YOU ASKED, WE ANSWERED: Josh Sommer Answered Your Questions About His Fight With Cancer
Josh Sommer's responses to viewer questions about his battle with chordoma.
Mar. 16, 2008— -- Josh Sommer is the extraordinary college student who was diagnosed with incurable cancer and told he had seven years to live. Devastating as the diagnosis was, Josh wasted little time getting right to work. He's since launched the Chordoma Foundation, raised money for cancer research and organized cancer scholars around the world to talk about chordoma -- in addition to working 30 hours a week researching a cure to his own disease.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT JOSH'S INCREDIBLE STORY.
We invited our viewers to ask him questions. Below are his answers:
John from Rocklin, Calif., asked: Josh, what type of treatment are you receiving now? Can you explain in more detail how this type of cancer progresses? Good luck too you!
Answer: Right now I am being watched carefully with regular MRI's and check-ups.
From what I've learned by reading the medical literature and speaking with patients, the progression of chordomas varies widely.
In general they are slow growing, yet relentless tumors. The tumor may or may not return after surgery and/or radiation.
Once a chordoma comes back or metastasizes, patients are often treated with various chemotherapies, but none has been shown to be consistently effective. That said, some patients do benefit from chemotherapy.
Once the disease becomes uncontrollable the tumors can become very large and begin to spread.
Patients with large tumors or tumors that spread throughout the body often suffer intense pain; however, due to the slow growth of the tumors, this pain is often prolonged before the patient ultimately succumbs to the disease.
It is not pleasant to think about. For more information about chordoma click here.
Best,
Josh
Alexandria from Carrollton, Texas, asked: My family was so inspired by your story and we will continue to pray for you. How can we donate money to the Chordoma Foundation?
Answer: Thank you for the encouragement and eagerness to help! I've been blown away by the generosity of so many people.
To donate visit: www.chordomafoundation.org/involved/donate.aspx.
We really appreciate anything you can give. If everyone reading this response gave just $10 we would be well on our way to reaching our goal of $3 million by 2009.
I am confident that if we meet this fundraising goal, that we'll have a good shot at developing new treatments in time to save the lives of many chordoma patients alive today.
From a scientific point of view I see a path towards new treatments, which is limited mainly by resources. Every donation puts us one step closer on the path towards a cure.
I appreciate your prayers and support -- it is very motivating for me to hear.
All the best,
Josh
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