Good (Personal) News – Moon of Alabama

April 6, 2005

Good (Personal) News

This is simply an update (with GOOD news) about my 4-year-old son and his/our fight against a brain tumor.

For those of you here who are not familiar with the story, you can go to the diary I posted a few weeks ago on dKos: The kindness of strangers – an internet odyssey. and to the earlier posts at the Annex, copied here.

Today, we went to do a new MRI scan of his brain, and I am incredibly happy to report that what was left of the tumor is now no longer visible. It is by no means certain that every single malign cell is gone, but it is certainly going in the right direction. The ongoing treatment (chemiotherapy) will continue as decided earlier, i.e. until the end of this year, but it will certainly be less stressful for us. Tonight, we drank champagne and actually enjoyed it.

He is still partly paralysed on the right side (basically, he has lost the control of his knee, ankle and hand), so it’s not like this will ever be totally over as it is highly unlikely that he will recover in full. He goes to physical therapy almost everyday to get back as much as he can of his motricity, and he is now able to walk on his own and hold light objects in his hand. We are hoping for more progress in the coming months, but he cannot get dressed on his own yet, he cannot play with a Gameboy or the like, and he cannot hold a ball (thankfully, he is left-handed).

One of the reasons I am writing here and on dKos and telling about this in particular is that I am really scared of what would happen if our civilisation failed and we ended up back into survival mode, à la Terminator, where the ability to hold his own would be a vital competence. I have little doubt that he can have a fine life in our current world, but not in any “end of the world” scenario, and I see that the probability of these has increased significantly in recent years (since November 2000, to be precise…), with the energy crisis, economic unbalances and geopolitical challenges that I see ahead of us, not to mention the rise of fundamentalism throughout the world, including the dark “reddening” of significant part of the USA.

I see dKos as one ofthe best places where the good fight is being waged, where smart and fine people meet and discuss and exchange information and prepare action to bring back some sanity to the place where it matters the most today in our world: in Washington, and in each local community. This site now has a amazing (and well deserved) reach, and I want to bring my small contribution to that fight, in the form of information and awareness on the issues which I know about, and which will matter increasingly in coming months and years, in the energy and financial sectors and in developing contacts and sorely needed understanding between America and Europe.

Moon of Alabama is different, in that it is a much smaller community, but it is a place of amazing quality, and I am still stunned every day by the depth, variety and humanity of the comments posted here. I leanr every day, and it is you guys that motivated to write on a regular basis and that set the standards to meet…

I am very grateful for all the attention which has been given to my posts and diaries, and I will try to continue to deserve this and contribute here, for my son, for my daughters and wife, and for all of us, whether in the US or elsewhere in the world.

Never hesitate to send me requests for posts or topics, I will just do it…

And as this is a political blog, just one political “exploitation” of my story, by reminding you all that not only is my son fully covered by our national health care system, but my wife actually gets a decent monthly stipend so that she can stop working to take care of him full time. (and our younger 2-year-old daughter is full time in a government funded kindergarden for which we pay 350 euros per months. The older one is going to pre-school for free). It is totally incomprehensible to all Europeans that such care is not available to everybody in the US, and that the lifes of entire families can be wrecked completely by an accident of fate like ours, in having to pay for it in addition to dealing with the pain of it. How can this not be a massively popular campaign issue??

Anyway, the Americans amongst you think the same already, and are doing what you can to change that, and I don’t want to sound like an arrogant French (I am one of course, but that’s another topic 😉 ). So, as a last word, I’d like to say thanks again to the whole community for its support, for all the kind words of encouragement and compassion that have come my way, and again, for showing the better face of the world and providing sorely needed hope.

PS – as for the other little girl I mentioned in my previous diary, she is hanging in there. She is about to start a very risky radiotherapy, with unpredictable side effects (because of her age), but the last surgery she went through was successful, so there still is hope for her.

