Losing Ted Kennedy

It's bad. Really bad.

The AP just announced that a brain biopsy of the left parietal lobe of the brain of Senator Ted Kennedy has revealed a malignant brain tumor, specifically, a "glioblastoma". (Translation follows).

This is THE most aggressive kind of brain cancer, one that, sadly, kills everybody who gets it no matter what they try to do; patients treated with "optimal therapy", which includes surgical resection, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, have a median survival of approximately 12 months, with fewer than 25% of patients surviving up to 2 years and fewer than 10% of patients surviving up to 5 years.

In the face of that totally grim prognosis, he might or might not choose to go through the further drama of chemotherapy and radiation, but it certainly won't cure him or even prolong his life significantly. If it was myself, I doubt that I'd take the treatment. But then I'm 57 and multiply-disabled, so that's just me. Surgery might give him a little time, if it's operable, but it might not be, and if it is operable, it might not be worth it, so we just don't know yet.

While cancer usually tends to advance more slowly in older people, with a glioblastoma, it's the opposite- the median survival time from the time of diagnosis without any treatment is 3 months, and increasing age (> 60 years of age) carries a worse prognostic risk. A glioblastoma grows with the determination and potency of stem cells.

Right now, I'm just hoping he at least survives to celebrate Obama's win in November.

Translation: Parietal Lobe - the parietal lobe receives and interprets sensations including pain, temperature, touch, pressure, size, shape, and body-part awareness. Other activities of the parietal lobe are hearing, reasoning and memory. Seizures (such as the one Kennedy suffered over the weekend), language disturbances (if a tumor is in the dominant hemisphere) and loss of ability to read are common symptoms. Spatial disorders, such as difficulty with body orientation in space or recognition of body parts, can also occur. The parietal lobe also controls language and the ability to do arithmetic. Numbers may be read, but there may be difficulty with calculations. There may be difficulty knowing left from right and sentences containing comparisons or cross-references may not be understood.

A "glioma"is a tumor that arises out of the “glial” or gluey/supportive tissue of the brain. (Astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells, and microglia are all glial cells, and astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, and ependymomas are specific types of gliomas.)

A "blast", in medicine, is an immature cell, and since "oma" means "tumor", a "glioblastoma" is basically a tumor of the immature blast cells of the glial tissue. Sadly, there have been next-to-no significant advancements in the treatment of glioblastoma in the past 25 years, so treatment is palliative.

Bless you, Teddy.

So definitely Hold Ted Kennedy and his family in the Light, but get ready to let him go..... and as always, carpe diem.