Sumiye's condition today

She has recovered very well without any symptoms, but her MRI on May 20, 2010 showed recurrence of tumor, She will go through gamma knife treatment since the tumors are yet small. She will be hospitalized for three days in early June. Thank you for your prayers.

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She started the standard treatment with radiation therapy and temodar on June 7th. The temodar was stopped after 13 days due to the low count of white blood cells. She had a surgery on June 30th to withdraw some water from the brain. It was found that the water didn't have any tumor. She was discharged from the hospital on July 14th. She completed her last 30th radiation therapy on July 20th. The MRI showed no active sign of tumor on July 21. On the same day she had water taken out from the brain using reservior placed at the previous surgery. She took celebrex with radiation therapy. Sometimes she took tamoxifen. She has been using many supplements: curcumin, garlic, vitamin A, B comlex, Fe, gammer-lino, fish oil, genistein, lycopene, D3, selenium, zinc, reseveratrol, silibinin, berberine, EGCG, ginseng, L-theanine, omega 3, melatonin, protein, etc.

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The MRI on August 18 showed no recurrence of tumors. But we decided to do chemotherapy using temodar. According to the standard treatment the doctor can prescribe temodar 200mg/day for five days. But we decided to adopt "one week on one week off" treatment instead of five days. The amount of temodar per day is less than the standard treatment. I began to take 140mg/day but I was able to take it just for six days and stopped it. I became weak and lost appetite completely. As of September 11, I gained my strength back, I now receive IVC (Vitamin C 75g) twice a week and many kinds of supplements. Recently PSK, Cephalantin and Tahibo-tea have been added. I have been using Melatonin 15mg -20mg/day (The experiment done in Italy has been convincing). I plan to leave Narita airport on Sep. 17 and come to LA. My husband is on sabbatical and I decided to come with him and our third son. Our two other sons live in LA and San Diego with their families. I am excited to come to the States. Thank you for your prayers.

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The MRI taken on Oct. 13 didn't show any abnormalities. Sumiye has been receiving IVC (50g - 75g) twice a week. She enjoys the life in USA. She maintains her supplement levels by adding or reducing some elements. She enjoys the Fitness Center at the apartment complex for the residents every day. Her white blood cell counts are still quite low. This needs a careful attentions. Thank you for your prayers.

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Sumiye changed her plan and left LA a week earlier than she had planned. She arrived at Narita Airport on Dec. 9th, 2010. She was hospitalized and had a surgery on Dec. 13 to have 30 cc of the fluid taken from her brain. The fluid did not have an evidence of tumor. She was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 18, 2010. Thank you for your prayers.

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On Dec. 21, 2010, Sumiye had spasm for the first time and was taken to a local hospital by ambulance. Although, she was able to go home that day, her left side of the body became paralyzed, and since then it became difficult for her to walk on her own. Since an MRI did not show a clear sign of recurrence, she went through a methionine PET scan at Tokyo Women's University Medical Center, and the result allowed us to identify clearly the recurrent tumor region. The paralysis on her left side of the body is most likely caused by the inflammation in the brain. From Jan. 26, 2011, she became drowsy and was hospitalized on the 28th at the local hospital, and she kept sleeping for four days straight until the 30th. Even though she is now recovered to the point where she can finish all of her level IV training for swallowing food, she will be transferred to a hospice ward at a different hospital, which is about 13 minutes drive from our home, on Feb. 21. We are hoping to receive various new treatments there such as Avastin, which might help reduce the swelling in the brain. She will then be off steroid and will receive two shots of Autologous Formalin-fixed Tumor Vaccine (AFTVac). We are considering other immunotherapy treatment as well. Although all of the doctors we have come to contact with identify her current condition as close to the final stage, our family is still holding up hope. Thank you for your prayers.

