More on Roger Ebert’s passing: Legendary film critic Roger Ebert has died at the age of 70 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Ebert’s career began with the Chicago Sun-Times back in 1967, and many assumed it would be over after a June 2006 surgery cost Ebert his jaw and voice. However, the film critic persisted, reviewing more than 200 films a year for the Sun-Times, and more than 300 during 2012. Ebert became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize back in 1975, and was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005. He is survived by his wife, step-daughter, and two step-grandchildren. (Photo via Chicago Magazine)
My newspaper job is my identity.
Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer — Chicago Sun-Times
A treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer has, for the first time, produced remissions in adults with a deadly type of acute leukemia that resisted chemotherapy and left little hope of survival, researchers are reporting.
In one patient who was severely ill, all traces of leukemia vanished in eight days.
While it’s far from a cure, the new T-cell treatment successfully sent several patients leukemia into remission for periods ranging from a few months to two years. Currently, only 40 percent of adults diagnosed with acute leukemia survive the disease, though the rate is now much higher among children (80-90%).
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s health is on the decline according to a new report from the Venezuelan government which confirmed that Chavez continues to have trouble breathing, and has developed a new respiratory infection. In fact, many are apparently beginning to wonder if we aren’t witnessing the outspoken South American leader’s final days. (Photo courtesy of Ukberri) source
EDIT: Hugo Chavez has died. Follow this tag for more info.
Venezuela’s vice president says that President Hugo Chavez is fighting for his life while he continues to undergo treatment more than two months after his latest cancer surgery.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on television Thursday that, in his words, Chavez “is battling there for his health, for his life, and we’re accompanying him.” The vice president has used similar phrasing in the past.
Chavez last underwent surgery during a trip to Havana, Cuba back in December, but doesn’t seem to have shown any progress since that time. (He wasn’t looking so hot in recent photos.) The Venezuelan president was re-elected last October; however, it’s unclear if he will live to see the end of his fourth term in office.
I got exactly less than 1 month left until my 26th birthday February 8. Hopefully I live to see it. I really have been getting a lot of support with kind words and prayers from all over the world with this battle with cancer. Thank you and I will continue to fight for us!!!!Boxer Omar Henry • In a January 9 post on his Facebook fan page. His birthday is February 8. He died Friday of Stage 4 gall bladder cancer — before he had a chance to reach his dream of becoming the undisputed super welterweight champion. With a 12-0-1 record, he had a genuine shot at reaching it untile he got sick last fall.
Lance Armstrong has stepped down as a board member of Livestrong, the cancer-support charity he founded in 1997, the organization said Monday.
“Lance Armstrong has chosen to voluntarily resign from the Board of Directors of the Livestrong Foundation to spare the organization any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding his cycling career,” Livestrong chairman Jeff Garvey said in a statement.
“We are deeply grateful to Lance for creating a cause that has served millions of cancer survivors and their families.”
Despite essentially not having any say over what the charity does, a spokesperson says that he ”remains the inspiration” for the charity’s work, as well as its largest individual donor. This resignation comes less than a month after he resigned as the charity’s chairman amidst scandal over his career.
Comedian Tig Notaro’s Legendary Set Now Available Through Louis C.K.
Louis CK’s e-mail regarding this was epic. An excerpt:
Well, Tig is a friend of mine and she is very funny. I love her voice on stage. One night I was performing at a club in LA called Largo. Tig was there. She was about to go on stage. I hadn’t seen Tig in about a year and I said how are you? She replied “well I found out today that I have cancer in both breasts and that it has likely spread to my lymph nodes. My doctor says it looks real bad. “. She wasn’t kidding. I said “uh. Jesus. Tig. Well. Do you… Have your family… Helping?”. She said “well my mom was with me but a few weeks ago she fell down, hit her head and she died”. She still wasn’t kidding.
Now, I’m pretty stupid to begin with, and I sure didn’t know what to say now. I opened my mouth and this came out. “jeez, Tig. I. Really value you. Highly.”. She said “I value you highly too, Louie.”. Then she held up a wad of note-paper in her hand and said “I’m gonna talk about all of it on stage now. It’s probably going to be a mess”. I said “wow”. And with that, she went on stage.
I stood in the wings behind a leg of curtain, about 8 feet from her, and watched her tell a stunned audience “hi. I have cancer. Just found out today. I’m going to die soon”. What followed was one of the greatest standup performances I ever saw. I can’t really describe it but I was crying and laughing and listening like never in my life. Here was this small woman standing alone against death and simply reporting where her mind had been and what had happened and employing her gorgeously acute standup voice to her own death.
The show was an amazing example of what comedy can be. A way to visit your worst fears and laugh at them. Tig took us to a scary place and made us laugh there. Not by distracting us from the terror but by looking right at it and just turning to us and saying “wow. Right?”. She proved that everything is funny. And has to be. And she could only do this by giving us her own death as an example. So generous.
Worth repeating: ”She proved that everything is funny. And has to be. And she could only do this by giving us her own death as an example. So generous.”
How Prostate Cancer Works
Just a tad late for Father’s Day, but every day is a good day to raise awareness about cancer education and prevention. Prostate cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the United States and the U.K. Do you understand the basics of cancer?
AsapSCIENCE, a new YouTube channel that tells general science stories in the style of MinutePhysics, put together this animation highlighting the checkpoints in your cells that fight cancer and how they go wrong when the disease takes over. You’ll learn not only how the cells lose control, but why risks increase with age and perhaps why some parts of the world have higher rates than others. Give them a follow!
(by AsapSCIENCE)
An unnamed source told HDNet’s Dan Rather that Chavez may not live to see the results of his reelection bid when Venezuelans vote on October 7. According to the report, Chavez suffers from an especially aggressive form of cancer known as metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma, and is not expected to live “more than a couple of months at most.” (Photo by chavezcandanga) source
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
My goal all along has been to put this experience behind me as fast as possible before carrying on with life as normal. The cost is insane, the trauma has been considerable. I wish both had been less. But given my options, I am comfortable with my choice. I wish there had been another option, though. I wish there was a way of eliminating these cells without taking out so much of my body. I wonder how long it’ll be till that option exists?The Guardian’s Emma Gilbey Keller • Discussing her 40-day ordeal with breast cancer, which ended abruptly, after she chose to get a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery — a process that was not cheap but prevented a prolonged process. A pretty crazy read, but one that you most definitely should read. (via Katie Rogers)
Mega-rich financial genius Warren Buffett announces, via news release, that he has stage one prostate cancer, but that it was caught very early. “I feel great — as if I were in my normal excellent health — and my energy level is 100 percent,” Buffett claims.
You know what? Screw cancer so hard. This guy, Kevin McGuire, had a date to the CMAs with Taylor Swift — but a flaring-up of his second bout with cancer kept him home. “I was perfectly fine the last two months. I didn’t (get) sick or even sneeze,” he noted. “Before my flight I got sick. Someone out there, somehow, didn’t want me going.” (Swift, who won CMA’s Entertainer of the Year, mentioned McGuire during her speech and talked with him on the phone beforehand.) Dear Taylor: Reschedule this date. You won’t regret it.
A new inspiring look for Barbie? Genesis Reyes, a four-year-old who lost her hair after receiving treatment for cancer, is getting a one-of-a-kind Barbie: a bald Barbie. “We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, alopecia or trichotillomania,” said Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin, who, after they were inspired by Genesis, built a Facebook page. This kind of Barbie could do quite a bit of emotional therapy for girls going through similar situations. Mattel, however, “doesn’t accept ideas from outside sources,” so we’re not sure yet if this movement will come to fruition. source
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