking— beyond the mainstream paradigm, what else is possible?

Science also indicates that high grade gliomas are in fact compromised of different cell types, which then produce varied outcomes in patients. Research has even demonstrated that the most aggressive type of glioma, called the gliomblastoma multiforme, is not the same in every patient due to varied genetic abnormalities. That is, the genetic abnormalities in one patient may be different than the genetic abnormalities in another patient. Science suggests that the specifics of the genetic abnormality may define the prognosis in some people. However, it is much more important what type of person has the disease compared to what disease the person has.

Less than 10 percent of cancer is caused of an inherited genetic abnormality. This means that over 90 percent of cancers develop from genetic abnormalities caused by the environment. With the exception of some cancers where conventional treatments are curative, treatments need to take a more comprehensive approach to address the entire environment. As Pasteur said on his deathbed, “The germ is nothing. The terrain is everything.” And the terrain includes the entire body, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, spirituality, lifestyle, work, community, environmental exposures, and much more.

“Modern” medicine must begin thinking and practicing outside of the current box. People are dying. Too many people have died. More must be done now.

Köln Connection

May 19, 2008

Today marks my one year return to California from Köln (Cologne), Germany. And what a year it has been! I am finally feeling more settled in California, and especially my home in Sausalito. I love where I live and cherish the beauty around me. I acknowledge the tremendous struggles I experienced over the last year with gratitude for lessons learned and progress made. As I sit at my desk writing this blog, the sun shines on my face, the crisp wind caresses my cheeks, and my heart carries optimism.

Waking up this morning, a portion of me was in Köln. I traveled there in my dreams last night. I visited my old stomping grounds wandering the cobblestone and paved streets, parks, historic sites, and everything familiar in an atmosphere of distinct German charm. The plot of my dream involved moving back to Köln for six months. Considering an apartment near the Stadtgarden and possibly in Ehrenfeld, I decided I needed to reside close enough to Panama Juice Bar on Friesenwall to regularly visit with my friends there. I smiled gleefully realizing I would need to purchase another bike for my transportation. My spirit swarmed around the Dom, along the Rhine, to the Claudius Therme Baths, and to connect with my friends at their homes around town.

I embrace the present moment and my life here. I am grateful for my gorgeous surroundings, quality of life, locally produced organic foods, progressive environment, and more. At the same time, part of me misses Köln. Despite the challenges, I loved my time there. The slower pace, stillness, deeper embodiment, spaciousness for self-reflection, friendships, and more balanced European lifestyle all felt infinitely healing to me. One year later, as I continue to engage my healing in the here and now, as I’ve struggled to find my grounding, I reflect on the integration I felt in Köln to remind me of what is possible beyond the prevalent disconnect I often feel within and around me in the United States.

To everything I loved in Köln, for your beauty and light, I carry you in my heart.