UNITY OF SKY, LAND AND SEA
Huberto Pimentel of East Setauket took this photo of Stony Brook Harbor at the end of April. He writes, ‘Life flows even in low tides.’
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Attorney At Law: Estate planning for the blended family
By Nancy Burner, Esq.
We live in a modern world where blended families are becoming more and more common.
A blended family is one made up of two spouses where at least one spouse has children from a previous marriage or relationship. Blended families can also include two spouses, their children and grandchildren from multiple relationships. Because of the complexity involved in a blended family, proper estate planning is essential to ensure a client’s goals are met.
Spouses used to create what we refer to as the “sweetheart will,” which distributes assets from the first deceased spouse to the surviving spouse, and then to their children upon the death of the surviving spouse. A sweetheart will does not adequately provide for individuals who have been married multiple times and have children from previous relationships for whom they want to provide.
For example, Joe and Molly get married and have three children together. Molly dies and Joe gets remarried to Cindy. Cindy has two children from a prior relationship. If Joe and Cindy were to create sweetheart wills, upon the death of the first spouse, assets would be transferred to the second spouse, and upon his or her death, assets will only go to the children of the second spouse.
If Joe were to be the first to die, his children would effectively be disinherited. Joe and Cindy may instead want to provide for all five children in both of their wills, or in the alternative, ensure that each spouse’s assets go to their children from their prior relationship.
To make matters even more complicated, under New York State law, a surviving spouse has an automatic right to take a one-third share of their deceased spouse’s estate. This is something to consider when deciding what type of plan to have and for whom you want to provide. Additional considerations should be given to the likelihood of an estate plan being contested, since members from different families may be involved and may not be happy with the new relationship.
As elder law attorneys, we are always thinking ahead and how to protect assets down the road from Medicaid. If there is a good chance a spouse will need long-term care in the near future, we will want to protect any funds that may affect eligibility. Therefore, a transfer of all assets to a surviving spouse may not be the appropriate plan under these certain circumstances.
Beyond the blended family, similar issues may arise in nontraditional family situations, such as partners who decide not to get married; spouses with no children, but instead have close friends for whom they want to provide; and those who have a desire to leave assets to pets, charities or the like.
A family can come in all different shapes and sizes. It is therefore important to meet with an estate planning and elder law attorney to discuss your specific goals and come up with a creative way to accomplish the best estate plan for you.
Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office.
CSHL’s Bruce Stillman wins prestigious Gairdner Award
By Daniel Dunaief
Bruce Stillman, the president and CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, was recently awarded the prestigious Canada Gairdner International Award for his contributions to research about the way DNA copies itself. The 60-year-old prize, which Stillman will receive in a ceremony in October and that he shares with his former postdoctoral fellow John Diffley, includes a financial award of $100,000 Canadian dollars that he can spend however he’d like.
A native Australian, Stillman, who has been at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory since 1979, recently shared his thoughts about the award, research at the lab and his concerns about science in society with Times Beacon Record News Media.
How does it feel winning the Gairdner Award?
It’s one of the most prestigious awards in the life sciences in the world and it’s certainly a great honor to win it and to join the list of spectacular scientists in the history of the award. There are some really fantastic scientists who I very much admire who have received this award.
How does it relate to the research you’ve conducted?
The field of DNA replication and chromosome inheritance was recognized. It is something I’ve devoted my entire career to. There are a lot of people that have made important contributions to this field. I’m pleased to be recognized with [Diffley] who was my former postdoc. [It’s validating] that the field was recognized.
Has CSH Laboratory been at the cutting edge of discoveries using the gene-editing tool CRISPR?
Cold Spring Harbor didn’t discover CRISPR. Like many institutions, we’ve been at the forefront of applying CRISPR and gene editing. The most spectacular application of that has been in the plant field. Zachary Lippman, Dave Jackson and Rob Martienssen are using genetic engineering to understand plant morphogenesis and development, thereby increasing the yield of fruit. Hopefully, this will be expanded into grains and have another green revolution.
