Do we need to know "Why"

My minister tells me we don't need to know "why?" But I can't help asking, after reading Charlie Wolfe's story (GBM patient who worked at Rocky Flats in Colorado-radiation exposure and he wrote two books about his cancer) if these monsters aren't associated to toxic materials.  My husband has a iv GBM, inoperable, multiple lesions and he spent many years doing demo, with some asbestos exposure and was a deck builder handling treated wood.  

Does anyone else out  there have any knowledge in this area.  I know it may not really matter "why" but I am interested in knowing if there are any correlations.  

Peace,  Roxy in Colorado

Yes, sometimes we need to know why but we don't get the answer.  Muscle man worked in the chemical plants on the Gulf Coast of Texas for over 30 years and was an Environmental Manager.  He dealt with spills, toxic cleanups, you name it.  The town where those plants are located is known as Toxic City and I can remember back in the 80's (yup - I was raised thereOne of my best friends dad died of a brain tumor. 

We did the heavy metal testing and everything came back OK but our NO told us that chemical exposure, although unproven, could be a risk factor.  So - although we don't know for sure -it helps to have a sorta why.  When someone is so healthy and has never been in a hospital for their entire life (I am not kidding - all 60 years!) you sometimes need to know why.  I don't know if this will help - but this our story.  Needless to say - I don't like chemical plants very much anymore......

gina c/o Muscle Man - dx 3 Grade III AA's, 2/09 - now dx with multifocal gliomatosis cerebri...... 

I don't think my son's brain tumors are the result of any environmental or electronic or wireless stuff. Sometimes little children and dogs and cats get tumors too... for no good reason other than the fact that we are biological creatures and once in a while a cell goes haywire... and most of us have immune systems that nip it in the bud but once in a while a tumor gets started and then it's very hard to stop. Awful but true. There may be a higher incidence with more widespread cell phone usage, and certainly with toxic exposure, but not every cancer has environmental causes.

Sarah

Hi Roxy,

At Duke, my hubby was in a study that examined environmental backgrounds of brain cancer patients.  There were over 500 questions about lifestyle, childhood, etc... and during the survey, we began to notice patterns.  One huge series of questions pertained to farmers and pesticides...in his early life, my guy grew up on and ran a farm. The next huge set was for first responders - emergency personnel.  My hubby has been a full-time paramedic / firefighter for the last 25 years.  Other questions dealt with your hubby's line of work, but the surprise came with the series of questions about home-made alcohol and brewing.  Made us scratch our heads.

Clearly they think these things must be related.  I'm curious to see the ultimate results of their findings...but regardless...he got the tumor somehow.

Take care darlin',

janni (wife of Steve gbm iv dx 11/07)

Rob spent his childhood on farms and by profession was an electrician.  Both of these are suspected of being areas of high incidence of brain cancer.  Don't know if other cancers as well.  I hope someday they will figure it out and the only thing we can do at this point is help fright on a personal level for a safer work environment and overall environmental issues particularly in the farming industry and the green movement in general.  Rob loves to eat meat and now I am only buying organic, grass fed meat with no hormones, and eating veggies and fruit that are also organic.  Not that it will cure him but because now I know what these chemicals are doing on farms.  Just a personal stand, although it is expensive-we just don't waste anything and eat a bit less.  All I really know is that whatever causes it -IT SUCKS. 

My best, Donna, Rob's wife

I think it's just human nature to want to know the "why" of what is happening to us.  Certainly knowing why is not going to change the course of treatment or probably even the eventual outcome, but it helps explain things to us.

We have had a number of farmers from Nebraska as patients and a few firefighters.  We feel there is a definite connection to the use of chemicals in these professions that can have an effect on the development of brain tumors.  The nuclear weapons workers like Charlie Wolf have a hard time convincing the government of the cause of their cancers, but there has been some progress in that arena.  While these professions allow us a way to pinpoint the cause of some tumors, it by no means explains why or how many others have these cancers.  As mentioned, little babies get brain cancer.  So, too, do people who have no apparent conncetion to any of the stated professions.  So, why, is a question that we all ask, especially the researchers who are looking for the answers on how to treat and cure this disease.