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Sumiye was transferred to the hospice on Feb. 21, 2011. We were expecting to receive Avastin treatment, but on Feb. 28, we found out the doctor wouldn't use Avastin, even though he had told us at our initial interview that Avastin could be used at our expense. Our original plan was to use Avastin in order to reduce the swelling in the brain, which then would have allowed her to stop taking steroid, and create an environment suitable for the vaccine treatment. Since we waited on Avastin, we held off the second vaccine shot for a long time. Therefore, we were very disappointed when we found out that the doctor wouldn't use Avastin. Avastin is not covered by insurance for brain cancer patients in Japan, though it is FDA-approved and has been used widely in the United States. I believe that if the patient were a close relative of the doctor, and if he/she were in a similar situation as Sumiye, he would use Avastin for him/her. If the doctors treated their patients as if they were their close relatives, I think it would bring a whole new light in the medical field. But, I realized that there are so many people praying for Sumiye, not just in Japan but in countries all over the world. So God is at work even in midst of this, and He is in control. Even though it wasn't the direction our family was hoping for, we held hope and proceeded to give Sumiye the second vaccine shot on Mar. 2, while still on steroid. Sumiye also got 50cc of her blood taken for the other immunotherapy treatment. For a regular blood test, only 10-13cc of blood is needed, so we realized afterward that it was an exceeding amount. On the other hand, the vaccine treatment (Formalin-fixed Tumor Vaccine) only requires patient's own formalin-fixed tumor, and no blood, so it is not burdensome for the patient.

Sumiye has been sleeping a lot lately because of her seemingly high brain pressure, so she received Glyceol and Lasix (diuretic) IV. As a result, her urinary volume has about doubled, and her condition has been improving. Our plan now is to receive the first immunotherapy IV treatment on Mar. 8. This treatment is not covered by insurance and is at our own expense; we plan to receive this treatment six times total. And we also have the third (last) vaccine shot as well. This vaccine treatment consists of a total of three shots, which are usually given every other week. Sumiye was given her first shot on Jan. 27, but since she was hospitalized there after, the schedule became irregular, plus, unfortunately, she has been receiving them while on steroid. It is Mar. 5 today.

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It is Mar. 8th today. Sumiye received her first immunotherapy IV treatment. This is a procedure where the lymphocytes taken out of her blood are activated and increased 10 billion times and then put back in her body. We plan to receive the second IV on Mar. 11 (Fri) and the third Mar. 15 (Tues). It will be a total of six IV treatments. Also, we are planning to give her the third and last vaccine shot on the 16th (Wed). Sumiye was able to eat all of her lunch and dinner today. She has been eating very well for the past couple of weeks. Today, she had a fever of 38 Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit). We appreciate all of your prayers.

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It's Mar. 10, 2011. Sumiye had a fever of 38.4 Celsius (101.1 Fahrenheit); it was 38.0 Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) yesterday. For the first time in a while, she was not able to eat most of her lunch. Most likely, she seemed to contract pneumonia, caused by accidental food ingestion. Even though her fever goes down in the morning, it goes up in the afternoon. She received oxygen inhalation, and her oxygen level on her finger tip went up above 90; it was around 83 before. She will have to receive steroid and Depakene through intravenously tomorrow. They held off her dinner tonight. In fact, she had given us an impression that she was having trouble swallowing since yesterday. When a nurse took phlegm out, she seemed at ease for a while. Thank you very much for your prayers.

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On March. 17th, 2011, at 12:38pm, Sumiye went peacefully to be with the Lord. The direct cause seems to be from pneumonia, developed by misswallowing, which caused difficulty in her breathing. A tumor had been first found on June 6th, 2009. She underwent her first surgery on September 10th, then the second surgery on March 23rd, 2010. Even after trying all those various treatments, we finally have to face this day. Her funeral service was held among our family on March 19th at our church, with her eldest and second son flying in from the US. We did not inform anyone else about her funeral service; however, we expect to plan another ceremony for everyone later on. Death is something everyone must face in his/her life. Having completed such a big task, Sumiye is finally in heaven. Our deepest gratitude goes out to all of you who have been praying for Sumiye to this very day.