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Welcome pageWhat's NewCNI Center for
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To request an initial team
consultation, call Dr. Arenson, For more information about
CNI's Brain & Spinal Tumor Team,
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Neuro-oncologist Edward Arenson, MD of the CNI Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors first welcomed Doctors Care patients in 2001 and continues to exemplify exceptional compassion in health care. The dedicated Doctors Care volunteer physician believes that each of his patients, regardless of insurance status, should have access to high-tech cancer therapies and progressive treatment practices.
"It's the only way to do this job," said Dr. Arenson. "It would be demoralizing otherwise. I have a personal relationship with each of my patients. They all deserve a positive experience and an opportunity for a good quality of life. We want to ease their burdens by providing hope and a menu of services."
One such Doctors Care patient, Diana, was hospitalized in December only to learn that she had a malignant brain tumor. She had undergone two surgeries at one of Doctors Care's five partner hospitals (Swedish Medical Center, Porter Adventist Hospital, Littleton Adventist Hospital, Sky Ridge Medical Center and Parker Adventist Hospital), as well as radiation and chemotherapy. Now, Dr. Arenson's office is administering Avastin®, a cutting-edge therapy that fights cancerous tumors.
Mary Pierick, RN and other staff at Dr. Arenson's office work with many patients like Diana who do not have time to search for an affordable treatment plan after receiving a diagnosis. According to Mary, the collaboration between their office, Doctors Care and a few generous pharmaceutical companies helps ensure that patients like Diana don't fall through the cracks. Diana is grateful to have received support from such an incredible community of care.
Elephant Rock Cycling Festival
June 1, 2008
by Lorre Gibson
On Sunday, the first weekend in June, 7000 bike enthusiasts took to the courses in Castle Rock for the 21st Annual Elephant Rock Cycling Festival. Traditionally the kick-off to the summer biking season, E-Rock affords riders of all abilities the opportunity to ride the beautiful rolling hills just south of Denver. Scot Harris, organizer and promoter of the event, generously offers E-Rock as a fund raiser for the CNI Center of Brain & Spinal Tumors.
Susie Wargin, 9 News sportscaster and Community Chair for the event, with Dr. Ed Arenson, neuro-oncologist and Medical Chair, lead Team CNI’s 65 riders (see the list below) in raising money (more than $26,000) to support patients of the Center. A big hit with the riders were red neuron jerseys designed by 9 News graphic artist, Dave Warvi.
Thank you to our Corporate sponsors who underwrote the expenses for the event. They include: Morton Publishing, Pharmion, Dr. Ed Arenson, Campus Cycle, and Ed Wargin.
Congratulations and thanks to all the riders who enjoyed a beautiful, if windy, Colorado day and made this event a success for the CNI Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors. Thanks, too, to the office staff and volunteers who always give so generously of their time and worked tirelessly to secure the funding we need to support our patient population.
Thank you to the fund raisers and those who answer the call for funding. A very special thank you to one of our patients and a rider who collected more than $4,000 to help others faced with this disease. Charlie Wolf, who has been battling this disease for a number of years, walks the area near his home wearing one of his CNI jerseys and easily persuades friends and neighbors to give to the Center. Charlie exemplifies the motto of The HeartStrings Project: "Friendship and kindness are the threads that tie hearts together."
Planning for 2009 will begin before we know it. If you would like to be on the committee (we only meet a few times a year) please call Lorre Gibson at (303) 806-7420. We welcome new ideas and new sponsors.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, June 7, 2009 and the 22nd Annual Elephant Rock Cycling Festival.
List of registered riders:
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Please click on the link below to download and read the Brain & Spinal Tumors Center's 2007 Outcomes Report (in PDF format). To read the reports of all 7 CNI Centers as well as the NeuroHealth Center please, click the second link.
Download the 2007 Brain & Spinal Tumor Center's Outcomes Report (PDF) >>
Download the 2007 Outcomes Report for all CNI Centers (PDF) >>
4th Annual Long-Term Survivor Party Honors Courage of Patients and Families and Commitment of Medical Team
October 17, 2007
By Ned Davis
More than 75 people gathered on October 17, 2007, for the fourth annual celebration of long-term survivors of high-grade brain and/or spinal tumors. All have been treated by Dr. Arenson and the rest of the Team at the CNI Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors.
The criterion for being invited to this special evening was survival for three or more years after diagnosis of a grade 3 or higher brain tumor. Patients from across the United States were invited to attend. Many could not travel to Colorado for the festivities, but all were honored that evening. The event was held at the Glenmoor Country Club in Cherry Hills Village.
The cupcake candle-lighting ceremony has become a well-loved tradition, in which each attendee receives a cupcake with candles numbering his or her years of survival. Then, all at the same moment, they blow them out.
With the flames of light representing hope, peace and courage,
the survivors
blow out their candles.
Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors
Annual Memorial Lectureship
September 6-7, 2007
Guest speaker for the Annual Memorial Lectureship, September 6-7, 2007 was Dr. Edward Oldfield, Chief, Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
CNI staff and invited neurosurgeons from the Denver Metro area and Dr. Oldfield enjoyed a lovely dinner at Strings the evening before the lectureship.
The Friday noon lecture was attended by staff, hospital personnel, physicians and patients. They heard Dr. Oldfield speak on the topic of: Convection Enhanced Drug Delivery: Implications for Biological Neurosurgery.
