History

Andrei Makovik was a software designer and computer programmer from Minsk, Belarus. He moved to Ann Arbor with his family in 1994, and was employed in the Information Technology department at Cayman. In November 2004, when he was 37, it was discovered that he had a large, invasive tumor of the nasal sinuses eroding upward through the cribriform plate. He underwent a subcranial resection of undifferentiated high-grade cancer of the right nasal cavity and anterior cranial fossa in January 2005. He subsequently underwent chemotherapy with Cisplatin (40 mg/m², 6 weekly sessions) and radiation therapy (24 5-days-a-week sessions). He was symptomatically and radiographically free of disease until October of 2005, when several foci of recurrent tumor where found on MRI, mainly growing in the dura.

A biopsy of one tumor from the right parietal dura was obtained by craniotomy on November 9, 2005. The 2.5 × 3 cm specimen was divided into 18 samples and distributed between University of Michigan Pathology, Cayman Biochemistry, and the National Cancer Institute. An intensive study of this biopsy specimen is the objective of the SNUCK-Works Team. For information on our progress, see Science.

Following his relapse, Andrei received additional whole-head radiation therapy up to the therapeutic maximum dosage. He was further treated with oral thalidomide combination chemotherapy, and continued to be active and feel reasonably well until March 2006, when MRI scans showed continued slow expansion of the brain metastases. All treatment was discontinued, and his functional status deteriorated rapidly soon therafter. Andrei died of respiratory arrest on May 11, 2006.

Makovik Family#

Andrei is survived by his wife Marina, and two children. Their oldest daughter is planning on attending Eastern Michigan University after graduation from high school. She wants to be a middle school math teacher. Andrei’s son is 2 and a half. He likes playing with construction toys, reading books, and watching Russian cartoons. The Makovics are parishioners of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Church, where Andrei volunteered as web-master.

Go to top   Edit this page   More info...   Attach file...

This page last changed on 19-Aug-2006 08:44 by snucnet.