CSHL has also been making strides in cancer research, particularly in Dave Tuveson’s lab, with organoids.
Organoids came out of people studying development. Hans Clevers [developed organoids] in the Netherlands … Tuveson is at the forefront of that. The full promise hasn’t been realized yet. From what I’ve seen, we are quite excited about the possibility of using organoids as a tool to get real feedback to patients. It is rapidly moving forward with the Lustgarten Foundation and with Northwell Health.
What are some of the other major initiatives at CSHL?
The laboratory’s investment about 10 or 15 years ago in understanding cognition in the brain has paid off enormously. Neuroscientists here are at the forefront of understanding cognition and how the brain does computation in complicated decisions. [Scientists are also] mapping circuits in the brain. It took a lot of investment and kind of the belief that studying rodent cognition could have an impact on human cognition, which was controversial when we started it here, but has paid out quite well. At the same time, we are studying cognitive dysfunction particularly in autism.
Any other technological advances?
There’s been a real revolution in the field of structural biology… [Researchers] have the ability to look at single biological molecules in the electron microscope. It shoots electrons through a grid that has individual biological molecules. The revolution, which was done elsewhere by many people actually, led to the ability to get atomic resolution structures of macro molecular complexes.
Cold Spring Harbor invested a lot of money, well over $10 million to build a facility and staff a facility to operate this new technology. I’ve been working on this area for about 12, 13 years now … Our structural biologists here in neuroscience, including neuroscientists Hiro Furukawa and Leemor Joshua-Tor have really helped introduce a lot of new biology into CSHL.
What are some of the newer efforts at the lab?
One of the big new initiatives we started is in the field of cancer. As you know by looking around, there’s an obesity epidemic in the Western world. We started a fairly large initiative, understanding the relationship between obesity and cancer and nutrition, and we’re not unique in this. We’re going to have some significant contributions in this area.
Cancer cells and the tumor affect the whole body physiology. The most severe [consequence] is that advanced cancer patients lose weight through a process called cachexia. We hired [new staff] in this new initiative, renovated a historic building, the Demerec building at a fairly substantial expense, which was supported by New York State.
What will CSHL researchers study related to obesity?
We’re absolutely going to be focusing on understanding mostly how obesity impacts cancer and the immune system, then how cancer impacts the whole body physiology. Hopefully, once we start to understand the circuits, [we] will be able to intervene. If we can control obesity, we will by logic reduce cancer impact.
What worries you about society?
What worries me is that there is a tendency in this country to ignore science in policy decisions … The number of people not getting vaccinated for measles is ridiculous. There is this kind of pervasive anti-science, anti-technology view that a lot of Americans have. They want the benefits of science and everything that can profit for them.
There are certain groups of people who misuse data, deliberately abuse misinformation on science to promote agendas that are completely irrational. One of the worst is anti-vaccination. … We should as a society have severe penalties for those who choose to go that route. They shouldn’t send their children to schools, participate in public areas where they could spread a disease that effectively was controlled. Imagine if polio or tuberculosis came back?
How is the lab contributing to education?
People need to act like scientists. It’s one of the reasons we have the DNA Learning Center, to teach people to think like scientists. If 99.99 percent of the evidence suggests [something specific] and 0.01 percent suggest something [else], you have to wonder whether those very small and vocal minority are correct.
Cooking Cove: America’s burgers – a melting pot of flavors
By Barbara Beltrami
Is there any food as All-American as the hamburger? I doubt it. Ground beef, a good shot of ketchup, maybe a slice of cheese or a couple of strips of bacon and that’s it. But with the American population now comprised of so many ethnic groups, we are no longer just a simple burger on a soft white bun, as it were.
We are Afro-American and Asian and Latino and Middle Eastern among many others and bring our colorful cultures and favorite foods to the grill and the table. And the men and women who so faithfully serve and have sacrificed their lives for our country are also from those cultures. So let’s take time from the Memorial Day sales, the first forays to the beach and the barbecues with families and friends to remember that. Here are four hamburger variations I’ve concocted that will help us keep it in mind.
