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Bee Gees Robin Gibbs, liver cancer
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/most-popular/2011/11/20/brave-bee-gee-robin-gibb-is-battling-liver-cancer-115875-23574414/
i just saw robin gibb on tv the other night. he looks so gaunt. kind of like death's knocking on his door. very sad. the bee gee's had some great music during the disco era. sorry for robin's plight. god bless him. belle
Thanks for pointing that out, I stand corrected. Certainly goes to show how often our assumptions are wrong because our own personal experiences can color our view of this disease. I know on paper it's liver cancer that's killing my husband, but in my heart I know it's really hepatitis c that's responsible.
Thank you mentioning Robin can-do-man.
My heart goes out to anyone suffering from cancer of any from and especially liver cancer as I have liver cancer (HCC) myself and know others with a similar diagnoses.
I wish Robin love and peace during this trying time for himself and his loved ones whatever the cause of his illness. As far as how Robin finds peace I think that is for him to decide, no one else. Whether witch doctor, priest, or guru. If it helps him, great. We all will have to face death one day and I think it is a very personal decision on how we deal with it. I am not too presumptuous to believe my way is right for anyone but myself. We are all unique in our common humanity and no one can walk in another's shoes when we look into the face of death.
Robin's words of wisdom...
"‘You realize that however much you don’t think about death – or think “that’s for other people” – you’re just an organism living from day to day. I’m just grateful I’m here. Losing people makes you realize you’ve got to grab life – not put things off."
AKHepper, You are correct about Steve Jobs.Steve did NOT have HCC. Steve had metastatic liver cancer. His pancreatic cancer spread to his liver which is why he needed a transplant 7 years ago. So he got to live another 7 years which is great.But in the end the pancreatic cancer did kill him. Steve did a lot for other transplant patients here in California having had first hand experience trying to get a transplant here. We have the longest wait time sin the entire country. Steve knew he would have died here waiting for a transplant so he had to go elsewhere were he could be transplanted at a lower MELD score. This is the reality of the situation. So Steve has help others have a better chance of receiving an organ when he needed one to live.
On this forum we use the two terms (liver cancer and HCC0 interchangeably because we assume that if you are here you have hepatitis C which can lead to cirrhosis which can lead to HCC. There are other ways to develop HCC and liver cancer beyond HCC although the rates of HCC in cirrhotic hep C patients if high as Eureka points out. In the article, HCC is also all too common in Asians infected with hep B who are not cirrhotic. Here in San Francisco there has been a city program to spread the word in our large Asian and Pacific Islander communities that Hep B is a very serious health issue. It is the largest, most intensive healthcare campaign for Asian and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Asian American men. Asian and Pacific Islanderss have the highest rate of liver cancer of any race/ethnic group.In California alone liver cancer is the #1 leading cause of cancer deaths among Laotian American men, the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among Cambodian and Vietnamese men, the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths among Chinese and Korean men, and the 5th leading cause of deaths among Filipino men. I am very proud of our city's leadership on this issue.
Hector
My heart goes out to anyone suffering from cancer of any from and especially liver cancer as I have liver cancer (HCC) myself and know others with a similar diagnoses.
I wish Robin love and peace during this trying time for himself and his loved ones whatever the cause of his illness. As far as how Robin finds peace I think that is for him to decide, no one else. Whether witch doctor, priest, or guru. If it helps him, great. We all will have to face death one day and I think it is a very personal decision on how we deal with it. I am not too presumptuous to believe my way is right for anyone but myself. We are all unique in our common humanity and no one can walk in another's shoes when we look into the face of death.
Robin's words of wisdom...
"‘You realize that however much you don’t think about death – or think “that’s for other people” – you’re just an organism living from day to day. I’m just grateful I’m here. Losing people makes you realize you’ve got to grab life – not put things off."
AKHepper, You are correct about Steve Jobs.Steve did NOT have HCC. Steve had metastatic liver cancer. His pancreatic cancer spread to his liver which is why he needed a transplant 7 years ago. So he got to live another 7 years which is great.But in the end the pancreatic cancer did kill him. Steve did a lot for other transplant patients here in California having had first hand experience trying to get a transplant here. We have the longest wait time sin the entire country. Steve knew he would have died here waiting for a transplant so he had to go elsewhere were he could be transplanted at a lower MELD score. This is the reality of the situation. So Steve has help others have a better chance of receiving an organ when he needed one to live.
On this forum we use the two terms (liver cancer and HCC0 interchangeably because we assume that if you are here you have hepatitis C which can lead to cirrhosis which can lead to HCC. There are other ways to develop HCC and liver cancer beyond HCC although the rates of HCC in cirrhotic hep C patients if high as Eureka points out. In the article, HCC is also all too common in Asians infected with hep B who are not cirrhotic. Here in San Francisco there has been a city program to spread the word in our large Asian and Pacific Islander communities that Hep B is a very serious health issue. It is the largest, most intensive healthcare campaign for Asian and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Asian American men. Asian and Pacific Islanderss have the highest rate of liver cancer of any race/ethnic group.In California alone liver cancer is the #1 leading cause of cancer deaths among Laotian American men, the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among Cambodian and Vietnamese men, the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths among Chinese and Korean men, and the 5th leading cause of deaths among Filipino men. I am very proud of our city's leadership on this issue.
