Dr. Brian Loggie performed the IPHC (intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemoperfusion -heated chemo procedure) on my husband, February 205, 2004—that’s five years ago. Dr. Loggie had been using the heated chemo to treat the rare appendix cancer, Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP), for over ten years. Today I read a newspaper article posted on the PMPbellybuttons support group. Seems some doctors are finally catching up to speed.
The newspaper article titled “LI doctors testing heated chemo for rare cancer” says “Long Island cancer doctors have borrowed a page from medicine's past to write a new chapter on how to address a rare malignancy by infusing heated chemotherapy directly into the abdomen using a heart-lung machine.” The italics are mine. I don’t understand what they borrowed or why they think their research and services are new.
I do agree with the article when it says, this is a “....therapy for cancer of the appendix, a malignancy so rare it is known as an orphan cancer. The American Cancer Society has no statistics on its prevalence.”
The article does mention that when Dr. Paul Sugarbaker started using this IPHC method twenty years ago, he met all kinds of resistance. It also says because PMP is still considered an orphan disease, not many people are diagnosed with it, and it’s still difficult to do clinical trials.
We know my husband is one of the lucky ones. The first surgeon, Dr. McCormick, properly diagnosed him with PMP. We also know it’s a miracle he is alive today—two oncologists failed to send us to Dr. Sugarbaker or Dr. Loggie. They told my husband, “We’ll keep you as comfortable as possible.”
What would we do differently given the same set of circumstances we faced in 2002? 1) Seek a second and third opinion. 2) Ask for the medical diagnosis written down and research the disease. 3) Find a support group—if you don’t find one, do like Stephanie Cain did. She formed PMPbellybuttons in November 2003. I’m the 17th person in the group. Thanks Steph.
The newspaper article titled “LI doctors testing heated chemo for rare cancer” says “Long Island cancer doctors have borrowed a page from medicine's past to write a new chapter on how to address a rare malignancy by infusing heated chemotherapy directly into the abdomen using a heart-lung machine.” The italics are mine. I don’t understand what they borrowed or why they think their research and services are new.
I do agree with the article when it says, this is a “....therapy for cancer of the appendix, a malignancy so rare it is known as an orphan cancer. The American Cancer Society has no statistics on its prevalence.”
The article does mention that when Dr. Paul Sugarbaker started using this IPHC method twenty years ago, he met all kinds of resistance. It also says because PMP is still considered an orphan disease, not many people are diagnosed with it, and it’s still difficult to do clinical trials.
We know my husband is one of the lucky ones. The first surgeon, Dr. McCormick, properly diagnosed him with PMP. We also know it’s a miracle he is alive today—two oncologists failed to send us to Dr. Sugarbaker or Dr. Loggie. They told my husband, “We’ll keep you as comfortable as possible.”
What would we do differently given the same set of circumstances we faced in 2002? 1) Seek a second and third opinion. 2) Ask for the medical diagnosis written down and research the disease. 3) Find a support group—if you don’t find one, do like Stephanie Cain did. She formed PMPbellybuttons in November 2003. I’m the 17th person in the group. Thanks Steph.
About the news article, well good. Husband and I are thrilled that other cancer doctors are catching up—it’s time.
We are especially grateful we "stumbled" into Dr. Loggie only four miles from our home. PTL.