Middle Eastern-Inspired Burgers
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef or lamb
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup hummus
¼ cup chopped black olives
1 medium tomato, cut into 4 slices
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
4 hamburger buns
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat grill on high setting. In medium bowl combine ground meat, onion, mint, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper and cumin. Form into 4 patties; poke hole in center of each patty, insert feta, then press meat mixture over it so feta is in middle of patty. Grill 3 to 5 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness. Drizzle olive oil on one half of each bun, then spread with hummus; place burger on top, then olives, tomato and yogurt. Serve with couscous and cucumber salad.
Afro-American-Inspired Burgers
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup corn kernels
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup chopped cooked greens
1 cup chopped cooked okra
1 cup chopped tomatoes
8 strips cooked bacon, crumbled
4 hamburger buns
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat grill to high setting. In medium bowl, combine beef with half the barbecue sauce and all the onions and corn. Form into 4 patties; season with salt and pepper. Grill, basting with remaining barbecue sauce, 3 to 5 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness. Place on buns, and top with greens, okra, tomatoes and bacon. Serve with sweet potato fries and cole slaw.
Latin-Inspired Burgers
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt to taste
4 hamburger buns
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat grill on high setting. In medium bowl, combine first 7 ingredients; divide mixture into 4 patties. Grill 3 to 5 minutes each side depending on desired doneness. Place on buns with choice of cheese, lettuce and a slice of tomato. Serve with bean salad, salsa, guacamole, corn chips and ice cold beer.
Asian-Inspired Burgers
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef
½ cup finely chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated ginger root
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Garlic salt to taste
½ cup wasabi mayonnaise
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
½ cup chopped scallion
4 hamburger buns
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat grill to high setting. In a medium bowl, combine beef, green pepper, hoisin and Sriracha sauces, sesame oil, ginger and red pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly and form into 4 patties; sprinkle with garlic salt and grill 3 to 5 minutes per side depending on desired doneness. Spread wasabi mayonnaise on one half of each bun; top with beef patty, then lettuce and scallions. Serve with cold rice or noodle salad.
Editorial: Remember our freedom
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifically protects the practice of religion in this country. While there have been few exceptions to this rule, mostly in cases where a religion may lead to harm, it has constantly and clearly protected the rights of people to practice in the way they see fit.
When a recent story by TBR News Media broke on social media, based on several readers’ comments, it looked like many people were confused when it came to freedom of religion.
The article reported on a Stony Brook University graduate wearing a turban, who was refused admission into a Port Jefferson restaurant because the establishment has a no-headgear policy on Friday and Saturday nights. The manager was allegedly sticking to the restaurant’s policy, while either being unaware or ignoring the unconstitutionality of refusing a person service based on religious attire. The customer in question practices Sikhism, where males wear turbans as articles of faith in public.
While the restaurant owner said he would change the rule, the event and comments on social media showcase a particular ignorance of the most foundational law in the U.S. Unfortunately, many readers have said they thought the manager had the right to make the call and refuse the graduate service.
They are wrong. Our Constitution protects our expression of religion, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin — or religion. Whether a Sikh is wearing a turban, or a Jewish man is wearing a yarmulke, they cannot be asked to remove their head covering in order to get a drink or something to eat, just like service can’t be denied to a nun in her habit or a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.
Freedom of religion in this country even protects employees of that restaurant and other businesses when it comes to practicing their religions. State and federal laws, unless causing undue hardship on the operation of business, require employers to make accommodations, within reason, for workers whether they need a break to pray or take a day off to observe their Sabbath or celebrate a religious holiday. The employer may ask them to make up the hours, but they can’t deny an employee time off for religious reasons unless it will be detrimental to a business, for example, due to a small staff. So, whether a Christian can’t work Sundays, or a Muslim needs to take a break to pray, an employer cannot dissuade them from doing so.
