5 ms·

My brother was diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma (cancer) at age 35. Basically was given about a 10% to live. 180 servings of chemo/radiation later we start

My brother was diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma (cancer) at age 35. Basically was given about a 10% to live. 180 servings of chemo/radiation later we started lining up hospice and he prepared to say goodbye to his 2 young kids and wife. Last ditch effort was an experimental drug. Out of 150 people in the trial, he's the only one alive 12 years later. 6 years ago he started a company that is about to hit 8 figures in revenue and over 300 employees. Life can definitely have a lot of swings.

Xeoncross 9y ago
> Last ditch effort was an experimental drug... he's the only one alive I assume it wasn't the drug then but some other factor that was either missed or underestimated in his actual recovery. Wish more of these missing-pieces were known.
- andrewem 9y ago
  It's entirely possible that it was the drug, but there was some factor that led his tumor to be susceptible to it, most likely a DNA mutation in the tumor. That's what "personalized medicine" or "precision medicine" is all about for cancer.
- koonsolo 9y ago
  I might get downvoted for this, so please do your own research first before just dismissing it. There is this cheap thing of Vitamin C injections staight into the blood. A cure that has been "well known" for centuries, but dismissed because oral intake studies weren't promising. I love science, but in studies where a lot of money is made or can be lost, there is so much manipulation going on it makes you sick. I'm talking about pharmacy and food industry here. Loads of money are made with chemo and cancer research. If Vitamin C injections really are better way to treat cancer, can you imagine how many billions will be lost?
  - davymac 9y ago
    Let me be your quack susceptibilibuddy: http://www.quackwatch.org http://www.quackwatch.org The "Vitamin C cure" has been soundly debunked.
    - koonsolo 9y ago
      Again, they talk about oral intake, not about injections.
      - coldtea 9y ago
        Unless you have any reason to suspect the delivery mechanism affects anything significant, this is exactly the same...
        koonsolo 9y ago
        In this case, the vitamin C amounts need to be really high. Your body can't handle those amounts from oral intake. Listen, you don't have to take my word for it. Just look up the little research that is done on it, and make sure you make a distinction between oral intake and injections.
        mmargerum 9y ago
        I'm not condoning it as a cure, but you can absorb large amounts of vitamin C orally if you combine it with a lecithin. It's called liposomal Vitamin C.
  - DrScump 9y ago
    A cure that has been "well known" for centuries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C#Discovery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C#Discovery
    - koonsolo 9y ago
      Damn, I meant decades... oops. I was actually referring to the 70's. But back then they did the oral studies instead of the injection ones. But injections are also not that new.
      - coldtea 9y ago
        >But back then they did the oral studies instead of the injection ones. So? Who said oral vs injection would have much different effects? Besides both have been studied: http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/20/2/210 http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/20/2/210
        koonsolo 9y ago
        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0054448/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0054448/
  - mongmong 9y ago
    My mother died of kidney cancer last year. Doctor said unfortunately modern medicine had nothing to offer her. She turned to alternatives, tried everything from vegan diet to juicing to vitamin c (intravenous twice a week over 6 months). No salt diet. Stone heat mattress. Hydrogen rich water. She exercised daily getting as much sun because someone told her that's good. That didn't stop the metastasis spreading all over her body. She passed away 8 months after her diagnosis, coincidentally exactly what the doctor guessed when pressed for her honest prognosis. You accuse the pharma industry of preying on the desperate for money, but in my experience it was the opposite. Pharma told her sorry nothing we can do. In desperation she turned to alternatives. I was willing to believe anything if it cured my mum.
    - koonsolo 9y ago
      Hey, sorry to hear that. It is a nasty disease. I also have people close to me who died of cancer, including a 17 year old girl, and my friend who was 20 at the time. But it upsets me that so little research is done on high doses of vitamin C, while the research that is done is actually positive.
  - Broken_Hippo 9y ago