Posted by on April 6, 2005 at 21:45 UTC | Permalink

Comments

félicitations jérôme, vraiment félicitations

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 6 2005 21:55 utc | 1

I said it at dkos but I’ll say it here as well: couldn’t be happier for you. Crossing my appendages that he continues to progress well.

Posted by: ides | Apr 6 2005 22:10 utc | 2

Yeah, I did post it over at dKos… it’s even more politically correct and fawning than here ;-). The good news are real and the compliments sincere!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/6/172923/5422

Posted by: Jérôme | Apr 6 2005 22:29 utc | 3

Wonderful news about your son, Jerome. I’m so happy to hear it.
I understand full well what you concerns you about your son in a worse than Hobbesian world.
And I also envy the value of community that makes certain parts of your family’s struggle less difficult. As I recall, a couple of years ago I read that Britain was studying France’s health care system because it is ranked THE BEST in the entire world.
I suppose those taxes and those strong labor unions who expect rights for workers as well might benefit an entire nation…but of course, that’s a situation the plutocrats don’t want people to believe here. (The article about the TOTAL LACK of any evidence that “Reaganomics” or libertarian no tax policies work was interesting to read. I should dig up the article that charted the economy in the US that showed better economic performance until Democratic governments. But somehow the Republicans have convinced people that they are good for biz…I guess if you’re a a CEO that’s true.
digression…sorry for hijacking your earlier thread about The Kindness of Strangers.
In light of the wonderful news about your son, I will drink a toast to him as well.
Salut!

Posted by: fauxreal | Apr 6 2005 22:41 utc | 4

i wish you and your family the best of luck in overcoming this situation. salud, dinero y amor to you all.
i must say that i am totally ignorant re. children cancer despite having lived some years vis-a-vis the childrens hospital in the ninth district and seeing the little bald-headed boys and girls thru the window almost daily, sometimes even catching glimpses of crying parents and siblings in when going to fetch a pizza. strange that the hospital’s entrance always seemed to be most active at night.
my stereotype of cancer was that it is something only old and sick people get after a life of ill habits. i’ve learnt otherwise during the last couple of years, thru personal experience and reading.
the only case of cancer in my family known to me is my grandfather who dies 1960. he made explosives during the war and detergents later, apparently the detergents were culpable for his demise. other than that, a colleague of my stepfather contracted cancer, went to chemo and radiotherapy and became bald and bloated, what caused her husband to find solace in the bottle and their marriage to split up. she was prof for chemistry at uni. they had two fat daughters who i hated.
two years ago a good friend and colleague of mine contracted breast cancer (she smoked and drank lots and generally lived a rather bohemian life). she got herself operated. i used to visit her at hospital but broke contact after she had a fight with my GF where both women almost went toe-to-toe with fisticuffs, bites and scratches. i wonder if i did her injustice since right now i am breaking up with my GF for causes related to their fight.
i mention my GF because she is palestinian, and acording to what she has told me about her family and the place and people, they did not know cancer until the jews started burying the radioactive waste from dimona near palestinian villages throughout the west bank and gaza thus contaminating water, crops and herds. she also told me that people there tended to become very old (120-150 years) and die in good health and sound of mind most of times, that osteoporosis (‘old people with weak bones’) is still the exception.
i have seen this over and over when travelling around, that people who live far from cities in a rather simple setting tend to be healthier, more intelligent, and far more sociable than people living in cities, inside and outside europe. personally i find it strange, to say the least, that all those researchers into cancer somehow always manage to NOT come up with what the causes for cancer are or with a cure, but with lengthy explanations and expensive medications.
by what i have seen and read i’ve come to the conclusion that cancer, osteoporosis, bad teeth, senile dementia and other degenerative ailments which seem to multiply after about age 40 are before all caused by civilization meaning what we in the center eat and drink plus our modus vivendi devoid of sun and nature, an aggravating cause being all the nuclear tests conducted since the 1940’s and the last british/american wars, which all may have spread radioactive particles over the whole planet. if this is true, your child may be a victim of the empire just like so many iraqi children.
i would be very interested in seeing statistics of cancer incidence in different regions/countries of the world since 1900 because i suppose that interesting correlations may be discovered. but in the end this kind of study may be a luxury and irrelevant to our problems. a better way of using ones reading time may be to read manuals teaching urban and rural survival techniques.
ISBN 1565049195 is an example of appropriate recreative lecture for these times, an anthology of pure horror probably long surpassed in iraq and certain places in the US.

