Spindrift March 12, 2020

PROGRAM
Program Chairman, Mitch Mitchell, announced that our scheduled speaker from the Marine Mammal Institute called in with the flu, so Mitch obtained the services of Jeff Yeargain, who graciously became our featured speaker of the day! (As an aside, please contact Mitch if you are willing and able to make a presentation in a pinch, i.e., have something interesting and informative to talk about when a scheduled speaker cancels out.) The subject of Jeff’s presentation was “How I Beat Cancer”, and he began first with the startling statistic that one in two men will get cancer in their lifetime; and, secondly, that the great majority of cancers are curable. Jeff was diagnosed with tongue cancer on January 7, 2019, and on February 5 he had surgery where one-third of his tongue and 22 lymph nodes were removed from his neck. During the process, he had 53 radiation treatments and 6 chemo treatments, and he was happy to report that his last Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan indicated the absence of cancer. Jeff then presented a primer on current treatment strategies, beginning with seeking treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis, and selection of the best venues, practitioners, and surgeons. He presented a list of the National Cancer Center approved comprehensive cancer centers in Southern California, including City of Hope, UC San Diego, UCI, UCLA Medical Center, and USC Norris Center. His outline included a definition of the different stages of cancer (Stage 1 through Stage 4), along with the 5-year survival rates of the most common types of cancer. Current pharmaceutical therapy most recently includes immunotherapy, which targets cancer cells by activating the body’s own immune and defense mechanisms and which have been effective in putting even the most severe Stage 4 (metastatic) cancers into remission.

Jeff emphasized a number of important points which he feels were significant in beating his cancer diagnosis. Firstly, don’t waste any time in seeking treatment as soon as possible. Secondly, look for the best practitioners, i.e. those who have treated a large number of patients with the same disorder and who have practiced in hospitals and surgical facilities which have been accredited and have the best reputation. If you can afford it, he suggests that you get a form of health insurance which is other than HMOs, which often have bureaucratic delays in treatment; it’s best to go to a specialist (preferably a Board-certified practitioner) when seeking medical care and not a family practitioner. He advised avoiding spraying of toxic chemicals as a means of pest control inside the house; filtering your water supply to remove toxic substances; and protecting your skin by using gloves when using chemical fertilizers. Jeff has had an advantage in that his wife is a Board-certified internist specializing in rheumatology. He has offered to provide referrals to the best physicians in the area.