Jay's World is named for Ralph and Mary Ann's son, Jason, who is currently in remission from Leukemia. The foundation donated $50,000 raised through its 2002 annual basketball tournament. The Ninth Annual Top Gun Basketball Tournament will be held on March 29 and 30 at North Shore High School in Glen Head. For more information contact the foundation at (516) 671-7410 or visit www.jaysworld.org.
Prostrate cancer treatment offers new hope
Mercy Medical Center has introduced a new method for treating prostrate cancer, which strikes more than 180,000 men in the United States each year. This revolutionary treatment - the state-of-the-art, third generation minimally invasive cryotherapy provided by Galil Medical - eradicates prostate cancer using extreme cold to destroy cancer cells. Mercy is the first hospital in Nassau County to offer this treatment. Mercy Urologist Robert Edelman, of Urological Surgeons of Long Island, was instrumental in bringing this advanced technology to Mercy for treating primary and recurrent localized prostate cancer. "SeedNet TM Gold cryotherapy is minimally invasive and allows our patients to experience a short recuperation period with few if any major side effects," said Edelman, who works with a specially trained cryosurgery team at Mercy.During a prostate cancer procedure, in a system identical to the brachytherapy insertion techniques already used by many urologists, ultra-thin needles are inserted into the prostate under ultrasound guidance. The gas-based system is activated to safely freeze, ablate and eliminate the diseased tissue while avoiding damage to surrounding tissue. Patients generally go home either the same day or the next day with very little discomfort."The results of this technique is especially important when it gives our patients an excellent outcome, faster and with less pain," said Edelman. Owen Murray of Malverne has been a patient of Edelman's for 20 years. In July of 2002 Murray was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After discussing several different options, the final decision was to treat the cancer with cryotherapy."This is a major step forward in medical technology," said Murray. "I was admitted to Mercy on Thursday and I went home on Friday. There has been minimal discomfort, with no pain whatsoever. I never even took the pain medication prescribed -not even a Tylenol."Thanks to the growing acceptance of PSA testing (a simple blood test to determine the likelihood of prostate cancer), more men are being diagnosed with the disease in its early stage and are receiving treatment. Cyrotherapy can be effectively utilized for patients with localized prostate cancer. It is also uniquely suited to treating patients that have previously undergone radiation therapy but experience a localize recurrence of prostate cancer. Peer-reviewed studies demonstrate that approximately 20 percent of men that received radiation for prostate cancer were not cured, making cryotherapy an excellent means of re-treatment. Many patients who have been diagnosed with kidney cancer or von Hippel-Lindau disease are now offered cryosurgery as a treatment option.For more information call (516) 62-MERCY.
