Latest news with #Isenberg
Hamilton Spectator
08-07-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
‘More upset about the prospect of losing my hair than I was of dying': Treatment to avoid hair loss during chemotherapy not offered in Hamilton
Adina Isenberg did not want to look like a cancer patient. She was 40 years old and a mom to two young sons when the Toronto woman underwent chemotherapy in 2017 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. 'The ability to hide the fact that I was going through breast cancer treatment at a young age and have the control as to who I revealed it to meant everything to me,' Isenberg said. 'I didn't look sick, and it made all the difference.' Key to Isenberg's healthy appearance was keeping her long, straight brown hair during chemotherapy treatments. 'I genuinely was more upset about the prospect of losing my hair than I was of dying,' she said. 'I think it's too difficult, especially as a younger person, to think about death, but hair falling out is like a physical manifestation. It's proof that something is wrong, so it makes it real.' Isenberg was able to avoid the common side effect of chemotherapy-induced hair loss because scalp cooling treatment was available at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital, where she was a patient. The technology by Paxman limits the damage to hair follicles caused by chemotherapy drugs, minimizing hair loss and increasing regrowth. 'It helped me to keep my dignity,' Isenberg said. 'I felt physically better because I looked better.' But Isenberg wouldn't have received the same treatment that saved her hair if she'd been a patient in Hamilton instead of Toronto. Juravinski Cancer Centre doesn't offer the Paxman Scalp Cooling System, which is one reason why Isenberg is telling her story. Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) declined an interview request about why the treatment is available in Ottawa, Markham, Windsor and at multiple sites in Toronto but not here despite Juravinski being a regional centre that serves a population of 2.3 million in central-west Ontario. 'Our team is aware of this treatment and will be exploring it,' the hospital network said in a statement. 'Our aim is to provide every patient with the most appropriate and effective care possible.' Adina Isenberg said scalp cooling treatment helped her keep her hair during breast cancer treatment. The scalp cooling treatment available in Hamilton is a do-it-yourself system that requires the patient to bring a cooler of frozen gel caps, source dry ice and continually change the caps every 20 minutes themselves, continuing in transit after leaving the appointment and at home. In contrast, the Paxman system is a refrigeration unit at the hospital that contains coolant circulated through specially designed caps. All the equipment is included, the treatment is overseen by a trained professional and it's done on site. Isenberg compares it to getting your hair coloured at a salon versus doing it yourself at home. 'My hope is that we can bring Paxman into everywhere in Ontario,' Isenberg said. 'To me, it's a much smoother experience for the patient and just reduces the stress overall.' Hair loss is so distressing that a study published in 2018 in the medical journal The Oncologist listed it as the most traumatic aspect of chemotherapy for the majority of breast cancer patients. In fact, up to eight per cent were reported in the research to reject chemotherapy because of 'extreme anxiety' over hair loss. As a result, Toronto medical oncologist Dr. Ellen Warner says the availability of scalp cooling 'probably saves the lives of some of these patients.' A presentation on bringing Paxman to Hamilton was made earlier this year by Dr. Andrea Eisen, a Hamilton breast cancer medical oncologist. 'I think there's interest,' Eisen said, speaking as a doctor and not on behalf of HHS. 'There was no debate about the value of it. It's just the cancer program doesn't feel they have the bandwidth to operationalize it right now.' Part of the holdup is logistics like where to store the machines and how to get the technicians to oversee the treatment, although Paxman has offered support. It also doesn't work for all types of chemotherapy treatment and patients. The biggest hurdle is that the treatment is not covered by OHIP and can cost thousands of dollars depending on how long the patient needs chemotherapy. The first five treatments cost about $450 each, the next two are around $400 each and every one after that is $100, going up to $125 in September. It means patients pay out of pocket or hospital foundations cover or subsidize it through donations. Regardless of the cost, Eisen says patients — particularly young women with breast cancer — are looking to access the treatment. 'I do think it will come (to Hamilton) … It's just not imminent,' Eisen said. 