Hector
Lots of liver cancers are metastatic, they start somewhere else and go to the liver where it has poor outcomes, not all liver cancers are hep c related.
We'll probably never know, but chances are more likely than not. If so, I can't help but feel that withholding that information subtly undermines the support and healing the hcv community needs so desperately.
For anyone interested:
"HCV and HCC
Chronic HCV infection is a major risk factor for HCC. Markers of HCV infection are found in a variable proportion of HCC cases -- for example, they are found in 44%-66% of HCC cases in Italy,[13,14] 27% to 58% of cases in France, 60% to 75% of cases in Spain, and in 80% to 90% of cases in Japan.[15] In a meta-analysis of 21 case-control studies in which second-generation enzyme immunoassay tests for anti-HCV were used, HCC risk was increased 17-fold in HCV-infected patients compared with HCV-negative controls (95% confidence interval [CI], 14 to 22).[16] A poorly defined proportion of HCC patients might have had HCV detected by polymerase chain reaction testing of liver tissue and/or serum, even if antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) was nondetectable...
"In the United states, HCC incidence began increasing in the mid-1980s, accelerated in the 1990s, and continues to rise in the first decade of the 21st century; this represents an ongoing increase from 1 to 4 per 100,000 persons.[18] HCV-related HCC accounts for 50% to 60% of all cases of HCC in the United States.[18] Unlike the rest of Asia, where HBV predominates, the dominant hepatitis virus in Japan is HCV.[37] HCV began to circulate in Japan shortly after World War II[15] through blood transfusion and contaminated needles used for medical purposes. Consequently, HCC rates began to increase sharply in the mid-1970s; HCV-related HCC rates are anticipated to peak around the year 2015..."
full article:
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/560012_3
For anyone interested:
"HCV and HCC
Chronic HCV infection is a major risk factor for HCC. Markers of HCV infection are found in a variable proportion of HCC cases -- for example, they are found in 44%-66% of HCC cases in Italy,[13,14] 27% to 58% of cases in France, 60% to 75% of cases in Spain, and in 80% to 90% of cases in Japan.[15] In a meta-analysis of 21 case-control studies in which second-generation enzyme immunoassay tests for anti-HCV were used, HCC risk was increased 17-fold in HCV-infected patients compared with HCV-negative controls (95% confidence interval [CI], 14 to 22).[16] A poorly defined proportion of HCC patients might have had HCV detected by polymerase chain reaction testing of liver tissue and/or serum, even if antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) was nondetectable...
"In the United states, HCC incidence began increasing in the mid-1980s, accelerated in the 1990s, and continues to rise in the first decade of the 21st century; this represents an ongoing increase from 1 to 4 per 100,000 persons.[18] HCV-related HCC accounts for 50% to 60% of all cases of HCC in the United States.[18] Unlike the rest of Asia, where HBV predominates, the dominant hepatitis virus in Japan is HCV.[37] HCV began to circulate in Japan shortly after World War II[15] through blood transfusion and contaminated needles used for medical purposes. Consequently, HCC rates began to increase sharply in the mid-1970s; HCV-related HCC rates are anticipated to peak around the year 2015..."
full article:
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/560012_3
From the article...
"Dwina, a druid priestess, has said she is trying to persuade him to visit a Native American medicine man. She said: “This incredible Indian tribe introduced Robin and I to something called Spider Medicine that apparently contains properties that can help you get well from certain untreatable illnesses.”"
There is just no way to determine how many of these liver cancer deaths are related to Hep C. It is tough to be honest about hep C. I wish him the best, but I am not sure the druid priestess (his wife) is going to help the situation.
"Dwina, a druid priestess, has said she is trying to persuade him to visit a Native American medicine man. She said: “This incredible Indian tribe introduced Robin and I to something called Spider Medicine that apparently contains properties that can help you get well from certain untreatable illnesses.”"
There is just no way to determine how many of these liver cancer deaths are related to Hep C. It is tough to be honest about hep C. I wish him the best, but I am not sure the druid priestess (his wife) is going to help the situation.
I'll be brutally honest here: it's a lot easier to tell the world that you have cancer than it is to tell the world you have hcv because of the stigma and the presumptions of the general public. Many of us here on this forum wonder when we see the HCC deaths: Steve Jobs, Joe Frazier... did they have hep c? We may never know for sure, but most likely they did... I know I walk away with that presumption because of my circumstances.
Craziness that there's this automatic sympathy for cancer, but hcv, which can cause cancer, evokes little compassion in most people... but I digress and we don't want to do that now, do we? :). But you're right, can-do... to the hep c infected population in general : get rid of the virus before you ever have to face a fight against HCC.
Craziness that there's this automatic sympathy for cancer, but hcv, which can cause cancer, evokes little compassion in most people... but I digress and we don't want to do that now, do we? :). But you're right, can-do... to the hep c infected population in general : get rid of the virus before you ever have to face a fight against HCC.
It seems like here lately were hearing more and more, don't know if any of these people had HCV. But what we do know is HCV is the leading cause of HCC. You know i used to be among the watch and wait but anymore i'm more like just do it and get rid of it.
oh crap! I really hate that. He does not look good at all. thank you for sharing,,anne
So sad that HCC strikes down yet another talent. It really underlines the recent AASLD data that points to HCV surpassing HIV in rising death tolls. How tragic that so many baby-boomers reach their golden years only to have their time cut short. So many who go before us that never had a chance to make themselves well...
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