As many of you would have seen/read by now, Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy died late on Tuesday night (US time) after a 15-month battle with GBM, the same brain cancer as Maria.
Medical reports indicated Kennedy exceeded medical expectations, given the median life expectancy of a year.
The concomitant chemo/radiotherpay Maria underwent in Israel (international protocol) was standardised in 2005, the first significant breakthrough in fighting malignant brain cancer in 40 years (back then the breakthrough was the introduction of radiotherapy). While there are many clinical trials underway at all different stages (I'm monitoring and learning as much as possible on this journey), it is hard to know how far away the next breakthrough is. Despite what I've just shared, median life expectancies have not significantly increased.
Compared with other cancers, malignant brain tumours result in a high percentage of deaths annually. However, they account for a much smaller percentage of patients. This latter statistic, in my view, presents greater challenges for experts in this field to be heard when seeking funding as a "minion" in the cancer world.
One question I ask myself is: "Will the deaths of high profile people from brain tumours (i.e. Chris O'Brien in Oz - see earlier entry, or Senator Kennedy in the US) help to increase a sufficient awareness, profile, and most importantly funding necessary to perhaps enable the more rapid identification of not only more successful palliative measures, but potential cures and vaccines for brain tumours?"
It's now after midnight and Maria is technically into her first hour as a 39 year-old (alhough I believe she was actually born around 9am). I'd better get to bed to conserve some energy in order to spoil her tomorrow. We have decided to keep the kids home from school so the four of us can enjoy the day together.
