Feeling Very Proud of the Chris Elliott Fund RIGHT NOW!

Happy Sunday Evening Everyone and Greetings from SUNNY Seattle!
Wow! Some days are really really great! I'm lucky and just had one of those! Today, I KNOW I extended a brain tumor patient's life!

There are definitely days when I can't say this or feel this. Probably the worst part of my job is being in the right place at the right time, sharing my personal experience with brain cancer with a brain tumor patient and explaining what I have learned and what I would do differently to them and/or their family/caregiver and then having the brain tumor patient NOT take action soon enough. The worst is that they let too much time slide by between talking to me and deciding to let me help them receive advanced brain tumor/cancer treatment. The worst is that when they do come to be after they've sat on the info. I've provided/shared and it's too late - the open door to receive advanced brain cancer treatments is now closed. THAT is a challenging day for me.

But, the BEST part of my job and what I want to share today is what it feels like to "change someone's life" who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor! So, you all know that my husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer (read his story at http://www.chriselliottfund.org/) almost 9 years ago. I can't tell you HOW MANY times I wished so much while going through this diagnosis, treatments, surgeries, caregiving and researching for something that would save my husband's life, that there was a person like me to help my husband and I receive advanced care! I KNOW why I do what I do and it is because I have felt first hand the frustration that comes with this disease and how little help there is for people and their families who are diagnosed with brain tumors/brain cancer.

So, when someone reaches out to me for help, I tell them of my husband's experience and what I learned from that experience and what I would do differently today if I had the chance. I tell them how I can assist them in getting advanced brain cancer care and how I can make introductions to large brain tumor centers noted for their excellence across the country as well as into the Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment (CABTT)w/in the Swedish Neuroscience Center here in Seattle. So, when a patient and their family listen and learns from me and when I can successfully get them into see a brain tumor specialist (neurosurgeon and/or neuro-oncologist) and when I can successfully help them have a resection (removal of the tumor) especially when one is told that their tumor is inoperable, and I can assist them in defining the chemo/treatment that will have the most impact on their specific tumor based on their tumors genomic/molecular profile, I simply call that a "very good day".

In the last three weeks, I have helped three brain tumor patients who heard the words when initially diagnosed "your brain tumor is inoperable". Having heard those words regarding my husband's 3rd and 4th brain tumor, I KNOW how startling and hopeless one feels after this diagnosis. So, here's how simple this is and the service that the Chris Elliott Fund provides. Hopefully, you already know about the CEF when you or a loved one is diagnosed and if not, you hear about the CEF from someone else or you get on line and find us and then contact us at info@ChrisElliottFund.org or via eVoice at 425.642.8364. eVoice messages come directly to me via your recorded message on my email account.Most of the time when you contact us, you will get me but sometimes you will get our Patient Outreach/Advocacy Committee, which is comprised of two ladies who have lost their husbands to Glioblastoma (GBM) and a young lady who lost her dad last year to GBM. We are here to help you. I or they will share our personal stories with you, listen as you share your or your loved one's story and then we will share with you what we have learned that could potentially extend or even save one's life from their brain tumor or brain cancer. We'll share with you how we can get you in FAST to a large brain tumor center noted for its excellence or if you are in the Seattle area, we will explain how we can get you into the CABTT quickly and if you want us to arrange for a consult, we will get right on it and w/in 24 hours most likely have your appointment made w/in the next week. The other thing that is vitally important to understand is that many times when one is told that their "brain tumor is inoperable" it is because of 5 things, #1 the skill level of the neurosurgeon, the neurosurgeon is not specialized enough and does not solely focus on and operate on brain tumors and #3 the MRI guided equipment he/she is using with surgery is old or outdated, the neurosurgeon does not have access to a CyberKnife and is not skilled in a new surgery technique called "Ultrasonic Aspiration.

So, it is a GOOD day when I've been able to "change someone's life" and have worked with a brain tumor patient and their family to get their brain tumor genetically tested for its molecular structure to determine which chemo the person's individual brain tumor will have a better reaction to (biopsies can reveal this info. also not just resections/removal of the tumor) and/or I have successfully arranged for someone to have a safe resection of their brain tumor when they had been told it was "in operable".

I'm often asked "Do you supposed this is the purpose of your life?". I will blog about this next time!

In the meantime, catch me tomorrow morning, Monday 7/20, on KKNW AM1150 and what my life has taught me about "how I describe success now". Go online to http://www.chatwithwomen.com/ to click to watch the live show or listen to the show. Also, follow me on Twitter at: EndBrainCancer and engage on Twitter at #pamchat 8-9A this Monday!