After Eddie Money passed away from esophageal cancer earlier this month, Eddie’s family wrote in a statement that he would live on through his music. His supporters are already proving that to be true, showing their love online through old photos of him and his albums, and by remembering their favorites of his songs.
Money rose to fame with hit singles like “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets To Paradise,” before he became a big part of the MTV music video scene in the early eighties. His career stumbled when he became addicted to drugs, and he ultimately entered into 12 step drug rehabilitation. His return to fame came with his 1986 album can’t hold back, particularly with the song “Take Me Home Tonight.” He and is family are now the star of a reality TV series on the AXS TV network called “Real Money.”
Read MoreAnd another supporter felt a sense of destiny when one of Money’s albums appeared in a box they sorting, “And this pops up in one of my two boxes a day sort. Rest in Peace Eddie Money. #eddiemoney #bammagazine #1988 #twoticketstoparadise #takemehometonight #babyholdontome #restinpeace.”
@Themikeellis posted a photo of Eddie Money with singer-songwriter Huey Lewis from 2015, saying that he found it while looking through some old photos on his phone, “I was #scrolling through the #photos on my #phone and found this #gem. #EddieMoney and #Huey #Lewis before their concert, August 30, 2015, at @northernquest. #Spokane.”
Information about esophageal cancer
Over 17,500 people were diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2019, and about 16,000 people died from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. Only 5 percent of all patients with advanced esophageal cancermeaning cancer that has spread beyond the esophagus to other parts of the bodysurvive for 5 years.
“Esophageal cancer is cancer of the esophagus which is the muscular swallowing tube that goes from the back of your throat all the way into your stomach. It’s a very rare cancer. It’s one that’s often hard to find early and it’s hard to diagnose,” Dr. Brendon Stiles, Thoracic Surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, told SurvivorNet in an interview.
The two biggest causes of esophageal cancer are smoking and acid reflux (heartburn). Most esophageal cancers start in the innermost lining of the esophagus (the epithelium) and then grow into deeper layers over time.
Historically, patients with advanced esophageal cancer have had limited treatment options, particularly after their disease has progressed. For the advanced stages of esophageal cancer, doctors usually turn to conventional chemotherapy. But this chemo is largely used to relieve pain; historically, it hasn't been shown to have long-term benefits. Now, some esophageal cancer patients are also being treated with immunotherapy, which used the body’s own immune system to fight the disease.
And in terms of therapy, doctors are hoping that better treatments will be developed for the disease in the future, “We definitely need a lot more therapy with esophageal cancer,” said Dr. Stiles. “It’s an orphan disease. Not a lot of people pay attention to it. There’s not a lot of exciting research happening with it. Increasingly we’re getting some targets with esophageal and gastric cancer as well.”
“Right now immunotherapy is probably the most exciting thing that we’ve had for a while,” said Dr. Stiles.
Esophageal cancer diagnoses are grade on a scale from GX to G3. GX stands for “the grade cannot be assessed.” G1, or Grade 1 means the cancer cells look more like normal esophagus tissue. G3, or Grade 3 means the cancer cells look very abnormal. And G2, or Grade 2 falls somewhere in between G1 and G3. These grades are often abbreviated to “low grade” and “high grade.”
The symptoms of esophageal cancer include:
- Problems swallowing – often there is a feeling like the food is stuck in the throat or chest, or even choking on food. The medical term for this is “dysphagia” and it can often be mild in the beginning, and get worse over time.
- Excess mucus or saliva – This occurs because as the esophagus grows, people begin producing more saliva to help food pass through the esophagus.
- Chest pain – Some people have discomfort in the middle of their chest, or a feeling of pressure or burning in the chest.
- Weight loss – swallowing problems keep people from eating as much food, which makes them lose weight unintentionally. Decreased appetite and increased metabolism from the cancer also contribute.
- Hoarseness, chronic cough, vomiting, hiccups, bone pain, bleeding into the esophagus
There are a number of ways that doctors test for esophageal cancer. They include:
- Imaging tests – Using x-rays and other techniques, doctors can create images of the inside of your body
- Barium swallow – After you swallow a thick substance called barium, doctors take x-rays, and the esophagus will be outlined clearly with the liquid.
- Other scans including CT scan, MRI, PET scan
- Endoscopy – Using an endoscope (a long thin tube) doctors pass a camera into your body, to view and remove parts of the esophagus for biopsy
- Blood test
Information about heart problems and cancer treatment
While we don’t know exactly what complications Money had with his heart, we do know that cancer treatment can sometimes increase the risk of heart problems. A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging is calling for cardiac monitoring to be a higher priority for breast cancer survivors who are considered high-risk. While it's not common, cardiovascular disease is actually the second leading cause of death among breast cancer survivors, behind only secondary malignancies, partly because of the damage some cancer therapies can cause to the heart.
The new study finds that the risk of heart failure is higher in people who were treated with certain types of chemotherapy. Among people who were treated with trastuzumab-based chemotherapy or Herceptin, 8.3 percent developed heart failure compared to nearly 3 percent of patients who did not receive trastuzumab.
Dr. Emanuel Finet, Cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, on the link between chemotherapy and higher risk of heart problems
Researchers also concluded that the risk of heart failure increases with age for these patients, but that doesn't mean younger people are immune. That's because younger breast cancer patients are often given more aggressive chemotherapy. "In examining the rate of both cardiac monitoring and cardiotoxicity, we could begin to address the controversial issues of whether cardiac monitoring is warranted in young breast cancer patients," says Mariana Henry, lead study author and Yale School of Public Health graduate student.
Cancer patients can be considered high risk for heart problems for a handful of reasons, including age, sex, pre-existing cardiovascular disease, obesity, and smoking, according to Dr. Emanuel Finet, a transplant cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center.
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