Rob Ford's Toronto

[dt_toronto_geek]

Yes. This is exactly what is happening right now. Tory just lost (likely) any progressive votes that were in the ABF crowd. Smart Track is a stupid plan with no funding and again (like Ford) it will set us back another 4 years. Add on to that his Pride\QAIA vote pandering twist and his golfing comment re: women plus his support for creationism in schools - Tory is just another right wing anti-tax dimbulb, coasting along on his money and connections. I suspect Olivia will pick up votes with ease now.

I don't see Tory stirring up a whole lot of excitement but the anti-Fords will get out and vote for him to keep Doug out. Olivia has a strong core following, she needs to rebuild on that with the fringe supporters jumping ship. The Ford camp has lost it's momentum and won't get out with near as much enthusiasm as with Rob. Now shake it all up in a cup and see what happens on Oct. 27th. It's anybody's guess, but I don't believe for a minute that Doug won't be our next Mayor. Then again, I said he would never run for the position.

 

[Videodrome]

well, at least they let him smoke on his death bed (first picture pack of cigarettes to his left, ashtray next to phone on the right). Oh, how have times changed....

I remember going to Swiss Chalet when there was an open smoking section and a Timmies with a glassed in one. A lot has changed even recently.

 

[casita]

That was last year. Today, he'll be declined for sure.

He'll keep his City benefits ( including life insurance ) if he gets re-elected by the "folks" in Ward 2.

well, at least they let him smoke on his death bed (first picture pack of cigarettes to his left, ashtray next to phone on the right). Oh, how have times changed....

View attachment 34175

 

[Cooper]

Has anyone else been reading up on pleomorphic liposarcomas?

I have "zero days of medical school" under my belt, so keep that in mind. But one thing that seems apparent is that surgery IS the treatment. Chemo prior to surgery appears only be recommended when surgery is initially risky (e.g., tumour next to a major organ, surrounds major blood vessels, etc.). But again, the hope is that chemo will shrink the tumour enough that surgery can proceed. That Ford is undergoing chemo first, with Dr. Cohen stating subsequent treatment may NOT involve surgery, doesn't seem an overly promising start.

(I will add that my partner has gone full tinfoil on this, suggesting that the Fords may have refused surgery until after the election. It seemed too unlikely to me, though that was before Rob's baldly political deathbed plea for everyone to vote for Doug. Now I'm not so sure they wouldn't play politics with his treatment. I really wouldn't put anything past the Fords.)

In any case, Rob's in for some seriously rough days ahead.

That pretty much squares with what I've read. Rob's doctors may drive his cancer into remission, but he'll likely be dealing with this for the rest of his life. FWIW, my guess is that will be measured in years rather than months, since the tumour has only spread locally and is not affecting "distant" organs or tissues. Disclosure: I have less than zero days at med school.

 

[euler]

From last year.

"Why Rob Ford can’t get life insurance"
https://www.lifeinsurancecanada.com/why-rob-ford-cant-get-life-insurance/

That's deliciously snarky coming from an insurance company. I used to work for Economical, it was as stuffy as stuffy gets.

 

[JGHali]

That's not true. This is a stage IV liposarcoma with at least one macroscopic metastasis. There is undoubtedly microscopic disease elsewhere. Between the aggressive histology ("pleomorphic") and an unresectable primary, the only first line treatment is similarly aggressive chemo. The five-year survival rate may be as low as 20% and no higher than 36%. That's all aside from chemo toxicities and anything else that might happen.

 

[nohostages]

I remember going to Swiss Chalet when there was an open smoking section and a Timmies with a glassed in one. A lot has changed even recently.

OmG We smoked in movie theatres (back rows only please) same with planes. My mother smoked in the car windows up full of kids. It was nuts. (Im a sixties baby, it was even worse before.)

 

[casita]

The five-year survival rate may be as low as 20% and no higher than 36%. That's all aside from chemo toxicities and anything else that might happen.

View attachment 34177

 

[stoobiedood]

That pretty much squares with what I've read. Rob's doctors may drive his cancer into remission, but he'll likely be dealing with this for the rest of his life. FWIW, my guess is that will be measured in years rather than months, since the tumour has only spread locally and is not affecting "distant" organs or tissues. Disclosure: I have less than zero days at med school.