Employers must also allow dress and grooming practices that employees follow for religious reasons, including not only head coverings but certain hairstyles or facial hair such as the Sikh beard. So, as Americans, whether it’s as a customer or an employee, we are free to practice our religions.
Sikhs have been active in the U.S. Armed Forces, where they have been given special exception to wear turbans, while remaining as dedicated as any other service member. As we celebrate Memorial Day, May 27, remembering those who died to protect our rights, let us also not forget the principles that are being protected.
D. None of the Above: Questions for the posse of presidential candidates
By Daniel Dunaief
As I write, we are 530 days away from the 2020 election. It’s nice that so many people want to lead this nation. Notwithstanding William Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who is a GOP challenger, it seems clear that the Republican nominee will be President Donald Trump, while the Democratic nominee could come from any of at least 23 candidates — and counting.
I’d like to ask these candidates a few questions to get the ball rolling.
1. How will you try to unify the nation? Clearly, we are a divided country. We can’t agree on anything from abortion to gay marriage to the job Trump is currently doing. We have become the Divided States of America. That doesn’t sit well with those of us who have enjoyed the benefits of a country pulling together through so many crises and conflicts, and who have appreciated the opportunity to travel from state to state, feeling like a part of something that spreads from sea to shining sea — and to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. What will you do in the interest of unity?
2. Is there any way to bring the world closer together? If an extraterrestrial force landed today and threatened society, we would set aside our geographic and historic squabbles, and work together to understand this new species and protect ourselves. Why would it take such a threat to unify humans? Is there any way to spread peace, while allowing for differences? If you believe peace is possible, in what turbulent area would you start and how would you bring any two sides together?
3. Can we establish any political rules? It seems that the old days of agreeing to disagree or civil discourse are gone. Were those measured words and polite disagreements a matter of political correctness and do some candidates benefit from attacking each other? Would all of the candidates agree to a level of respect for each other, for the process and for the American populace?
4. What kind of role model will you be as president? Can you lay out any rules you would follow as president, in terms of what you would do and what you wouldn’t, as our leader? What should the penalty be for you if you don’t follow your own rules?
5. How will you measure your own success? It’s so easy to declare yourself a winner and to tell the country and the world what a great success you are. So many of you will run under the banner of bringing change or steering the nation toward a better or, some might say, great future. Don’t just tell us you’re wonderful, give us an idea of how to recognize it. What metrics will you use to know that you’re successful? Are the polls more important, or is the economy, the stock market or anything else a good barometer of your success?
6. What will you offer children that they don’t get now? Parents often care more about their children than they do about themselves. What will you do to make schools, food choices, activities or other options better for children than they are today?
7. How will you protect our elections? It’s clear that other nations feel like they can influence our elections. What can you do to ensure that the process proceeds as it should?
8. What’s wonderful or great about your spouse or partner? What do you admire about this person and what is one of your favorite memories with him or her?
9. Do the ends justify the means? Is it as important to ensure that the journey obeys certain rules and that the country follows a specific compass, or is it acceptable to get to the final destination by any means necessary?
Shelter Pet of the Week: Robin and Raven
MEET ROBIN AND RAVEN
This week’s shelter pets are kittens Robin and Raven, 8-month-old female domestic short-haired siblings waiting at Kent Animal Shelter for the next chapter in their lives.
Robin is black and white and Raven is black. They are sweet, docile and playful kittens who would love to be adopted together if possible.
Both kittens are spayed, microchipped and up to date on their vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on Robin and Raven and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
Plain Talk: Leave the world better than you found it
As you read this column, we are in the midst of college graduations and anticipating our annual high school graduations. This year’s classes of graduates have made a powerful impact upon all of our communities.
