That where Goody came on and I’ll tell you that goody has never stop believing and has push this ideal I’m glad there are people in this world that can still make a difference. So what do we need the most? And what do we need from our users.

We need Cancer site links added to website list, so people can stop by and see a cancer site in their area to donate if they wish. This is very important part of GAC since we don’t take the donations here.  Here is the link http://www.gamingagainstcancer.com/modules.php?name=Add_Cancer_Site and thank you all for helping

In the next few weeks, I developed a red area on the outside of my breast. Asked the doctor, he told me it was an infectino and prescribed antibiotics, which seemed to help somewhat, but didn't take it away. So he prescribed another course of antibiotics. When that didn't do it, he sent me to a surgeon, who took one look at me, and I swear the color drained right out of him like an old Casper caartoon. He would not let me out of his office without a promise that I would go straight to the hospital for a biopsy. I protested - I hadn't arranged for child care for the whole day, and then he really scared me - he said "If you have what I think you have, I do not want the weekend to go by without getting started on fighting it."

Well, of course, it WAS what he thought it was - inflammatory breast cancer. After that, I had a full year of chemo, MRM, HDC, and rads. During that time, I had pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism - those were "fun" too.

Treatment bought me a 5 year remission, which is practically unheard of with inflammatory breast cancer. It was fabulous - I thought it was gone forever.

Some cancers are very common and others are very rare. The most recent statistics for the UK (from 2003) show that for men the most common cancer is prostate cancer (23%), followed by lung cancer (16%), large bowel cancer (14%) and bladder cancer (5%).

For women the figures are breast cancer (31%), large bowel cancer (11%), lung cancer (11%) and cancer of the ovary (5%).

Many people with cancer can be cured. Even if a cancer cannot be cured, it can often be controlled with treatment for months or years.

Cancerbackup has information on all the main types of cancer, and on some of the rarer cancers

I had a baseline mammogram at age 40, the recommended age. Two years later I noticed an inverted nipple and recall reading that on a doctor's wall somewhere as a sign. Still I didn't do a BSE. I had been under a lot of stress for the previous 2 years and I was not taking care of myself or putting myself first.

I read in one of Dr. Bernie Siegal's books that the majority of his cancer patients had given up the will to live shortly before their cancer diagnosis and had suffered great periods of stress for the prior 6 to 18 months. That was me to a T. I remember one day in November 1991, sitting on the edge of my bed before taking off for work, feeling as though the life had literally drained out of me. I said to myself that I was done, that I had "blown it" -- meaning that I felt I had ruined my life and my son's with some bad choices. I literally said to myself, "I am dead, I am gone. This was it, this was my life." Then my hand went right to the spot as if it knew where the lump was and there was a mother of a lump. Very hard, unmovable. Felt like half a lemon cut sideways.

I kept my mouth shut through the holidays, but made an appointment to see a radiologist on Dec. 26th. When I explained my symptoms to him, he opened his office for me on a Saturday morning. He showed me an X-ray that looked like a giant starfish had landed on the top of my breast. In the center it was solid and its arms reached out like a star.

This doctor told me that my case was rather urgent and that normally he wouldn't say so but he was pretty sure he was looking at a malignancy, and in my case he would make an exception! He gave me the name of a surgeon that he said was "the best." And he said, "You need the best."

So I go see this surgeon two days later and he checks me out then has me wait in a room where they keep a box of tissues, a bird of paradise arrangement and no magazines. I think to myself that this must be the "bad news room" and when he returned he told me that he was 99.8% sure that he was looking at a malignancy and that he recommended I have surgery then and there if the biopsy was positive. No time to waste.

I had a modified radical mastectomy on Jan. 3, 1992. I was classified as Stage IIIB, tumor size 5x2 cm with spread to 5 out of 20 lymph nodes. I read all the books and saw that I was not a good candidate for living beyond 5 years. But I did.

I went through triple dose chemotherapy of Adriamycin, Cytoxin and 5FU and then 7 years of Tamoxifen. These were good years as far as getting my priorities straight. I spent most of my time with my son who was only 9 when all this started. I had 8 years of "remission." I was taken off Tamoxifen and on nothing for a year. During that year I underwent breast reconstruction because I thought I was "safe."

Something compelled me to "go to the internet" in June 1999, and I started working on a breast cancer site in my city's public library. This would be the first of three events that I feel were guided by angels, because ever since then I have been devoting myself to breast cancer education and research. I did finally get out of the library and got my own computer where I spend most of my time since I am now on long-term disability.

In July 1999, a routine X-Ray showed a sliver of something on a rib in the back. Meanwhile oncologist and radiologist "watched it." Watched it until it was 7x2 cm. At that time, November 1999, it was biopsied, but it was reported as "benign." I was concerned that I had this large lump in my back, but the test said "benign" so I went about my business. My situation was exacerbated by the fact that I am treated for depression and often I just don't take action.

This PDQ treatment information summary refers only to tumors that originate in the brain (primary brain tumors). Metastatic brain tumors, which are secondary tumors formed by cancer cells that begin in other parts of the body and spread to the brain, are not included. Brain tumors can occur in both children and adults; however, treatment may be different for adults than for children. (Refer to the PDQ summary on Adult Brain Tumor Treatment for more information.)

