After a year in Texas, Mark returned safely to Bangkok. "Why is Mark back in Bangkok?" people ask. The answer is complex and yet perhaps simple too. Mark feels safe, comfortable, and relaxed in Thailand. I am searching for another word to describe his feeling there which he has described for me. Perhaps the word is respected. People in Thailand are wonderfully respectful. In the states people grill Mark (or mom) with question after question usually beginning with "Why didn't you do this" or "Why don't you do something else" or a "You should or you shouldn't" do something. The Thai person is not aggressive or invasive, tending to respect other people's decisions for themselves. Mark's plan is to eat chicken soup for breakfast, walk on the beach and meditate daily. Mark is off on another adventure and this is the first news about that stay. Mark is living right now in the guest cottage of a lovely home in Bangkok and he claims his work is to mow the grass periodically. He has access to a cook and driver and is pretty much the only non Thai in the neighborhood. The plan is to go to the beach in a few days and return to Bangkok to meet with friend Jerry Barrett who is leaving Austin on Nov. 20 for Bangkok. Taxi cost from the city to the beach is about 30-35 dollars and it is about a 90 minute ride. More if you stop off at the Tiger Zoo on the way (see earlier blog on the tiger zoo in Thailand). The bus is just as comfortable and is 170 baht, about 4 dollars. Click on any picture to enlarge it.
Cancer Research you don't hear about: Role of enzyme IDO. There is a report of some interesting research findings written up in Today: The magazine of the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) Fall 07. Recent research has found that tumors escape detection by the immune system by use of IDO which is an enzyme also used by fetuses to avoid rejection. The tumor first recruits IDO which then activates a protective barrier of regulatory T cells referred to as Tregs and Tregs may recruit more IDO. According to the article, "The food and Drug Administration has approved early clinical trials of the IDO inhibitor 1M1 in coming months. The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute will begin phase 1 trials of 1M1 in patients with lung and other tumors while MCG is seeking approval for trials using 1M1 and chemo for breast cancer patients.
Another Cancer Research Report : Today many women with breast cancer called ductal cancer in situ are faced with decision to have total mastectomy or a lumpectomy and just wait and watch carefully. Scientist in a pilot study reported by Carolyn Colwell, looked at a collection of biomarkers including molecules p 16 and Ki 67 interacting to precdict invasive vs non invasive breast tumors. Only about 12-15 % of women diagnosed with ductal cancer in situ have tumors that will go on to be invasive.
Summary for first time visitors to the blog: If you logged on for the first time, here is a summary of events: Amost three years ago, Mark was working on Saipan and was suddenly diagnosed with cancer. Gven three months to live, he decided to go to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok while he had the strength to get there. You can read the early blogs about his care and experiences (see archives to click in the right hand column) in the two years he was in Bangkok. After two years, we had spent a small fortune on care as Mark had no insurance since Saipan does not cobra insurance. Mark came back to the states to get care at the Veterans Administration in Houston, Texas and give us a break from paying cash for cancer care. Recently the VA doctor said that although he still had tumors in both lobes of his liver, the tumors were not larger comparing the last two CAT scans so they did not want to do any more chemo. Does he need chemo or not? If he goes to see his doctor in Thailand the answer will probably be yes, while at the VA it is no. Chemotherapy is very hard on a person and it is costly even if it is cheaper in Thailand, so Mark has faced and continues to face very hard decisions.
8403 people have viewed the blog since we put a counter on it. We were up to 72 countries when a few days ago someone from Bangledesh signed on and lit up the Bangledesh flag for the first time. We now have 73 country flags lit up. Send the blog link to people who have not seen it and to friends in other countries...Let's make the 10,000 mark on visitors by Mark's birthday in April.