Cancer 2011;117:5359–69. VC 2011 American Cancer Society:
Pleomorphic Liposarcoma
Clinical Observations and Molecular Variables

"Pleomorphic liposarcoma (PLS) is a rare high grade pleomorphic sarcoma; the presence of lipoblasts is required
for diagnosis.1,2 Because of their rarity (less than 5% of all liposarcomas) knowledge of PLS natural history stems from anecdotal
reports and small cohort analyses typically contained within larger liposarcoma studies; only 3 PLS-specific reports
include more than 50 patients.3-5 Such caveats notwithstanding, these studies demonstrate that, as compared with other
liposarcoma histological subtypes (well differentiated/dedifferentiated liposarcoma [WDLPS/DDLPS] and myxoid/
round cell liposarcoma [MRC]), PLS is the most aggressive---exhibiting avidity for systemic spread and a poor overall outcome.
3-5 Surgical resection is currently the only potentially curative approach to these remarkably chemoresistant tumors;
locally advanced and metastatic disease is generally noncurable. This dismal outcome of patients with PLS mandates the
development of improved (perhaps molecularly based) therapeutic strategies."
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.26195

 

[Lamport Davenport]

I can see the number of cancer awareness discussions growing in the coming weeks. (is "going meta" viable slang?) And to quote JC himself, "OK fo' dat ".

But when the fawning press kicks in.... Rofo's not going to go all Terry Fox on us, is he?

 

[Yaitsme]

OmG We smoked in movie theatres (back rows only please) same with planes. My mother smoked in the car windows up full of kids. It was nuts. (Im a sixties baby, it was even worse before.)

I was a 70s baby and I still remember ash trays in the doctors office.

 

[casita]

But when the fawning press kicks in.... Rofo's not going to go all Terry Fox on us, is he?

I was thinking, "Pride of the Yankees". I guess we better leave "Pride" out of it.

View attachment 34178

 

[JWBF]

Cancer 2011;117:5359–69. VC 2011 American Cancer Society:
Pleomorphic Liposarcoma
Clinical Observations and Molecular Variables

"Pleomorphic liposarcoma (PLS) is a rare high grade pleomorphic sarcoma; the presence of lipoblasts is required
for diagnosis.1,2 Because of their rarity (less than 5% of all liposarcomas) knowledge of PLS natural history stems from anecdotal
reports and small cohort analyses typically contained within larger liposarcoma studies; only 3 PLS-specific reports
include more than 50 patients.3-5 Such caveats notwithstanding, these studies demonstrate that, as compared with other
liposarcoma histological subtypes (well differentiated/dedifferentiated liposarcoma [WDLPS/DDLPS] and myxoid/
round cell liposarcoma [MRC]), PLS is the most aggressive---exhibiting avidity for systemic spread and a poor overall outcome.
3-5 Surgical resection is currently the only potentially curative approach to these remarkably chemoresistant tumors;
locally advanced and metastatic disease is generally noncurable. This dismal outcome of patients with PLS mandates the
development of improved (perhaps molecularly based) therapeutic strategies."
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.26195

The good doc stated the opposite about chemo, go figure.

 

[Videodrome]

OmG We smoked in movie theatres (back rows only please) same with planes. My mother smoked in the car windows up full of kids. It was nuts. (Im a sixties baby, it was even worse before.)

I am a big younger than you are, so most of that was gone by the time I was born.

 

[Lamport Davenport]

I was thinking, "Pride of the Yankees". I guess we better leave "Pride" out of it.

That's probably a better fit, Casita. Tho' FoFam are the *Canadian* Kennedy clan, we need some maple syrup somewhere.

(No Pride. Two-four @ the cottage. Show us your middle finger, let's make Toronto #1!)

Think Cut the Waist. Think ice bucket. All the Fordz need to do is start a cancer fundraiser, maybe in a Rotary stylee, and then sit back and let the media work.

The day an article appears in the supermarket tabloids about either "brave Rob " or his "brave family" , we will pass through another Worms-hole in the space-thyme continuum.