Go ice fishing for Tom

[Iceshanty]

My Uncle Tom from the Green Bay crack crossing video won't be hammering his truck out on the Bay for a short time, he was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia a couple days ago. His outlook is very positive. He goes in for treatment today, called me last night and sounded very positive. He told me to get out ice fishing today and that's what I am going to do.

Little bit about Tom, Tom is a perch NUT even though he's pictured with a bluegill below. When he retired, he started fishing FULLTIME! I can call him at 4:30 am 7 days a week for a fishing report, but the phone is always busy because he's planning his fishing day with his 15 or so buds he regularly fishes with. I don't think I'll ever meet a guy with more love for the sport.

Tom and the grandkids out bluegilling with me.

Who's teaching who here?

-Scott

[FullTmeDad]

Our thoughts and prayers are with him for a speedy recovery.
FTD

[LoneWolf]

Scott my prayers are with your uncle Tom. Catch a big one for him .

[walleye1]

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for your uncle. Let him know there's a few thousand guys on this site pulling for him!

[grumpymoe]

all the best for a speedy recovery. nice pictures that show what icefishing is all about. grumpymoe

[rgfixit]

Best of luck Tom, Our thoughts and hopes are with you.

RG

[jabers69]

best of luck tom and we'll say a little pray for ya here in new brunswick

[missfishylicious]

just one more reason I should get my butt out there .I'll say a prayer for him ,and you save him a spot on the ice. he'll be back out there in no time  

[billditrite]

WE WILL PRAY FOR TOM!I WILL ALSO TOAST TOM ON THE ICE THE VERY NEXT TIME I GO!ITS 20-50 BELOW WITH THE WIND HERE IN MAINE.IT MAY KEEP ME INSIDE TODAY,EITHER WAY SCOTT, OUR HEARTS, THOUGHTS, AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOUR UNCLE TOM AND YOUR FAMILY

[Bob_D]

Scott,
I hope your Uncle is back on the ice soon. I'll be thinking of him while on the ice.

Bob

[water_wolf]

Scott,
Prayers for your Uncle Tom are on the way.  It would be a pleasure to drill some holes in his honor this weekend.  Heres hoping for a speedy recovery!

[BuckShotJon]

Prayers are on the way for sure for your Uncle Scott. I will raise the auger this weekend and drill a hole for him as well.

Jon

[Outdoors_Nut]

I wish your uncle a speedy recovery. I'm gonna hit the ice this weekend like a mad man and I'll think of you guys the whole time.

[Pop]

The love of the sport and the desire to be out of doors will work, along with the treatment.  It is amazing how the mind will help the body, as long as the desire is there.  Just talking to your uncle about your trips will help with this.  A prayer on my part can't hurt.  Please give him my best wishes.

Pop

[Fat Boy]

Scott, I hope that your uncle receives the best care possible and recovers quickly.  I'll say a prayer for him as well.

In the mean time, please visit www.cancer.gov, and encourage him to do so as well.  I'm employed by the National Cancer Institute.  That's our home page and there is a wealth of information on it.  Also, I'm not sure if the type of your uncle's leukemia is the same, but ask him to check with his doctors about a new drug called Gleevec.  

Here's some background:
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/digestpage/gleevec and http://www.gleevec.com/index.jsp  
and also from the FDA site: http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/gleevec/default.htm

Here's what the former Director of the NCI (Dr. Richard Klausner) had to say to congress just after this drug first became public almost 3 years ago (and responses to the questions of certain house representatives.  I don't have the actual questions handy at the moment, only the NCI responses.  I could find them with a few days of lunch time research), "Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you.  A week ago we did announce the extremely rapid record time FDA approval of what is clearly, clearly to my mind the most impressive drug ever in the long war against cancer.  And this is a drug that is specific for a type of molecular target that this committee has heard me talk about for the last five or six years.  It was developed as a molecular target for a type of leukemia for which we have very few good treatments, most of which we have that were quite expensive and toxic.  This is an oral pill that can be taken once or twice a day.  The result of the clinical trials, and yo see it here.  Here, there is a molecular machine which we identify.  In fact, we first saw it 40 years ago in a particular type of leukemia called CML, and there are about 15,000 Americans currently with CML.  In the clinical trial that was reported, of 53 patients for whom all other therapies had failed, 51 with an oral pill, with virtually no significant side effects except mild nausea, their blood has completely returned to normal."  Later in the same testimony, he said that "This drug addresses about 20 percent of all leukemias."  And later he said, "We have found what looks like a terrific treatment.  The issue of a cure depends upon our following patients to know how long this drug will work.  And in fact there is no way to know that until we follow.  What I can tell you, of the 51 patients, some of whom have been followed for almost two years, none of those 51 that have responded have relapsed while continuing to take the drug.  But we will only know when we have actually cured it, cured the disease in any of the patients as we watch them in fact for their lifetimes.  Now what we don’t know is whether patients have to keep taking the drug and again that will require additional clinical trials."

