spouse of scouse

Great news about the excellent treatment facilities there for your wife.

Come on here and have a cry, moan, laugh or all three any time you like - you and your wife are on our radar now so you're not alone. You might even get sick of us!

captainflack

Absolutely, my daughter had GBS couple of years back, a neurological issue that can be life threatening. They did an overnight ambulance transfer from the local hospital to a specialist child neurology wing in Caparica and the treatment she got was first class. Initially they'd told us it could be months in hospital, but she left after 2 weeks and made a full recovery within a few months (getting back all the movement in her face and finally her knee and elbow reflexes).

Ukkram

I'm glad we live in PT. Porto oncology hospital has done preliminary tests on a new drug to fight cancerous tumors that were previously inoperable 3 years ago due to the advanced stage or inaccessible areas of the brain or spine.

They are now doing new tests and hopefully my wife will be on it. It only takes 1 treatment and hardly any side affects. High 5 PT.
Expresso | Primeiro medicamento oncológico português testado com sucesso em tumores da cabeça e pescoço

macliam

Good luck - but even if she's not successful with the trial, the oncology specialists in Portugal will be on top of whatever treatment is relevant. When my brother-in-Law was diagnosed with leukaemia, his specialist was fresh back from the Royal Marsden and was still in touch with them.

peterfc

Translated it says and please read below.

Peter

http://expresso.sapo.pt/sociedade/20...beca-e-pescoco

The first Portuguese cancer drug showed significant results in the proof-of-concept clinical trial and was thus given a remarkable step in the treatment of head and neck cancers, says the person in charge of the trial.

Lúcio Lara Santos, of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology (IPO) in Porto, responsible for the clinical trial of the first Portuguese cancer drug, explained to Lusa that this remarkable step in the treatment of head and neck cancers opens the possibility of treatment for other solid tumors .

The first phase of the trial was carried out in Porto, at the Portuguese Oncology Institute (IPO) and CUF Hospital, with a group of voluntary patients and with the objective of evaluating the safety (tolerance) and antitumor (efficacy) effect of Redaporfin, a Photosensitizer drug produced in Portugal that had already demonstrated great efficacy in non-clinical trials in animal models.

"We found that treatment with this drug of malignant tumors of the head and neck (squamous cell) revealed high safety since the side effects and adverse effects were rare, were not severe and were easy to control," said the surgical oncologist Lúcio Lara Santos, of the IPO.

The first Portuguese cancer drug began to be developed in Coimbra in 2010, by the Luzitin company, which was born from Bluepharma, a pharmaceutical company that produces medicines for more than 100 brands, exporting 85% of its production to 40 territories, among More demanding on the market.

Clinical trials began about two and a half years ago in patients for whom there were "no therapeutic solutions," Sérgio Simões, president of Luzitin, told Lusa news agency.

"The trial was carried out on a small group of patients, who recorded very interesting results and proved that the drug is safe and does not trigger severe side effects," he said.

The Luzitin president also points out that in the clinical trial, it was possible to change the lives of some patients who were in palliative care, unable to eat and speak due to the characteristics of the tumor, and that after the therapy could already eat and talk.

Before reaching the market, the drug will still go through a new phase of trials with a larger group of patients and then, according to Sérgio Simões, it is necessary to find partners to finance the investment for its production.

He also said that Redaporfin can be used as a treatment for gallbladder cancer, a very rare but extremely severe and untreated tumor. The medicinal product shall also be applied for as an "orphan medicinal product" to the European Medicines Agency.

"It is called an orphan medicine because it will respond to a need that is not clogged. It is an asset and we will invest in this area and use the 'greenways' for rare diseases to take a major leap and make the medicine arrive The fastest to the market, "he said.

Sérgio Simões predicts that, by 2020, the drug could reach the market as a therapy for tumors of the biliary tract.

Lúcio Santos, on the other hand, said that the "antitumor effect observed was very fast, it destroyed the entire tumor treated and that this effect seems to be sustained over time", emphasizing that "its association with other types of systemic treatments Seems to be promising too. "

"In addition, the application of this treatment in patients with other tumors with a very unfavorable prognosis, such as cholangiocarcinoma, could lead to very significant gains for patients in terms of quality of life and survival," he added.

Given the results, Lúcio Lara Santos believes that there are scientific reasons for the community involved in the study and treatment of these tumors to integrate this therapeutic option into the treatment protocol for these tumors.

According to the specialist, a new clinical trial will be conducted in a larger number of patients, "which will definitely demonstrate the value and benefits of Redaporfin photodynamic therapy in oncology."

Ukkram

Thanks Peter. Great strides been done at Porto OPI Oncology Hospital.

Perhaps a little too late as they will treat my wife with the old radiation therapy that has been used for years.

I was so hoping they would use the new method but it is now a pipe dream.

Over the past 10 days we have had to travel to Porto 3 times for appointments that take up about 6 hours and travel back to Viana that also takes 3 hours. This is a big burden on my wife and costs us €60 per trip.

This week we have 2 appointments. One on Monday and another on Wednesday so we have book into a hotel.
We may as well relocate to Porto as the treatment may escalate to 5 a week for some months.

Hopefully our landlord will understand.

BEVS

Well. I am very pleased that your wife is getting treatment and quickly.

EMR

Our friend who received treatment in !isbon had to rent an apartment near the hospital , he also spent time recovering in the new private hospital in Albufeira .

liveaboard

Maybe, as your private insurance isn't covering the treatment, they will pay for the hotel?
Not much hope I suppose, but it wouldn't cost anything to ask.

carvoeiro

we have the same scenario 3plus hour round trips twice weekly at treatment times
with 7 hours of treatment on day one it sometimes feels like hell
but i have to say the hospital doctor nurses and other staff are wonderful

If transport is a big issue it is possible to get help in Portugal
if your doctor signs it off the Bombeiros will transport you to and from the hospital free of charge

weve lived in many different countries and sadly also been to hospital in most of them
wife for treatment me in a support role given the chance to observe
i would rate the countries weve had treatment in in this order
1Germany
2Portugal
3France
4USA
5Holland
6UK - only here because we couldnt score it any lower
subjective of course and very dependant on which hospital you visit
the thing we like best about Portugal is that the staff all really care - medicine here is still considered a vocation - a true caring profession and its a lovely thing to witness

Troia

100%
I have an endless admiration for portuguese nurses, besides being highly professional they also input some maternal/paternal traits. It is really a shame they are so badly paid. A few days ago they rallied to get better paid, hope they get

mfesharne

You might also like to check with your local Bombeiros because they sometimes provide transport free of charge for people on some cancer treatments.

A friend of mine recently had to have both chemo & radiotherapy treatments & they gave her free transport for most but not quite all of the treatments.

Troia

If the doctor prescribes transportation this will be provided by a company that the hospital will choose be it the Bombeiros or not

Ukkram

We are now in the Porto hotel we booked for 2 nights as my wife had 3 appointments today and 2 for Wednesday so it was no use to travel back to Viana.

The hospital just phoned to say that the Wednesday appointments have been postponed till Monday. So back home tomorrow without a refund from the cr@ppy hotel.

Good news is that the panel of docs that saw her today and viewed her CAT scans said the tumor is local but they have decided to treat her with radiation and chemotherapy every day of the week except weekends for 33 therapies but she would need an external stomach tube to be fed,

This is not so good as she will be an inpatient weekly and sent home on weekends. We are so devastated.

liveaboard

Wow, that sounds like a heavy regimen. It's going to be tough.

Will she be able to eat normally on the weekend breaks at least? I guess not.
My OH says that's the latest in cancer treatment.

All the best to you both!