    Loads of money are made with chemo and cancer research. If Vitamin C injections really are better way to treat cancer, can you imagine how many billions will be lost? Do you think they are so stupid that they'd not immediately funnel the money into researching other diseases that aren't cancer? Or that this one thing is somehow a cure-all for all cancers? What do you think vaccines that prevent infections that can lead to cancer? Shouldn't they, theoretically, be losing money developing such things? Wouldn't the drug companies be able to better sell their drugs by advertising they were the company that beat cancer? Furthermore, wouldn't that also make all the governments that have taxpayer-funded health care stupid or part of the conspiracy as well? Why would a country like Norway pay for chemo if a simple vitamin proved to actually work? I very highly doubt those sorts of claims, plus any that claim to have a "wonder drug" for cancer. Cancers seem to vary widely and have a variety of initial causes, after all, and some of the most promising developments seem to be tailored to either the individual or the type of cancer (HPV vaccines, for example, among others).
    - koonsolo 9y ago
      First of all, you are trying to discredit me: I never said vaccines are bad, I never said it is a cure-all for all cancers. To answer your other more sane questions: Are governments influenced by companies? Certainly, especially in US. Is research influenced by companies? Most definitely, sometimes researchers are even bribed. So you doubt those sorts of claims on Vitamin C? Look into the research that was actually done. I love science, and probably so do you. But I've already seen too much "science", where results of research was twisted just to be able to publish in a journal. Don't dismiss me for some alternative medicine dude, I'm not. But I'm also old enough not to believe every fairy-tale that is told claiming to be "science". Especially not in fields where a lot of money goes around.
      - Brakenshire 9y ago
        > I never said it is a cure-all for all cancers. > There is this cheap thing of Vitamin C injections staight into the blood. A cure that has been "well known" for centuries Maybe it will be beneficial. It's not going to be a cure, though, it will be something for specific case profiles, and to be combined with other treatments. There are studies which are there, and they say 'no clear evidence', 'may slow the growth', or 'potentially important'. You are talking as if it's going to be a replacement for oncology, and are getting downvoted correspondingly.
  - corobo 9y ago
    You really need to bring citations into an argument if you're going to say vitamin c injections can cure cancer.
  - SpikeDad 9y ago
    You're getting down voted because of your conspiracy nonsense. "X treatment is being suppressed because it would hurt drug companies". Well it's not being suppressed and it's been studied since 1970. TDLR; It may help patient quality of life during chemo, it reduces tumors in some models but it reduces effectiveness of chemo in other models. Here, read this: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/vitamin-c-pdq https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/vi... (Warning - it's from the National Cancer Institute Complementary Medicine section so it's not considered a valid approved treatment in the US. That means something where cancer is subject.
jacquesm 9y ago
That's one hell of a story. Now you have to wonder if that company would have existed if he had not gone through that terrible ordeal. If your brother ever writes a book about his life I'll be sure to buy a copy.
- rcarrigan87 9y ago
  Hah, I wouldn't put it past him to add published author to the list. Another oddity to his life that I forgot to mention is that he worked in hospice for 6 years prior to getting sick. So he's experienced both the employee and customer side of hospice. Something very few people can claim.
gambiting 9y ago
My dad was diagnosed at 42 with a rare type of GIST(gastrointestinal stromal tumor) that at the time had 6 known cases in the entire country. Doctors literally gave him 3-6 months to live, maybe 12 with really intensive chemotherapy. Fortunately, he was offered to sign up for an experimental test of Glivec against GIST(Glivec was a known drug at a time, but for something completely unrelated) - with a caveat that he could end up in a control group and be given placebo. He didn't. Glivec was found to be extremely effective against that specific type of cancer and my father has lived another 8 years completely GIST-free(died at 50 due to another cancer that has developed independently of GIST and taken him within 6 months of diagnosis). So yeah. I know this maybe isn't a super happy story, but not every super bad prediction ends up being true.
acangiano 9y ago
Your brother is amazing. I would definitely read his autobiography if he were to write one.

