-Caveat Lector-
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 21:37:57 -0700
From: Dennis McKenna, by way of: Arlene <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Terence McKenna ...
Terence McKenna Land
HONOLULU (DNN, May 22) Terence McKenna has been hospitalized
after suffering massive seizures Saturday evening. A biopsy has
revealed that he has an advanced frontal lobe tumor. His brother
Dennis has provided details in this message to all concerned.
National radio host Art Bell has announced GREAT EXPERIMENT #8
which will harness the intentions of millions of people
simultaneously focused on healing Terence at exactly 2pm Pacific
Daylight Time (9pm GMT) on Sunday May 30th. Please join us in the
effort to save this great man.
To all [from Dennis McKenna],
This is the second (or third, I forget) update on Terence's
situation.
Most of you already know that he is in the Queen's Medical Center
in Honolulu, having been diagnosed with brain cancer. If I missed
including you in this "update list" please forgive the omission;
the older version of AOL was giving me a lot of trouble trying to
put together a list, and you may have been missed in my attempts
to work around that (count on AOL *not* to work when you really
need it). I've now installed a newer version which seems to me
much better.
Also, feel free to forward this to anyone you feel would want to
know that is not on this list but would like to be.
Here's the current situation; it is now Wednesday, 5/26, about 9
am here in Honolulu. Terence, who has been here since Saturday
after being flown here from Kona after suffering several massive
seizures, underwent the preliminary biopsy procedure yesterday to
collect a sample of the tumor so they can determine what type it
is and try to fill in the picture as to various treatment
options.
They will get the tissues back later today, and then will know
more about the cancer as such, what type it is, etc. But they
already know enough from the CAT scans and other data to present
a fairly grim picture. Here's the bare bones:
The tumor is lodged so deeply in the brain, and is located in
such a place, that surgery is probably not an option. There is a
significant chance he would not survive it, or survive it but
remain in a coma with severely impaired functions, or (the most
optimistic scenario) survive with impaired functions that could
be recovered partially through rehabilitation.
The problem is that he would probably not survive long enough to
complete rehabilitation.
So the current options are as follows:
Instead of surgery, the doctor (Dr. Keep) is suggesting the gamma
knife, this is a focused gamma beam that will destroy the tumor.
It is a noninvasive procedure that is a one-day procedure; so it
is like surgery but using gamma particles instead of a knife.
That will kill the primary tumor (and he is now satisfied it is a
primary brain tumor, not a metastatic tumor from some other part
of the body). There is no sign of cancer elsewhere in Terences'
body.
The tumor may then resorb, or it may swell, putting pressure on
the brain which may necessitate surgery later on anyway. And that
surgery will be much more dangerous because he will still be
recovering from the gamma surgery.
The gamma procedure also should (in the doctor's view) be
followed up by x-ray radiotherapy to destroy cancer cells in the
surrounding tissue. This is a more diffuse, less focused
procedure than the gamma knife, and requires treatement 5 days a
week for about six weeks. That will buy more time, but the
drawback is that Terenece would feel fine for a while, (although
the usual effects of radiation therapy; hair loss, severe
fatigue, immune compromise, etc.) but then in about a year would
suffer what's called radiation dementia, involving severe memory
loss, loss of cognitive functions, etc. This radiation dementia
is not a maybe, it is a certainty.
The further bad news is that the doctor doesn't think he will
survive long enough to experience radiation dementia.
None of these procedures is a cure. The doctor is very clear on
this point. The procedures, and the various options, are to buy
Terence some time, preserve quality of life as much as possible
as long as possible, but right now, short of an outright miracle,
survival beyond about two years maximum is extremely unlikely.
Here is the projected survival rates for various options:
1.Do nothing, prevent seizures, keep the swelling down and keep
him comfortable: death in 1 month to two months maximum
2.Proceed with the gamma knife operation, kill the primary tumor,
and do not follow up with X-ray therapy. Survival to about six
months, during which time he will feel relatively good, and will
not have dementia until the later, terminal stages
3.Proceed with the recommended procedure, gamma knife + X-ray
therapy. He may have up to nine pretty good months, then a rapid
decline. Survival beyond a year is unlikely. Although survival up
to two years is known, but rare. But usually the final stages are
not good for the patient in terms of quality of life.
Another option may exist in that there may be experimental
therapies, and experimental treatment protocols, that would offer
an alternative solution. We are looking into this very vigorously
as you can imagine. There is a lot of active work in this area,
but the question of qualifying to be included in the treatment
protocol, the time to get in, etc. will all have to be sorted
out. At this stage, we have not yet identified what experimental
therapies may be appropriate. The doctor has given us some
excellent leads and we welcome additional leads from one and all;
rest assured, we're on it and any thing we turn up that looks
promising will be included in the next update.
Terence needs your hopes, prayers, and good vibes, as much as you
can send, however you think appropriate, more than ever now. You
can use my email address as a contact ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) but
please be understanding if I do not respond to each email
individually. I have set up this email list to keep people
informed, and if you want to be included on the list (or excluded
if your name is on this one and should not be) just ask.
Also, unless you are a close personal friend of Terence's or a
family member, please do not, repeat do not, call the Queen's
medical center in Honolulu.
Thanks for your help, love, and support, and stay tuned.
Dennis
--end fwd--
=================================================================
Kaddish, Kaddish, Kaddish, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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