Posted by: name | Apr 6 2005 22:57 utc | 5

This is such wonderful news! Your family is in our thoughts and meditations.
And yes, it is obscene that we here in the US are being held hostage by our health care system. One arguement I hear is how much better is quality here in the US, a byproduct of capitalism. To counter, there was story on NPR last week about how many Americans are leaving the US for medical treatment, cheaper and in some cases better quality service in places like India and Europe.

Posted by: SME in Seattle | Apr 6 2005 22:57 utc | 6

Excellent News! I heap admiration on you, going through all of this and offering your posts as well.
And, I heap all the best wishes for continued good news with your son’s recovery.

Posted by: Vicki | Apr 6 2005 23:30 utc | 7

I am a professional cartoonist. If your son would like a drawing, Jerome, just let me know and I can send one to you via jpeg or snail mail.
years ago I went with a famous cartoonist’s widow to Sloan Kettering and did drawings for kids who were being treated for cancer, going through chemo, all sorts of things. It was one of the more moving experiences of my life since the kids took everything in stride.
Your daughter sounds like a fine girl and she draws very well.
Thank you for the wonderful posts and for keeping the ‘comments’ section of the whiskey bar open.

Posted by: hopping madbunny | Apr 6 2005 23:51 utc | 8

Jerome,
wonderful news! A toast for your sons health!
name,
I have read a little bit of medicine (but just a little) and I remember this about cancer: Cancer are mainly found in small children and old people. Cancer is caused by faulty coping of cells, where some cells might lose their sense of solidarity and try to take over. For cancer to develop the cell need to gain 5 characteristics (or lose 5 security measures depending on your point of view), of these I only remember three:
Stop dying. A normal cell copies itself a certain number of times and then it dies, leaving room for its succesors. A cancercell refuses to die.
Losing their sense of their place in the body. The start going to places they were not supposed to go, skin cells should not grow in the heart and heart cells should not grow on the skin and normal cells know this. Cancer cells has forgotten all about it.
Giving their acquired characteristicas to their daughter cells (otherwise it would just be one cell, and that is no cancer).
And two more. The important thing here is for cancer to develop a cell must gain all these five characteristica, just four does not make it cancer.
Children has a lot of cells forming giving opportunities for faulty copying. Old people have had plenty of time for some cells to acquire lots of characteristica, giving lots of cells which might only need one more characteristica to go cancer.
So what gives faulty copying? Radioactivity and cigarett smoke are well known as they are human made. But the single largest factor is oxygen. Animals get cancer, trees do not (or very rarely) as plants use and get rid of oxygen only in the green parts, they do not suck it in and transport it around the whole body.
Can we stop oxygen? Yes, in part. By eating fresh fruit you lower the risk of cancer. This effect has not been reproduced by synthetic substances (according to a agricultur-researcher I talked to).
The (however incomplete) list of cancer-characteristica in cells do remind me of human society, though I did not think about it beforehand. I will see if I can find my notes from that class *glares sceptically at pile of notebooks from different classes* but I do not promise anything.

Posted by: A swedish kind of death | Apr 6 2005 23:55 utc | 9

Jerome, that is wonderful news. I send my best wishes for his complete recovery.

