Debbie remains upbeat as she undergoes radiotherapy

Everyone following Debbie Brewer‘s story on this site knows that last December it was determined she was in remission from mesothelioma – a miracle! – following successful chemoembolization treatment in Germany. Then, in September, she received a worrying report that appeared to show growth in a lymph node in her chest, which showed up on a CT scan. Subsequent tests revealed that there was growth, which would require treatment.

This week, Debbie started radiotherapy on the lymph node. She tells me that the radiotherapy treatment is a 3-week course, Monday to Friday, and depending on how the lymph node responds could go to 5 or 6 weeks.

Doctors also did a biopsy on her right groin area, which was the site where Dr. Vogl introduced the chemoembolization procedure. There is some question about whether the mesothelioma could have seeded at the induction site. Debbie says Dr. Vogl – who is pioneering the chemoembolization treatment at the University in Frankfurt – is hopeful and optimistic that this is not the case. However, the treatment is still experimental, so it is hard to know what to expect, she says. The chemoembolization treatment was done six times, each time in the same area.

The biopsy was done on Tuesday, with doctors taking two samples. Debbie is now waiting on the results.

She is in good spirits and keeping a positive outlook, so I’m sure she’d appreciate the continued well wishes and encouragment. She promises to let us know when she receives the results. You can also read more about Debbie’s story, and the other goings-on in her life, at her own blog, Mesothelioma & Me.

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Tags: chemoembolization, Debbie Brewer, Dr. Vogl, mesothelioma

This entry was postedon Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 9:38 amand is filed under Events, People, Research/Treatment.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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UK meso survivor Debbie Brewer featured in Plymouth paper as story of hope

It has been a difficult year for many in the mesothelioma family. Many have lost loved ones, or are facing a scary diagnosis. But 2009 also held a lot of good news. To illustrate that, I’d like to share a news article about our great friend in the UK, Debbie Brewer. Just after Christmas, Debbie was featured on the front page of The Herald, a newspaper that covers the Plymouth area. The paper describes Plymouth as a “hotspot for asbestos-related deaths.”

In the feature, Debbie talks about how she moved from what was presented to her as a death sentence to her new outlook of happiness, hope and survival. Debbie was diagnosed in November 2006, at which time she thought she might be seeing her last Christmas. Doctors estimated she had only six to nine months to live.

As most of you know, Debbie refused to accept the prognosis that she had only months to live, instead actively seeking alternative medical treatments that might take a fresh look at her cancer and provide her with new options. Primarily, she found Prof. Thomas Vogl at the University Clinic in Frankfurt, Germany, who administers a therapy called chemoembolization. In this therapy, chemotherapy drugs are introduced directly to the tumor area through a catheter into the lung.

Because the treatment is still in clinical trial stages, Debbie had to travel to Germany for each treatment, not available in the UK, and paid for travel expenses and medical care from her own pocket. However, results were amazing, and Debbie’s tumor shrunk by more than 80 percent, putting her in full remission.

Despite a recent setback, when a September check-up showed cancer in her lymph node had increased in size (the tumor in her lung remains stable), she is optimistic. She lobbies energetically for mesothelioma and asbestos awareness, and also to bring chemoembolization to the UK so that more people might try this new therapy that has shown so much success in her case.

The paper quotes Debbie as saying, “Christmas is the time of year I celebrate being here. ”

We love you, Debbie, and we are SO glad to celebrate another Christmas with you, and we look forward to spending 2010 with you!

Read the full article.

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Tags: asbestos, chemoembolization, Debbie Brewer, Germany, mesothelioma, Prof. Thomas Vogl, UK, University Clinic, Vogl

This entry was postedon Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 7:00 amand is filed under News, People.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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