The social landscape that these young men and women have had to navigate has been complex, complicated, painful and, at times, overwhelming. Despite an increase of school shootings, this year’s graduates have become a powerful voice for common sense gun safety, challenging those that lead us to come down out of their ivory towers and listen and equally important commit themselves to action.
Despite the lack of positive, courageous elected leaders to look up to, this year’s graduates have not allowed their poor example to temper their desire to lead by example, challenge the social indifference that has become commonplace and the commitment to make a profound difference in our world. So many seniors have expressed the desire to leave the world better than they found it!
Seniors, as you begin a new chapter in your life don’t let the world and the bureaucracy temper that commitment to be grounded in that important value and principle. Do not let the social filters of our time enable bigotry, exclusivity and social injustice. Always try to realize that being human and sensitive to others is more important than a successful academic record. Showing compassion and understanding rooted in justice is more significant than any science formula or social platform. These are difficult lessons to learn because they demand that you risk all that you are now for what you could become tomorrow.
As you graduate keep these simple thoughts in mind: May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace and to work for peace grounded in social justice. May a kind word, a reassuring touch and a warm smile be yours every day of your life. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending. Teach love to those who only know hate; let that love embrace you as you continue in the world. May the teachings of those you admire become a part of you so that you may call upon them. It is the content and quality of who you are that is important not merely the actions you take.
Don’t judge a book by its cover or stop at the introduction. Read it through, seeking meaning and message of every life, for everyone’s life is sacred, even those who are different from you or whom you do not like. Be more inclusive than exclusive. Don’t be blinded by those who tend to use shame, blame and guilt to shackle people down and divide them. Set people free with your respect and nonjudgmental way.
So, seniors, as you take leave, what is your purpose? What is your mission? Your life will be what you create it to be. No one can take that life from you! There is no blackboard in the sky that your life outlined for you. You get to fill the blackboard of your life with whatever you feel is important. If you have filled it with junk from the past, wipe it clean. Erase all the hurt and pain that has blocked you from living and loving and being grateful that you are now in a place where you have a new beginning, a fresh opportunity to start new and make something wonderful of your life.
May your moral compass be grounded in integrity and respect for all human beings, no matter what their color, their race, their creed and/or sexual orientation. May your moral compass guide you on a path that is committed to working for peace and social justice. Congratulations, graduating class of 2019. Thanks for making our world a little richer, a little brighter and a better place to be!
Fr. Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.
Between You and Me: We were introduced by the Three Village Historical Society
Today, May 23, is the birthday of Margaret Fuller. She would be 209 years old. I don’t know if you have ever heard of her. I hadn’t really, maybe vaguely. She was actually born Sarah Margaret Fuller, named after both her grandmothers, until she dropped the first name at age 9. She was in other ways a precocious child, too, the oldest of Massachusetts lawyer and Congressman Timothy Fuller’s children, and he taught her to read and write before age 4.
Fuller, a Harvard grad, was such a stern teacher that he forbade her reading sentimental novels and instead gave her what was then, at the beginning of the 19th century, a vigorous classical education — indeed a rarity for a woman at that time.
Margaret Fuller grew up expecting to be exceptional, and she was: as a journalist, editor, literary critic and women’s rights advocate. She strenuously protested slavery, homelessness and other injustices. She advocated for education for women. She also was reputed to be the best read person in all of New England. She was the only woman allowed to use the Harvard library for her research. Her breakthrough book was “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” considered the first major feminist work in the United States, and she was friends and the intellectual equal of such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne — said to have modeled Hester Prynne after her, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and admired by Edgar Allan Poe.
She died in 1850 at age 40 in a shipwreck off Fire Island, with her Italian count husband — if they ever married — and 2-year-old son, within sight of the shoreline. Her ship, the Elizabeth, ran aground on a sandbar as it was being captained by the first mate. The event was in all the metropolitan newspapers four days after the tragedy, once word could get out after the gale passed that had come sweeping up the East Coast, destroying the ship. Fuller had been sent by her publisher, Horace Greeley of the New-York Daily Tribune, to Europe from which she filed dispatches for four years, first from England and then from the 1848 revolutionary wars raging in Italy. In effect, she was this nation’s first female wartime correspondent.