Posted by: Ferdzy | Apr 7 2005 0:01 utc | 10

Great news, Jérôme. I’m very glad for you and your family 🙂
Now, let’s hope the last Evil cell will have been dealt with before this year ends.
My best wishes for a prompt recovery, and a bright and glorious future for your kid!
As for survival, frankly, if we had to go into a Mad Max world, the amount of survivors will be very very low – notably in the West which is a highly specialised and integrated society where barely anyone could live on his own.
Name: Actually, Jérôme posted some stats a few weeks ago, including the variation in French mortality in 20th century. Deaths by cancer basically didn’t change during the whole century, proportionally to the population. You had close to the same number of deaths for 100.000 people in 1900 and in 2000. Since people have better treatment now, it means that the amount of cancers has increased, clearly, but on the other hand it also means the situation is not irremediably doomed and we’re all gonna end up with cancers or heavy genetic mutations, so far.
There is one major reason why people are more concerned with cancers, Alzheimer and many other diseases now. It’s because the traditional violent deaths (famine, war, plague) have disappeared in the West. People still have to die, so we now worry about the kinds of deaths that weren’t suppressed with peace and relative opulence in Western countries. The fact that people live longer also means that more people will develop Parkinson, Alzheimer and the like.
Last but not least, people seem to think the past centuries were a golden age. Well, pick any “historical” book from ancient times, notably Roman history, and you’ll see various stories about monstruous births of freaks, which were interpreted as Evil Omens then.
“people there tended to become very old (120-150 years)” Of course, you realise this is a joke. And an easily provable one; just dig up a hundred skeletons from 18th century and check at which age they died. Though it’s quite common knowledge that people in the Mediterranean/Caucasus area have a very good and long life expectancy, with a rate of 100+ bigger than in most of the world. But 120+ is obviously an exaggeration due to embellishment of the past and the fact that records weren’t that accurate.
The bit about superiority of the countryside may have been correct in 3rd world nations. It’s definitely a bunch of BS in the West; countryside voting reactionary vs cities voting progressive is one of the most common and widely spread political fact to the point that it was already obvious for 19th century political observers – there’s a reason why the Commune occurred in Paris and not in some Vosgian village.

Posted by: CluelessJoe | Apr 7 2005 0:25 utc | 11

Wonderful news, Jerome. Thank you for letting us know. Best wishes to you and your family.

Posted by: Maxcrat | Apr 7 2005 0:31 utc | 12

A very welcome (and generous) post, Jérôme. Do keep us up to date on the boy–he feels like a member of the family (and a brava! to your daughter for such a festive picture!).

Posted by: alabama | Apr 7 2005 0:34 utc | 13

Jerome, this is truly wonderful to hear. Your son is blessed to have such loving parents, and perhaps the power of community as manifested in the many positive thoughts sent his way has helped as well. It is a vivid image, your writing to bring about a world in which your son can flourish. My son is 19, radical and scholarly and full of Bush-anger and life-hope, and I want a world left for him too. Congratulations to you all!

Posted by: liz | Apr 7 2005 0:41 utc | 14

Champagne at my house too (and misty eyes). I am so happy for you! =)

Posted by: beq | Apr 7 2005 1:27 utc | 15

I am so so so happy for you Jerome! I knew your son would recover. Kids are strong and he has fantastic parents. I continue my best thoughts for him and your family.
If only American society valued people like French society obviously does. I think about the possiblity of deteriation of society to a Hobbsian nightmare and think about my dependence on anti-rejection drungs and reduced lung volume and wonder how I would protect my girls or even just survive. But I have proven myself a survivor and I try to live like the man said: consider the lillys of the goddamn field. All I can do is trust that I will be able to do what ever is required of me; just as you continue to do for your family. Your are amazing Jerome, my friend.

Posted by: stoy | Apr 7 2005 2:30 utc | 16

wow! that’s wonderful news! and positive vibes to that little girl in her treatment & everyone else undergoing stressful challenges.

