Friedberg

Jonathan Friedberg, M.D.

During my wife’s five-year battle with cancer, which of course was ultimately unsuccessful, her doctor at Wilmot Cancer Center (“will-MOTT;” as in Mott’s applesauce) was Jonathan Friedberg.
Friedberg is an acknowledged nationwide expert in lymphoma cancers, which my wife’s cancer was at first.
Her cancer was Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, one of many variations of lymphoma.
Her death-certificate lists breast-cancer as her cause of death.
She also developed breast-cancer from a non-existent primary site, and it metastasized into her bones.
By definition that was Stage Four Breast-Cancer, but I would say lymphoma was her cause of death.
Her breast-cancer was more-or-less under control; her lymphoma kept returning.
We were seeing doctors at Wilmot for both cancers, although our first contact was Friedberg.
We ended up at Wilmot because they were the earliest getting her in. Treatment in Canandaigua was weeks away.
The lymphoma seemed to be centered as tumors in her abdominal lymph nodes.
One was rather hard.
Friedberg suggested R/C-H-O-P chemotherapy to destroy the lymph tumors.
But C-H-O-P is very harsh.
Chemotherapy is toxic; it poisons fast-growing cells, like hair and cancerous tumors.
C-H-O-P can only be administered eight times; it damages the heart.
The first C-H-O-P treatment was six times, and it cleared up the lymphoma.
It was during the post-treatment scan we first noticed breast-cancer’s bone-damage. The breast-cancer was estrogen-sensitive.
It could be treated with estrogen depressant, and it seemed to go into remission.
But her lymphoma reappeared.
“Your abdomen is on fire!” I exclaimed, looking at a cancer-scan.
The scan “lit up” heavy uptake, like from cancer.
We tried other chemos, all of which failed.
One was hyper-expensive, $50,000 for one treatment, but that failed too. (Medicare paid for it.)
The lymphoma in her abdomen began blocking blood-return from her legs, plus her ureter-tubes from her kidneys.
One kidney became dysfunctional — stents for the tubes, or outside drains, were suggested.
The leg-swelling got elephantine; I had to put on her socks, because she couldn’t lift her legs.
She also kept needing blood-transfusions to offset the anemia caused by lymphoma.
She got so bad she could no longer report to her doctors, so I did.
I suggested I wasn’t sure she would last the night, so they called her cellphone, which she had.
Suddenly, action! She was hospitalized.
The final two C-H-O-P chemos were administered, and the lymphoma disappeared.
The leg-swelling subsided and both kidneys started functioning again.
All during this I wondered if Friedberg thought he’d lose a patient.
I don’t say this in anger; there’s only so much he could do.
Our treatment-options were running out; C-H-O-P, the only chemo that worked, was done.
Her legs started swelling again, and the lymphoma reappeared on her scans.
Radiation was suggested, but that was essentially a holding action. Radiation, eight treatments, can only be done one cycle.
He cancer was minimized, but not ended.
So poor Friedberg lost another patient despite his best efforts.
And I lost the best friend I ever had.
And my wife was a fighter. She did lots of Internet research and nationwide lymphoma forums, often pinning Friedberg to the wall.
We even did a second opinion, my wife flying to Boston for Dana-Farber.
Friedberg was being a jerk (so it seemed). He’d been made a head-honcho at Wilmot.
But Dana-Farber seemed to go nowhere.
It only seconded the opinion of Friedberg, the acknowledged nationwide lymphoma expert.

• My beloved wife of 44 years died April 17, 2012. She was 68. I miss her dearly.
• “Canandaigua” (“cannan-DAY-gwuh”) is a small city nearby where I live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” It’s about 14 miles away. I live in the small rural town of West Bloomfield, southeast of Rochester. —Wilmot is in Rochester.
• C-H-O-P chemotherapy is Cyclophosphamide, Hydroxydaunorubicin (also called doxorubicin or Adriamycin), Oncovin (vincristine), and Prednisone or prednisolone. R/C-H-O-P is C-H-O-P administered with rituximab (Rituxin), which improves C-H-O-P’s effectiveness.