The event was supported in part by a grant from Schering-Plough. Local representative for the company is Deb Nelson.
Disappointment matched the dark skies on the morning of the 8th Annual Reflecting the Light Services on Wednesday, May 23, 2007. For the previous 7 years we had an outdoor event that found us under beautiful Colorado skies in the fish pond area of Swedish Medical Center. This year would be different. The skies opened up and the rain did not lessen for several hours. It was easy to decide to move the event to an indoor venue.
I have always thought that it was the outdoor event, the music, the flowers and the candle lighting ceremony that drew patients, family and staff to this touching yearly gathering. This year I realized, you come because you want to gather together to pay honor to your loved ones and to the staff that brings you so much hope for the future and comfort for the present. More than 70 patients, family, friends and staff poured into a conference room at the hospital to hear music by Carla Sciaky and her daughter, Chloe. Dr. Arenson welcomed everyone and offered words of encouragement. Lee McDowell gave a beautiful invocation. You heard words of praise and thanks from Sean Smith. Julie Canis discussed her feelings as a caregiver. Roberta Slaughter echoed Julie’s sentiments and thanked her for her eloquent words. Stacey Per shared a reading by Courtney Davis.
We could not do the annual candle lighting, that has come to mean so much to everyone. We are not allowed to burn candles in the hospital. But that did not stop the group from coming forward to speak the name of a friend or loved one. I introduced each family member to the crowd and announced who they were honoring. It was as touching and moving as any candle lighting ceremony we have ever held. The event closed with a prayer by Erika Valenzuela from the Chaplaincy of Swedish Medical Center.
A small entourage braved the elements to view the memorial flower garden that had been blooming beautifully for several days. And with that another Reflecting the Light event came to a close.
Thank you so much to all who helped with planning and organizing and especially to those who stepped up to move the event inside the day of the event. I couldn’t have done it without your support.The following abstracts are summaries of research performed by Dr Arenson and team members. The first was presented at the 2nd Quadrennial Meeting of the World Federation of NeuroOncology (WFNO), 6th Meeting of the European Association for NeuroOncology, in Edinburgh, Scotland in May 2005. The second abstract is from a paper presented to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
There are all kinds of survivors in the world. Survivors of war and poverty. Survivors of abuse or unhappy childhoods. But on a beautiful sunny evening in September, 78 people gathered at the home of Dr. & Mrs. David Trevarthen to celebrate and rejoice with long-term survivors of high grade brain tumors. This is the 3rd Annual Long-Term Survivors Party and with each year the event becomes more popular with the patients of the CNI Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors.
Those who are at least 3 years out from the diagnosis of a high grade brain tumor and are patients of the CNI Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors are included. Patients from across the United States were invited to attend. Many could not make the long trip here for the festivities, but all were honored that evening.
The food was catered by the Warren Tech High School Catering Department. They do a wonderful job and this year was no exception. A coffee cart of specialty coffee and fruit drinks, provided by Lisa Wynja of the Celegene Corp., was a real treat! Sarah Trevarthen was a very gracious host and made everyone feel very welcome. Others who offered their time and expertise were: Joann Bank, Ned Davis, Melissa Francis, Lorre Gibson, Carol Greenwald, Jan Halvorsen Stacey Per, Kayla Pierick, Mary Pierick.
The candle lighting ceremony was moved outside this year and took place at dusk. It was dramatic seeing all those points of light. Always an emotional activity for the patients and their families, it is a very significant way to acknowledge the years of survival that have brought all of together.
Daily we in the medical community see advancements in the field of neuroscience. New technology and imaging equipment and safer, less toxic, chemotherapy drugs, along with advancements in radiation treatments and neurosurgery are allowing us to offer the kind of hope that all patients look for when they are diagnosed with disease. Patients are living longer and more productively than ever before. They are survivors.
A
CNI patient since being diagnosed with glioblastoma mutiforme (Grade
IV) in June 2002, H. Charles "Charlie" Wolf has recently
published his second book about his experience, "Alive and Fighting
: Coping with a Brain Tumor and a Bone Marrow Transplant." This
book discusses his second and third years, which also included a bone
marrow transplant because the chemotherapy had destroyed his bone marrow.
"Now, three years later, I still have many things to deal with on a daily basis including graft-versus-host disease from the bone marrow transplant, and reading and memory problems because a large piece of my brain was removed during my brain surgery," says Charlie. "Surviving the first year was one of the most difficult things I have ever faced, but the second and third years were even harder. I am not even close to winning my battle over cancer, but I continue to fight until the end. There were many times that I just wanted to give up, even if the result was death. It was becoming too hard to fight as I became increasingly sick with each treatment. However, I never gave up. I have family and friends that I am not ready to leave yet and things I still want to do, so I will continue to fight!"
Charlie's first book, titled "Damn The Statistics, I Have a Life to Live," details his battle against the tumor and his gratitude to the doctors and nurses at Colorado Neurological Institute and Swedish Medical Center who have treated and cared for him during this difficult period. Wolf, a 45-year-old former nuclear facility manager and father of three and grandfather of two, is now over three years beyond diagnosis. Charlie's book is available on AuthorHouse.com for $11.20.
If you have any questions about any of the activities at the CNI Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors, please call Lorre Gibson at (303) 806-7420.
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Colorado Neurological
Institute Center for Brain & Spinal Tumors
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