Posted by: b real | Apr 7 2005 3:17 utc | 17

Finally, an MoA post to soften the heart and gently lift the corners of the mouth. I’m very happy to hear this good news, Jerome, and hope for more for you and your family.
Your extended post, I thought, was about our interdependency. The social programs so widespread now in Europe show that people there understand this inter-relatedness . We had the New Deal, but now we have a powerful movement to kill it and most people here are unaware of the class history and social struggles in the US that brought us these programs in the first place. The Frank Luntz approved language for what is called debate uses vague “principles” like economic freedom, freeing up the free market, strengthening the economic sector, creating stakeholders and owners, etc, etc. But this is all gloss to justify the selfishness of the rich and powerful few to accumulate even more wealth and power. The freedom they want is the freedom from any sense of responsibility for anyone else. At rock bottom, no principles are really involved; it is just selfishness vs compassion.
Again, Jerome, your news makes my evening. Keep it coming.

Posted by: lonesomeG | Apr 7 2005 3:18 utc | 18

Thanks Jérôme for the good news.

Posted by: Fran | Apr 7 2005 3:23 utc | 19

Wonderful news Jerome, it compounds a similar though less intimate happiness of my own — an old friend has justed tested “clean” again for lung cancer, after surgery and chemo over a year ago. The odds against recurrence get better with each good result over time. So I have had two cheerful bits of news in two days. Even Kassandra must smile sometimes. Thanks for letting us know. Your son is a fortunate boy — in the quality of his medical care, the quality of the country he lives in, and the quality of his loving family.

Posted by: DeAnander | Apr 7 2005 3:37 utc | 20

Jerome, this wonderful news has made my day.
Thanks for sharing it.

Posted by: SusanG | Apr 7 2005 4:09 utc | 21

This is wonderful news!To many of us others on this side of the ‘pond’ who have been concerned.
I was never able to understand how Jerome was able to post so often, while carrying this very heavy burden. Some of us are stronger than others ,I suppose.
And– I hope that with all the sympathy and empathy that came out of Dkos today, I hope that we are not all dismissed as ‘ugly amurrcans’
Sorry, I had to say that- because I am feeling like one.
And, someday I may learn how my keyboard works and can add the circumflex.
Felicitions, Jerome!!!

Posted by: shycat | Apr 7 2005 5:54 utc | 22

Joy at Jérôme’s wonderfully good news is a rare instance of Moonie unanimity. Rightly so.
I hope the improvement continues , and exceeds expectations.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Apr 7 2005 6:07 utc | 23

Great news.

Posted by: Colman | Apr 7 2005 6:33 utc | 24

wonderful!!!! i hope for the best. lotsa hugs for your little one.

Posted by: lenin’s ghost | Apr 7 2005 6:52 utc | 25

Jérôme,
I am new to the blog and just learned of your family’s trauma. It is wonderful news, and I can’t imagine your sense of relief. I have two children, thankfully healthy and happy, but at 4 in the morning I sometimes feel terrible about the future we are bequeathing them. France and its health system sounds approapriate and the political/social articulation of a simple human right. The USA is at the other side of the spectrum–at the very end of it as far as the developed, rich economies go. In Australia, we exist mid-level, but drifting inexorably to the US end. Already you don’t want to get sick in rural Australia; and the metropolitan centres are also becoming care-free zones, or private-insurance zones. It is heartening to learn of the culture of putting people first actually survives (does it thrive?).
Best of everything to you and your family for the future.

Posted by: Theodor | Apr 7 2005 7:02 utc | 26

Good news Jerome,
And while much of life is a crap shoot, there is valuable trust in the little apple may not fall so far from the tree, we also share your strength because you willingly give it. YES!

Posted by: anna missed | Apr 7 2005 7:46 utc | 27

Better late than never: This is good, good news indeed. All the best to your son, Jérôme, and his entire family. Auf Euch!

Posted by: teuton | Apr 7 2005 11:22 utc | 28

I’m so happy for you all….Great good news..

Posted by: Blackie | Apr 7 2005 12:30 utc | 29

That is just wonderful news, Jérôme! I am so happy for you and your family.
Best wishes.

