Since Yoko and I have been married, we have taken numerous family trips and vacations. Most of the time, we were so busy on vacation we would arrive back home more exhausted than when we left! When we were living in Japan, we were 12 time zones away from my family. Now Yoko is 12 time zones from hers. Travel time to Tokyo is typically 24 hours, door to door, assuming a direct flight. With stopovers, it takes two or three days, round trip.
When I worked in Japan for Arthur Andersen, we were allowed two weeks for home leave, all expenses paid. Typically we would fly home from Japan using a direct flight, but sometimes we would plan our trip to spend time in Hawaii, one of my favorite vacation destinations. Stopping in Hawaii was a great way to transition between time zones and cultures and get a little caught up on sleep.
Home leave trips usually entailed a combination of vacation time with obligatory family visits, since we rarely had the chance to get home to see everyone. Between the time required for travel and visiting relatives, there was rarely little time left for real rest and relaxation.
When we lived in San Francisco for a brief period in the 80’s, we were busy just trying to get established. Money was tight and time was scarce. I remember taking Yoko and Paula, who was a baby, to Trinity Lake in the Cascades for a long weekend in June one year. We spent a day in a remote mountain cabin and then decided to rent a house boat to troll the lake. The scenery was peaceful and beautiful. The mountains were still snowcapped and we were in the middle of a gigantic lake in a huge national forest. No one was around. Yoko, who was born and raised in the big city, was scared that we would be attacked by animals, mugged by drifters, or be stranded without help in some remote cove. It was a nice vacation idea but, between bears, raccoons scratching around and the bats at night, it turned out to be less than restful.
One of my favorite vacations spots on the planet is Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In fact, we liked it so much the first time we went, we ended up buying a vacation rental on a butte overlooking the Grand Tetons. I remember one year going with Yoko and the kids to ski for Christmas. With the highest vertical drop in North America and light powdered snow, Jackson Hole is a fantastic place to ski, but what a hassle to get there and then return with ski equipment, winter clothing, gifts, etc.! Sadly, we only went once for a winter wonderland vacation.
Since getting out of Japan was so expensive and time consuming, we took short weekend vacations. We sometimes took the kids to Club Med in Hokkaido. You could fly to Sahoro from nearby Haneda Airport in about one hour and be on the ski slopes by late afternoon. While the kids were being entertained, Yoko and I could go off to enjoy ourselves without worry.
I had always wanted to take our family to Europe on vacation but never had the chance, since it was so far from Japan. After Hurricane Charley destroyed our house in August of 2004, I decided to take all the girls to London and Paris for a week, just to get out of town and give everyone something good to remember for that year. By that time, however, Paula was working and couldn’t go
.
Yoko and Jessie left today for Japan for a two week visit to see family and friends. I am at home with the dog reading, writing, and enjoying my first “staycation”. No cost. No jetlag. No bags. Yeah baby! Now that’s what I call a vacation!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Research Breakthroughs and the Road Ahead
On Friday I got a phone call from the clinic that is conducting the clinical trial for Stimuvax, the trial drug I am taking. The research had been suspended because patients in the trial, for unknown reasons, had developed encephalitis. The phone call was to let me know that the trial had now been given the green light to go forward. I am due to get my next shots tomorrow.
Every six weeks for the past two years I have travelled to New Port Richey to receive these vaccinations. I will continue to go for the shots until there is progression of the disease, which is the first endpoint of the study. In the Phase II trials of this drug, time to progression was 36 months for people on Stimuvax versus 17 months for those taking a placebo. In August I will have been on the drug for 24 months. While I don’t know if I am getting the drug or a placebo, I’ve always suspected I was getting the drug. My continued good health is nothing short of a miracle.
The theory of Stimuvax is that it works to boost your immune system to fight cancerous cells – not exactly a novel idea. This was the approach used by Dr. Royal Rife back in the 1930’s; it is also the approach being used by various alternative treatment practitioners highlighted in Suzanne Somers’ book, “Knockout.” Interestingly, strengthening the body’s immune system to fight cancer is now becoming more of the conventional wisdom in drug therapy. At the ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Convention in Chicago last month study results from several new drugs that target the immune system got a lot of attention in the press.