Xeoncross 9y ago

> Last ditch effort was an experimental drug... he's the only one alive I assume it wasn't the drug then but some other factor that was either missed or underestimated in his actual recovery. Wish more of these missing-pieces were known.

andrewem 9y ago
It's entirely possible that it was the drug, but there was some factor that led his tumor to be susceptible to it, most likely a DNA mutation in the tumor. That's what "personalized medicine" or "precision medicine" is all about for cancer.
koonsolo 9y ago
I might get downvoted for this, so please do your own research first before just dismissing it. There is this cheap thing of Vitamin C injections staight into the blood. A cure that has been "well known" for centuries, but dismissed because oral intake studies weren't promising. I love science, but in studies where a lot of money is made or can be lost, there is so much manipulation going on it makes you sick. I'm talking about pharmacy and food industry here. Loads of money are made with chemo and cancer research. If Vitamin C injections really are better way to treat cancer, can you imagine how many billions will be lost?
- davymac 9y ago
  Let me be your quack susceptibilibuddy: http://www.quackwatch.org http://www.quackwatch.org The "Vitamin C cure" has been soundly debunked.
  - koonsolo 9y ago
    Again, they talk about oral intake, not about injections.
    - coldtea 9y ago
      Unless you have any reason to suspect the delivery mechanism affects anything significant, this is exactly the same...
      - koonsolo 9y ago
        In this case, the vitamin C amounts need to be really high. Your body can't handle those amounts from oral intake. Listen, you don't have to take my word for it. Just look up the little research that is done on it, and make sure you make a distinction between oral intake and injections.
        mmargerum 9y ago
        I'm not condoning it as a cure, but you can absorb large amounts of vitamin C orally if you combine it with a lecithin. It's called liposomal Vitamin C.
- DrScump 9y ago
  A cure that has been "well known" for centuries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C#Discovery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C#Discovery
  - koonsolo 9y ago
    Damn, I meant decades... oops. I was actually referring to the 70's. But back then they did the oral studies instead of the injection ones. But injections are also not that new.
    - coldtea 9y ago
      >But back then they did the oral studies instead of the injection ones. So? Who said oral vs injection would have much different effects? Besides both have been studied: http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/20/2/210 http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/20/2/210
      - koonsolo 9y ago
        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0054448/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0054448/
- mongmong 9y ago
  My mother died of kidney cancer last year. Doctor said unfortunately modern medicine had nothing to offer her. She turned to alternatives, tried everything from vegan diet to juicing to vitamin c (intravenous twice a week over 6 months). No salt diet. Stone heat mattress. Hydrogen rich water. She exercised daily getting as much sun because someone told her that's good. That didn't stop the metastasis spreading all over her body. She passed away 8 months after her diagnosis, coincidentally exactly what the doctor guessed when pressed for her honest prognosis. You accuse the pharma industry of preying on the desperate for money, but in my experience it was the opposite. Pharma told her sorry nothing we can do. In desperation she turned to alternatives. I was willing to believe anything if it cured my mum.
  - koonsolo 9y ago
    Hey, sorry to hear that. It is a nasty disease. I also have people close to me who died of cancer, including a 17 year old girl, and my friend who was 20 at the time. But it upsets me that so little research is done on high doses of vitamin C, while the research that is done is actually positive.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  Loads of money are made with chemo and cancer research. If Vitamin C injections really are better way to treat cancer, can you imagine how many billions will be lost? Do you think they are so stupid that they'd not immediately funnel the money into researching other diseases that aren't cancer? Or that this one thing is somehow a cure-all for all cancers? What do you think vaccines that prevent infections that can lead to cancer? Shouldn't they, theoretically, be losing money developing such things? Wouldn't the drug companies be able to better sell their drugs by advertising they were the company that beat cancer? Furthermore, wouldn't that also make all the governments that have taxpayer-funded health care stupid or part of the conspiracy as well? Why would a country like Norway pay for chemo if a simple vitamin proved to actually work? I very highly doubt those sorts of claims, plus any that claim to have a "wonder drug" for cancer. Cancers seem to vary widely and have a variety of initial causes, after all, and some of the most promising developments seem to be tailored to either the individual or the type of cancer (HPV vaccines, for example, among others).
  - koonsolo 9y ago
    First of all, you are trying to discredit me: I never said vaccines are bad, I never said it is a cure-all for all cancers. To answer your other more sane questions: Are governments influenced by companies? Certainly, especially in US. Is research influenced by companies? Most definitely, sometimes researchers are even bribed. So you doubt those sorts of claims on Vitamin C? Look into the research that was actually done. I love science, and probably so do you. But I've already seen too much "science", where results of research was twisted just to be able to publish in a journal. Don't dismiss me for some alternative medicine dude, I'm not. But I'm also old enough not to believe every fairy-tale that is told claiming to be "science". Especially not in fields where a lot of money goes around.
    - Brakenshire 9y ago
      > I never said it is a cure-all for all cancers. > There is this cheap thing of Vitamin C injections staight into the blood. A cure that has been "well known" for centuries Maybe it will be beneficial. It's not going to be a cure, though, it will be something for specific case profiles, and to be combined with other treatments. There are studies which are there, and they say 'no clear evidence', 'may slow the growth', or 'potentially important'. You are talking as if it's going to be a replacement for oncology, and are getting downvoted correspondingly.
- corobo 9y ago
  You really need to bring citations into an argument if you're going to say vitamin c injections can cure cancer.
- SpikeDad 9y ago
  You're getting down voted because of your conspiracy nonsense. "X treatment is being suppressed because it would hurt drug companies". Well it's not being suppressed and it's been studied since 1970. TDLR; It may help patient quality of life during chemo, it reduces tumors in some models but it reduces effectiveness of chemo in other models. Here, read this: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/vitamin-c-pdq https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/vi... (Warning - it's from the National Cancer Institute Complementary Medicine section so it's not considered a valid approved treatment in the US. That means something where cancer is subject.

jacquesm 9y ago

That's one hell of a story. Now you have to wonder if that company would have existed if he had not gone through that terrible ordeal. If your brother ever writes a book about his life I'll be sure to buy a copy.

rcarrigan87 9y ago
Hah, I wouldn't put it past him to add published author to the list. Another oddity to his life that I forgot to mention is that he worked in hospice for 6 years prior to getting sick. So he's experienced both the employee and customer side of hospice. Something very few people can claim.

gambiting 9y ago

My dad was diagnosed at 42 with a rare type of GIST(gastrointestinal stromal tumor) that at the time had 6 known cases in the entire country. Doctors literally gave him 3-6 months to live, maybe 12 with really intensive chemotherapy. Fortunately, he was offered to sign up for an experimental test of Glivec against GIST(Glivec was a known drug at a time, but for something completely unrelated) - with a caveat that he could end up in a control group and be given placebo. He didn't. Glivec was found to be extremely effective against that specific type of cancer and my father has lived another 8 years completely GIST-free(died at 50 due to another cancer that has developed independently of GIST and taken him within 6 months of diagnosis). So yeah. I know this maybe isn't a super happy story, but not every super bad prediction ends up being true.

acangiano 9y ago

Your brother is amazing. I would definitely read his autobiography if he were to write one.