'I wish it was sooner. I think it could be implemented without that much difficulty.' Finding the will is a challenge, said Warner, who is based at Sunnybrook Hospital. Even in Toronto, where scalp cooling has been offered for years, Warner says she gets a 'ton of pushback' from colleagues. 'The system is so stressed,' Warner said. 'Nobody wants to hear about something extra.' But the treatment means so much to the patients who want it that Warner is willing to stand up for it. 'Patients should have the ability to take advantage of it,' Warner said. 'Most patients don't know about it.' The treatment works by lowering the temperature of the scalp before, during and after chemotherapy to decrease the blood flow to hair follicles, reducing the amount of medication that reaches them. 'I'm trying desperately to do something with Juravinski and hospitals in that area, but it has been a closed door,' said Harry Goodman, Paxman's general manager for Canada. 'I would say, on average, I'm probably getting phone calls from three to four patients a week that are living in the general area.' Harry Goodman has worked to bring scalp cooling treatments to Canadian hospitals after promising his wife Esther Goodman before she died of cancer in 2015 that he would try to make a difference for future patients. Goodman took on a second career after retirement trying to get scalp cooling treatment into Canadian hospitals to honour a promise he made to his wife Esther Goodman, who died of ovarian and breast cancer at 63 in 2015. One of the most devastating moments of her years with cancer was when her young grandchild didn't recognize her after she'd lost her hair from chemotherapy treatment. Feeling she had lost part of her identity, she asked her husband to try to make a difference for future cancer patients. 'I was going to do something that would help other men, women, teenagers that have to go through cancer so that they never have to worry about their hair not regrowing,' Goodman said. 'I get very emotional about this; it means a lot to me.' Patients like Isenberg want to see scalp cooling treatment become a standard part of cancer care. 'For people who haven't gone through this, it's difficult to find the words to explain how deeply this matters,' Isenberg said. 'Shave your head and then let's have this conversation.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
08-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton-area Today: Keeping her hair through chemo + Community centre closes because of ‘recurring incidents' from group of youths
G ood morning! It's July 8, here are the top stories today in the Hamilton area. Another hot, humid day is on the way. Environment Canada is forecasting a high of 28 C at the airport weather station that could feel like 35 with humidity. There are no alerts. Find the latest provincial road closures and traffic incidents via Ontario 511 . Taking transit today? Find the latest GO Transit service updates here . The latest information on local bus services is available here: Hamilton , Burlington and Oakville . Forty-year-old mom Adina Isenberg says her healthy appearance — keeping her long, straight brown hair — was key to keeping her dignity during chemotherapy treatments. Isenberg was able to avoid the common side effect of chemotherapy-induced hair loss because of scalp cooling treatment available at the Toronto hospital where she was a patient. An unforgettable cone got Mark McNeil thinking about ice cream memories in Hamilton. Two particular places melted into history, but they have not been forgotten. It remains unclear whether the woman injured in a shooting at a Flamborough party house was the intended target, police say. Or why hundreds of people were partying at the supposedly shut down property. 'The level of co-operation with respect to information has been abysmal.' A child is dead and six other people were injured in a three-vehicle crash Sunday night after the driver of a pickup truck tried to pass another and then hit a Honda Civic head on. Violence, vandalism and harassment from a group of teens prompted the City of Hamilton to temporarily close the Dominic Agostino Riverdale Community Centre in June. And it could be shuttered again. Subscribe to our newsletters for the latest local content . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Mint
30-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
CEO questions ‘outsourced thinking' in post criticising excessive ChatGPT use, netizens find he plagiarised it
