Perspectives from those who live it every day.
Coming up later this month is the 3rd annual Semi-Colon Crawl - a 5K walk here in the Baltimore area to spread the word about colon cancer. It's the brainchild of Edel Blumberg, who was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 47. Despite undergoing surgery and chemotherapy, the disease returned three years later. After another(...)
Sep 9, 2011 1 comment
Everyone has their own reason. For some, they feel grateful for how far they have come or to remember those they have lost. For others, they want to inspire hope and galvanize progress toward ending this disease. Others may want to participate in the event as a way to fight back at a disease that(...)
Aug 30, 2011 1 comment
There's something about exercising that helps cancer survivors take back some control of their bodies. Kevin Stenstrom was a marathon runner and a Naval Flight Officer who, during a routine physical, was diagnosed with melanoma. After several surgeries and months of cancer therapy, Kevin founded team Miles 4 Melanoma, a program that provides runners with(...)
Aug 12, 2011 No comments
This web page was part of a research study to assess the effectiveness of online support, nurse practitioner Marian Grant, who answered questions on symptoms, treatments and support for pancreatic cancer patients. This page is now closed to questions/comments, but for a list of previously answered questions by Marian Grant, go to the comments section(...)
Aug 3, 2011
My fellow team member Julie Thomas raised $13,760 this year alone, in her eleventh Avon Walk. Julie’s been raising money for breast cancer for almost 20 years now, ever since losing a close friend to the disease. She approaches the task with gusto, maintaining a donor list of 200 names, including family, friends, colleagues, and(...)
Aug 2, 2011 1 comment
As oncologists, we encourage our patients to seek support wherever they can find it - family, friends, religious organizations, community groups... In the last decade or so, thanks to people like Amy Ohm, opportunities for support have begun to emerge on the Web. Several years ago, after Amy was diagnosed with melanoma, she looked online(...)
Jul 8, 2011 No comments
It’s not every day that you commit to walking 40 miles in the heat and rain, but on April 30 of this year, I walked in my second D.C. Avon Walk for Breast Cancer as part of the Johns Hopkins Breast Center Team. This quite a contrast from my humbling beginning 19 years ago with(...)
Jul 6, 2011 No comments
Have you ever considered joining a walk/run/swim or other athletic event to benefit a cause that has special meaning to you? I never thought that participating in my first event would become even more personal, and I didn’t anticipate that the bonds I formed would help me deal with my own issues. This is the(...)
Jun 22, 2011 No comments
What does it mean to have hope, to be hopeful? Each of us have our own very personal ways we might answer such a big question. But, what if you were a child with a cancer or a parent with a child who had cancer? What if you asked that question of a nurse or(...)
Jun 14, 2011 1 comment
As an oncologist, my patients frequently talk to me about the ways they "give back." Frank Potepan fought lymphoma in the 1990s, and for the last several years has been involved in developing a local hospice program. For Frank and his wife, Ellen, it's a chance to show their gratitude and a rewarding and meaningful(...)
Jun 10, 2011 No comments