Dr. Klausner also testified about the pharmaceutical company that developed the drug and availability to the public at that time, (transcript topic:  NOVARTIS PATIENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR GLEEVEC)  "Many individual pharmaceutical companies offer patient assistance programs to help patients who cannot afford their needed medications; however, there is no standard across the industry.  Some are formal and apply across the company; others are informal and are designed to accommodate specific factors about individual drugs such as availability.  In the case of Gleevec, developed and produced by Novartis, the company operates the “Gleevec Reimbursement Hotline.”  Currently, patient assistance is only available for Gleevec if the patient is being treated for chronic myeloid leukemia.  Dr. Daniel Vassella, CEO of Novartis, described the patient assistance program at a recent press conference announcing the Food and Drug Administration approval of Gleevec.  According to Dr. Vassella, Novartis provides Gleevec at no cost for those uninsured patients whose income is less than $43,000.  For incomes in the $43,000 to $100,000 range, uninsured patients contribute on a sliding scale.  Gleevec Hotline staff assist patients seeking to receive the drug under the patient assistance program."  The links that I've provided to you  have more up to date information, but as you can see, both congress and the NCI were very excited about this drug and that excitement continues to this day.

Last year, the following is an excerpt from the budget justification that was presented to congress, "FDA Approves Gleevec for the Treatment of Metastatic/Unresectable Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. In May 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave fast track approval to the molecularly targeted drug Gleevec™ (imatinib mesylate, formerly called STI571) for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Gleevec blocks the cancer causing effects of a genetically
altered protein, BCR-ABL, commonly found in this disease. Researchers are now finding Gleevec promising in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors…"  More on this topic can be found on our web site at:  
http://www3.cancer.gov/admin/fmb/2004cj.pdf

[Fat Boy]

I'd also like to add that our current director, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach is very committed to eliminating the suffering and death due to (all types of) cancer by the year 2015.  The National Cancer Institute is the largest organization worldwide and the leader in the war against cancer.  

[Iceshanty]

Scott my prayers are with your uncle Tom. Catch a big one for him .

Cheryl came through with a nice one today!


Thanks everyone!

-Scott

[BJ]

Our thoughts and prayers are with him. Hope you are all back on the ice together soon.

[Flash_King]

Fight it tooth and nail to a SPEEDY recovery!

[LoneWolf]

Nice going Cheryl !!!!

[Mugz]

Keep FISHING Uncle Tom!!! We are here for ya.

Nice fish Cheryl!!

[olds-Pa]

My prayers are with you uncle Tom. You and i will get through this togethor, and would it not be ideal to have an ice fishing trip for a couple cancer survivors. P. S. If we go i'll drive ok.
Fat Boy, i cannot express my grattitude to you for providing such an informative site.                                           Thanks.......olds-Pa.

[lip ripper]

my thoughts will be with him on sunday well imon the ice sunday a few years back my uncle lost him battle with collon cancer and he is sadly missed as a fishin and hunting partner in my household . i wish your uncle the very best
Lip ripper

[Hoosier]

As all here, I too would like to offer my support,prayers,and thoughts for the quick recovery and then good health for your uncle tom. Even though we have never met and may never meet, the combined thoughts and prayers of all the Shanty posters and guests ,we hope brings a smile and extra confidence in the belief that Good things come to those in need,and all will group together for the need of the 1.
                             Long lines and tight knots,
                                          John
                                              Indy

[Fat Boy]

Olds-PA, my pleasure.  I work in the NCI budget office and it is really a special organization to work for.  I've worked for other Federal agencies in the past but this one makes every minute that I'm on the job seem that much more special because of the millions of lives that they've saved and will continue to save.  I hope that you all can take advantage of the many resources that the NCI can offer, such as the many clinical trials and the links to all of the cancer centers in the country.  I'm not a doctor or scientist, but I can at the very least post what I know and point people in the right direction.  I hope that Uncle Tom and many others can take advantage of it.  So you all don't have to scroll back to see what I'm talking about, here's the link to the Institute:  www.cancer.gov

[Iceshanty]

Olds-Pa
I'll drive You old guys drive like maniacs anyway lol
Were all rootin for you!

Fatboy
Getting the information is crucial to beating cancer. The links you provided are very informative.

Thank you all,
-Scott

[BlackIce]

I'll wet a line this weekend for your uncle.  Now the truth comes out about who catches the fish in the IceShanty household  

[Iceshanty]

Uncle Tom update

Tom is recovering nicely from his chemo. He phoned me the yesterday to tell me that his blood numbers were coming up, he was feeling stronger, and his plans are to be out fishing in a couple weeks! 8) This is way ahead of what we expected. Thanks everybody.

-Scott

[Fish Monger]

You can't keep a good hardwater nut down!!!! Best wishes!

[baginwal]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery uncle Tom!