Vihan Pratap Singh, who's LinkedIn account shows he is Founder and CEO of Gurugram-based Blackrose, has come under heavy criticism and trolling online after social media users discovered his post calling out 'outsourced thinking' was plagiarised from another CEO, Greg Isenberg, on X. Till time of writing, Singh's LinkedIn post, made on June 29 (Sunday), generated over 560 reactions and comments. Netizens found that the post is a 'copy-pasted' version of Isenberg's X post made in December 2024, with only the student's school edited from Stanford to IIT. Singh has not responded to the many comments on his post about the duplication. This copy will be updated with his statement on response. The following version was posed by Singh on Sunday: 'Just had a fascinating brunch with a 22-year-old IIT-B CS grad. Sharp guy. Perfect resume. Something felt off though. He kept pausing mid-sentence, searching for words. Not complex words - basic ones. Like his brain was buffering. Finally asked if he was okay. His response floored me. 'Sometimes I forget words now. I'm so used to having ChatGPT complete my thoughts that when it's not there, my brain feels... slower.' He'd been using AI for everything. Writing, thinking, communication. It had become his external brain. And now his internal one was getting weaker. Made me think about calculators. Remember how teachers said we needed to learn math because 'you won't always have a calculator'? They were wrong about that. But maybe they were right about something deeper. We're running the first large-scale experiment on human cognition. What happens when an entire generation outsources their thinking? Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited about what AI and AI agents will do for people. But thinking out loud you got to think this guy I met with isn't the only one that's going to be completely dependent on AI. Have you experienced any cognitive decline since you've started using AI tools?' The only differences to Isenberg's post was the school change from Stanford to IIT and the audience question at the end. Greg Isenberg is the CEO of holding company Late Checkout, which runs a portfolio of internet companies. At time of writing, the original post (dated December 18, 2024), has been viewed 6.2 million times. X user Shobhit Bakliwal pointed to the plagiarism on his account, writing: 'this guy straight up stole the post and added IIT-B CS grad. (sic)' He also linked Isenberg's original post from December in the thread. Other users had a variety of reactions, one pointed out the irony, stating: 'The guy who wrote an entire post lamenting on people not using their brains, didn't use his own brain either to write an original post. (sic)' Another joked how using ChatGPT may have prevented the plagiarism being found out, writing: 'This guy would have used Chat GPT for coming up with the post as well.. (sic)' One user urged increased sensitivity and education on plagiarism in Indian schools, saying, 'The plagiarism epidemic in India is such a shame! Indian colleges must educate on IP ethics. (sic)' While some blamed the culture of posting on LinkedIn for the problem, adding: 'LinkedIn has a high percentage of stolen content... What was meant to be a network for professionals [whatever that means] is a den of self-glorifying pretenders now. Very high on I-Me-Myself. (sic)'
AU Financial Review
18-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Fintech CEO unveils Lake Como-inspired home in Bellevue Hill
Fintech operative Brett Isenberg has received the green light to replace his 1990s-era Bellevue Hill pad with a European-inspired mansion, becoming the latest deep-pocketed landholder to enter the fray of luxury rebuilds in Australia's most expensive suburb. Isenberg, who is the co-chief executive of Octet, a non-bank lender, paid $15.85 million in May last year for the 950 square metre cul-de-sac site on the aptly named Mansion Road.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Maine-Endwell Odyssey of the Mind team headed to world competition
ENDWELL, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Two teams from Maine Endwell are headed to the world competition in Michigan for Odyssey of the Mind. Students at Homer Brink Elementary qualified for the world competition after a strong performance at the state level. At states, one team placed second in the theme Astronomical Odyssey, and the other team also placed second in the Save Me Structure division. At each competition, the teams have to perform a skit using the sets and costumes that they designed. One student, Christian Isenberg, says it's easier to perform when you're around your friends. 'I expected us to get fourth place at states and not make it, but we did. We work well together as a team, and this team has been together, most of us have been together for a few years,' said Isenberg. Both teams will get bussed to Michigan State University for the first day of competition on May 21. There's a raffle taking place in the Homer Brink main office, to raise enough money to send the students to Michigan. Black Bears gearing up to Run It Back Aliza Spencer Friendship Day honors legacy of murdered Binghamton student Maine-Endwell Odyssey of the Mind team headed to world competition Local leaders prepare to hit the runway for Mothers and Babies Fashion Gala Spotlight on Broome County Humane Society Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