Posted by: Ineluctable | Apr 7 2005 14:19 utc | 30

Best wishes, Jérôme.
I admire your personal and your family courage.

Posted by: Greco | Apr 7 2005 18:36 utc | 31

Jérôme,
I am so happy for you both, for you all. Tears and laughter here, and we will celebrate this gift of time, time and health.
To all at the moon, my apologies for posting so infrequently now. Suddenly I have moved from teaching 1 course to teaching 3.5. I’m learning how and will be back more as I grow new skills.

Posted by: Citizen | Apr 7 2005 18:45 utc | 32

I’m very pleased to hear your good news about your son. Yes, the maintenance of human civilization, with the knowledge and productive capacity that allows more humane lives for all, is certainly worth some effort. As Krishna pointed out in the Gita, people have both divine and demonic tendencies – let’s hope.
With best wishes for liberty, equality, and siblinghood.

Posted by: mistah charley | Apr 7 2005 19:51 utc | 33

I am very pleased to hear this good news. Thank you for telling us, Jerome. Your family and your son are surrounded with healing light.
My own brother underwent 3 months of continuous inpatient chemo at NIH with similar improvement. He had no health insurance. His only chance for treatment was a to enter a clinical study that the federally-funded Cancer Institute just happened to be doing on his particular form of cancer at the time. So despite the anti-socialized medicine crowd, this American knows that government health care works splendidly.

Posted by: gylangirl | Apr 8 2005 1:48 utc | 34

thanks,we can all certainly use this kind of pick me up.i still light him a candle every evening,my way of sending positive thoughts. tonight i’ll light 2 in celebration

Posted by: onzaga | Apr 8 2005 9:59 utc | 35

Not a regular poster (but a regular reader). All my best to you and your family. My husband is a 40 plus year survivor of childhood lymphoma non-hodgkins he had at ten. He had a year of chemo and went on as an adult to father two (if I say so myself) beautiful children. There can be a whole life after cancer.

Posted by: middleoftheroadnot | Apr 8 2005 12:53 utc | 36

Jerome, that’s so wonderful. Now that it’s in remission, he should be safe ‘cuz the BBC is reporting trials for some wonderful new treatment down the road apiece under the headline Cure for Cancer in 5 Years
Scientists in Manchester say a cure for all types of cancer could be available on the NHS within five years.

The world’s first patient trials in a technique which genetically engineers cells will take place at the city’s Christie Hospital later this year.

The treatment – gene-modified t-cell therapy – could replace more intrusive treatments like chemotherapy.

The cells are fitted with a “tracker” device to kill cancer cells before being injected back into the patient.

Professor Robert Hawkins, clinical director of Medical oncology at the hospital, says the initial results of lab tests have been “spectacular”.
Of course, there’s no guarantee going from in vitro to in vivo testing, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. (Happily we still have the BBC to keep us informed!!)

Posted by: jj | Apr 9 2005 4:15 utc | 37

Jerome–
C’est formidable!

Posted by: RossK | Apr 10 2005 18:42 utc | 38

So happy for your son , Jerome…
I haven’t had time to read this before but I was aware that good news is here by reading the name of the topic few days ago.
I am so happy for your son and your family. I’ll continue to pray for you and to hope for your little boy as my way to send positive vibes to you.
Quote:
In Australia, we exist mid-level, but drifting inexorably to the US end.
This is what I am worrying about lately.
If I wanted to live in USA –like country I wouldn’t come to Australia but USA…
I hope France (and EU) will stick to its guns in health field because somehow “those Americans” managed to convince the world that by following their way we all will be bloody rich and able to pay for our own health needs. Those who would not be able to pay for it are not worth living anyway ( according to them) I suppose… Ridiculous as it is they managed to do so because there is (mostly) no sense of solidarity in rich men world where we all “will find our selves in no time”.

Posted by: vbo | Apr 12 2005 4:26 utc | 39

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