Fuller’s life was honored with a book, “Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli,” a flattering portrait edited jointly by Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Freeman Clarke and William Henry Channing, all of whom rushed to get it out in print before, they feared, her reputation would die. In fact, it was the best-selling book in the United States until Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Margaret Fuller was a remarkable woman, and I am glad to meet her. How did we happen to meet?
We were introduced by Angela Reich and the Three Village Historical Society. Reich wrote a book called “Shipwreck of Hopes,” about the ship Elizabeth, and although this is fiction, the author spent a great deal of time getting the historic context right. She traveled to Harvard, poured over original letters and manuscripts, and otherwise discovered that there were thousands of shipwrecks off the Fire Island coast. Yes, thousands! This just happened to be one of them, and this one carried a famous passenger.
It is a wonderful thing that we can listen to a writer discuss his or, in this instance, her book and all that went into the writing, dressed in our daytime suburban-casual clothes, enjoying other community members similarly gathered and even a little homemade carrot cake on a given Monday night. In the process we learned some local history and met two worthy women: Margaret Fuller and Angela Reich.
We live in a terrific place where such delights — theater, music, documentaries, political debates and book discussions — frequently happen. All we have to do is get off the sofa after dinner and go to them. It’s often hard but so worth the effort.
Ask the Vet: Brain tumors in cats and dogs
By Matthew Kearns, DVM
Brain tumors in dogs and cats can be quite distressing to pet owners. There is no such thing as a truly benign brain tumor because even a benign tumor left untreated will eventually put pressure on surrounding structures.
The more important question I hear is, “Is there anything that can be done?” The answer to this question is yes. However, what can be done very much depends on the appearance and location of the tumor. The increased availability of advanced imaging (CT and MRI) through referral hospitals improves diagnosis and potential treatment of these tumors.
Symptoms of brain tumors usually depend on the location. Changes in behavior can be common. Signs include neck pain, aggression, lethargy, circling in one direction, head pressing into corners, anisocoria (uneven pupil size), seizures, etc. Any one of these symptoms would be an indicator to bring your dog or cat to the veterinarian.
Diagnosis always includes advanced imaging (CT or MRI). Spinal taps, or evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid, can be helpful in diagnosis in conjunction with advanced imaging. Biopsy is not performed unless the tumor is going to be surgically removed or debulked.
Surgical options: In cats, certain types of tumors such as meningiomas are surgically resectable, or removed, depending on location. In dogs, brain tumors tend to be of a class called glial cell tumors and the tumor’s location prohibits surgical removal. These cases require either chemotherapy or radiation therapy as primary options. The type of chemotherapies available can improve quality of life but can have side effects and the survival times are not as long as radiation therapy. Newer, targeted radiation techniques also decrease damage to surrounding tissues.
Cost: It is expensive. Although I do not have actual numbers I can publish in this article, any of the treatments described above are going to require specialists and specialty hospitals. That does drive up the cost quite a bit. There is also palliative care. If a brain tumor is suspected (or diagnosed) and you do not wish to pursue more aggressive treatment palliative care is available. Palliative care refers to comfort measures only, or hospice. This consists mainly of anti-inflammatories (usually corticosteroids, or cortisone derivatives), other pain medications and antiseizure medication. Palliative care does not require a specialist.
Prognosis or survival time: Generally speaking, a patient will get on average 1 to 3 months on palliative care alone. Other methods such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or combination average 1 to 3 years. Tumor type and location will play the largest role in survival time.
In summary, the ability to diagnose and treat brain tumors in dogs and cats has improved tremendously. Cost of treatment and survival times may prohibit more aggressive treatment in all cases. I hope this helps in making a decision with your veterinarian.
Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine. Have a question for Dr. Kearns? Email it to [email protected] to see his answer in an upcoming column.
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