One drug, ipilimumab, from Bristol Myers, is designed to enhance the immune system and increase the survival rate for people with advanced melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. Patients taking the new drug lived an average of 10 months versus 6 months for patients taking a comparison drug, GP100. More than 45% of patients taking the new drug were alive after one year, compared with 25% of the patients who received the GP100 vaccine. Ipilimumab is a monoclonal antibody, a biologic drug derived from living cells. It works by activating T-cells, part of the immune system, to help fight cancer cell growth.
Targeting drugs for people with certain genetic mutations also seems to be the wave of the future. Pfizer is now testing the drug crizotinib, which appears to shrink tumors in lung cancer patients with certain genetic mutations. The discovery was a lucky happenstance. Pfizer initially thought crizotinib would work to inhibit C-met, an enzyme that is alleged to feed tumor growth. Company researchers noticed that the drug also worked on another enzyme, anaplastic lymphoma kinase or ALK, also thought to be involved with tumor growth. Researchers in Japan subsequently found that fusion of ALK with another gene was a contributor to lung cancer.
Roughly 3 -5% of lung cancer patients or about 40,000 people annually worldwide, have the ALK mutation. Pfizer conducted a clinical trial on patients who have the mutation. Most were either light smokers or never smoked. The average age was 50. The drug, an oral pill, was taken twice daily. Results so far are very promising. Of the 82 patients tested, roughly 90% experienced tumor shrinkage or stabilization. Pfizer is now moving on to the Stage III Clinic trial.
The ASCO Convention also saw the announcement of two new drugs – Sprycel and Tasigna, to treat leukemia and possibly replace the miracle drug, Gleevec, which has been the standard of care for leukemia since it was first introduced in 2001.
I’m happy that research is finally starting to get somewhere. It is heartening to know that new avenues of treatment may be available to me down the road.
Every six weeks for the past two years I have travelled to New Port Richey to receive these vaccinations. I will continue to go for the shots until there is progression of the disease, which is the first endpoint of the study. In the Phase II trials of this drug, time to progression was 36 months for people on Stimuvax versus 17 months for those taking a placebo. In August I will have been on the drug for 24 months. While I don’t know if I am getting the drug or a placebo, I’ve always suspected I was getting the drug. My continued good health is nothing short of a miracle.
The theory of Stimuvax is that it works to boost your immune system to fight cancerous cells – not exactly a novel idea. This was the approach used by Dr. Royal Rife back in the 1930’s; it is also the approach being used by various alternative treatment practitioners highlighted in Suzanne Somers’ book, “Knockout.” Interestingly, strengthening the body’s immune system to fight cancer is now becoming more of the conventional wisdom in drug therapy. At the ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Convention in Chicago last month study results from several new drugs that target the immune system got a lot of attention in the press.
One drug, ipilimumab, from Bristol Myers, is designed to enhance the immune system and increase the survival rate for people with advanced melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. Patients taking the new drug lived an average of 10 months versus 6 months for patients taking a comparison drug, GP100. More than 45% of patients taking the new drug were alive after one year, compared with 25% of the patients who received the GP100 vaccine. Ipilimumab is a monoclonal antibody, a biologic drug derived from living cells. It works by activating T-cells, part of the immune system, to help fight cancer cell growth.
Targeting drugs for people with certain genetic mutations also seems to be the wave of the future. Pfizer is now testing the drug crizotinib, which appears to shrink tumors in lung cancer patients with certain genetic mutations. The discovery was a lucky happenstance. Pfizer initially thought crizotinib would work to inhibit C-met, an enzyme that is alleged to feed tumor growth. Company researchers noticed that the drug also worked on another enzyme, anaplastic lymphoma kinase or ALK, also thought to be involved with tumor growth. Researchers in Japan subsequently found that fusion of ALK with another gene was a contributor to lung cancer.
Roughly 3 -5% of lung cancer patients or about 40,000 people annually worldwide, have the ALK mutation. Pfizer conducted a clinical trial on patients who have the mutation. Most were either light smokers or never smoked. The average age was 50. The drug, an oral pill, was taken twice daily. Results so far are very promising. Of the 82 patients tested, roughly 90% experienced tumor shrinkage or stabilization. Pfizer is now moving on to the Stage III Clinic trial.
The ASCO Convention also saw the announcement of two new drugs – Sprycel and Tasigna, to treat leukemia and possibly replace the miracle drug, Gleevec, which has been the standard of care for leukemia since it was first introduced in 2001.
I’m happy that research is finally starting to get somewhere. It is heartening to know that new avenues of treatment may be available to me down the road.
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