CK segment on SF news channel

[Mark]

Since Phyl posted a link to the CK segment on "the Doctors" show, I though I would add a link to a video from a local SF news broadcast which I had sent to me by the Patient support coordinator at Accuray. It deals specifically with a lady who had a small AN and features Dr. Chang and Dr.Soltyz at Stanford. Short but fairly informative piece. When you click on the URL it brings up a video window, but I had to check on the "now playing " link in the text body to get it to work. For your viewing pleasure

Mark

http://media.vmsnews.com/MonitoringReports/042809/910506/Z001847777/

[leapyrtwins]

Thanks for the link, Mark.   Overall I liked it, but I had a couple of "issues" with it.

I would have liked them to explain ANs a little more - based on the patient's symptoms it made it sound like an AN was a life or death matter.  The mention of calling 911 - especially for a tumor as small as hers - was a little misleading.  Her symptoms sound like they may have warranted that, but IMO they should have pointed out that symptoms like hers aren't always the norm.

And did I hear the reporter refer to the patient's treatments as "cancer treatments" ?  I think that's what he said, but it's late night/early morning here and I'm not wearing my BAHA.  If that is what he said, it gives the false impression that ANs are cancerous.  If I didn't hear this correctly, then never mind 

Jan

[Sheryl]

Thanks for sending the link.  I completely agree with Jan's comments and also think I heard the reporter say CyberKnife was "new"??  Oh well, considering we own a few shares of stock in the company maybe this will help.
Sheryl

[Mark]

Hi Jan,

I think both the issues are very fair and I noticed both of them myself. I cringed when I heard the reporter refer to patient receiving "cancer" treatments when they were placing the patient on the table. As far as the "drama" of the 911 call, I guess you have to take it at face value as what occurred with that patient and I've certainly heard where some folks have some extreme symptoms even with very small tumors. Clearly that is an extremely rare occurrence and it is unfortunate that it left a wrong impression of ANs for the viewer.

That being said, I look at the clip with with the following filters

1) Like most TV news stories, it was probably limited to 2-3 minutes and you just can't explain a lot in that window of time
2) I don't have a favorable opinion of the quality of the people in journalism and media in general today, so I don't have high expectations on their ability to objectively and rigorously research facts
3) The CK was the focus of the segment, not AN's, so I'm not surprised there wasn't a lot of effort to understand and describe the condition itself

So, while I agree with your observations 100%, I guess I give the clip a little slack given it's limitations. Even the couple of sound bites from the doctors were fairly vanilla and I'm sure inadequate for anyone with an AN who was still trying to understand the treatment options. I think it's primary value was to give a visual of both how CK treatment is done and Dr. Chang and Stanford who are mentioned often mentioned on this forum. Beyond that I guess it's just curious to see both AN and CK get some publicity 

Mark

[sgerrard]

People call 911 all the time. Besides the occasional call regarding a cat stuck in a tree, there have been several Internet media reports on calls to 911 over fast food. One woman called three times because she could not get her chicken McNuggets or a refund from McDonalds. I can certainly see someone calling 911 instead of their doctor over an unusual symptom from an AN. When they don't understand what is going on, people will call 911 just in case it is an emergency.

I suppose technically speaking that if you are receiving a treatment which is also used for cancer, you can be said to be receiving a cancer treatment, even though you don't have cancer. I can take a headache remedy even if I don't have a headache. From the news agency's point of few, CK has broader general interest as a cancer treatment than as a treatment for benign tumors of the balance nerve.

What I found odd is that CK is just now making the local news in SF. They have been doing it for a decade. A year and a half ago, they missed a golden opportunity to report "Man travels from Oregon to Stanford for robotic linear accelerator treatment of a rare brain tumor."   

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

A year and a half ago, they missed a golden opportunity to report "Man travels from Oregon to Stanford for robotic linear accelerator treatment of a rare brain tumor."   

Don't worry, Steve you'll always be a star to us 

[Mark]

A year and a half ago, they missed a golden opportunity to report "Man travels from Oregon to Stanford for robotic linear accelerator treatment of a rare brain tumor."   

Don't worry, Steve you'll always be a star to us 

I'll second that 

[ppearl214]

A year and a half ago, they missed a golden opportunity to report "Man travels from Oregon to Stanford for robotic linear accelerator treatment of a rare brain tumor."   

Don't worry, Steve you'll always be a star to us 

I'll second that 

*Pulls out hatpin to pop Steve's ego! *


Thanks for sharing this Mark! You beat me to it!  I found it rather interesting as well.....

Phyl