If your child has symptoms that may be caused by a brain tumor, his or her doctor may order a computed tomographic (CT) scan, a diagnostic test that uses computers and x-rays to create pictures of the body. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, a diagnostic test similar to a CT scan but which uses magnetic waves instead of x-rays, may also be performed.

Often, surgery is required to determine whether a brain tumor exists and what type of tumor it is. A small sample of tumor tissue may be surgically removed and examined under a microscope. This is called a biopsy. Sometimes a biopsy is done by making a small hole in the skull and using a needle to extract a sample of the tumor.

There are many types of brain tumors that occur in children. Treatment and chance of recovery (prognosis) depend on the type of tumor, its location within the brain, the extent to which it has spread, and your child’s age and general health

       Leukemia is a malignant disease (cancer) of the bone marrow and blood. It is characterized by the uncontrolled growth of blood cells. The common types of leukemia are divided into four categories:  myelogenous or lymphocytic, which can be acute or chronic. The terms myelogenous or lymphocytic denote the cell type involved. Thus, the four major types of leukemia are: acute or chronic myelogenous and acute or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

       Acute leukemia is a rapidly progressing disease that results in the accumulation of immature, functionless cells in the marrow and blood.The marrow often can no longer produce enough normal red and white blood cells and platelets. Anemia, a deficiency of red cells,develops in virtually all leukemia patients. The lack of normal white cells impairs the body's ability to fight infections. A shortage of platelets results in bruising and easy bleeding. Chronic leukemia progresses more slowly and permits greater number of more mature, functional cells to be made.

       It is estimated that there will be 28,700 new cases of leukemia in the United States this year - about equal proportions are acute leukemia and chronic types. Most cases occur in older adults.

       This year in the United States approximately four in every 100,000 youngsters (ages 0-14) will develop leukemia.

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The Bad News…

Summary

Children and adolescents with less advanced B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma did just as well, and suffered fewer side effects, when treated with lower doses of multidrug chemotherapy than is called for by the current standard of care. For young people whose disease was more advanced, however, lower doses of chemotherapy caused fewer side effects but were slightly less likely to prevent the cancer from coming back.

Source

Blood, published online Nov. 28, 2006, (see journal abstract) and Nov. 30, 2006, (see journal abstract). Both reports in print April 1, 2007.

Background

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a rare cancer in children; about 800 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States. B-cell lymphoma is a type of NHL that occurs in the B cells, white blood cells whose normal job is to protect the body from infection by bacteria and viruses.

NHL is usually treated with multidrug chemotherapy. Surgery is not often done because it is unlikely to cure the disease and may damage normal organs. With current treatments, about 80 percent of children and adolescents with NHL survive for at least five years. When the disease is confined to one part of the body (for example, the neck, groin, or underarm, but not the chest or abdomen), about 90 percent of patients survive for at least five years.

In a large clinical trial published in 2001, researchers found that children with less advanced B-cell lymphoma could be successfully treated with lower doses of chemotherapy drugs than children with more advanced disease. The multidrug regimens used in that study, known as LMB-89, became standard therapy for B-cell lymphoma in children. However, most patients treated with these regimens suffer moderate to severe side effects such as infection and mouth sores. In addition, the regimen includes high doses of cyclophosphamide, a drug that can cause infertility.

An international group of researchers (from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) wanted to find out whether further reducing chemotherapy doses would be equally effective while producing fewer side effects. Between 1996 and 2001, they conducted a large clinical trial that included children and adolescents with less-advanced, intermediate-risk B-cell lymphoma, as well as children and adolescents with advanced, high-risk disease. Separate treatment regimens were used for these two patient groups and separate questions of therapy were evaluated for each group.

We, the members of Trust-Company, under the leadership of Christopher Mitchell (Soloknight), are planning a special event coming this October.  We would honor and appreciate any and all help from fellow gamers like you.

The event, Gaming Against Cancer Weekend, will help to heighten individuals’ awareness of cancer and give participants around the world an opportunity to donate to the cancer charity of their choice.

The idea is simple:

• get as many servers as possible to change their names for the weekend to GamingAgainstCancer.com,
• post in-game messages asking players to visit gamingagainstcancer.com and ask them to access the links where they can donate to cancer related charities,
• provide links on your clan’s sites to gamingagainstcancer.com.

We invite you to join us in a discussion about the ways in which you can help organize and build the Gaming Against Cancer Weekend.  Among other things, we are especially looking for help from persons with PHP and programming knowledge.

Our plan is to contact numerous game developers, publishers and news organizations about the Gaming Against Cancer Weekend.  As you can start to imagine, this could turn into something well worth being a part of.

All participating clans and individuals will receive recognition on the website.

Looking forward to your replies,

The Trust-Company - “Where real soldiers play”

We are not an organization, merely gamers just like you.  All work put into this is voluntary and we will not accept nor pay any money for this purpose.  All links to charities will be to the websites of known and established cancer research centers, hospitals and organizations/associations.