Seize the Days
As an oncologist, I am privileged to care for people who are fighting cancer. I'm also fortunate to see the interesting and meaningful ways my patients bring joy and satisfaction into… Read More »Seize the Days
Patient Stories
Sarcoma, A Glimpse at a Rare Cancer
Ben is a fun-loving 13 year-old who enjoys skateboarding and playing the drums. In January of 2006, Ben was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare… Read More »Sarcoma, A Glimpse at a Rare Cancer
Getting Personal About Personalized Cancer Medicine
I got into this business 25 years ago, when my husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. I was a newlywed, and at 22-years-old, I faced the prospect of being a widow. The evening we learned the shocking news, I remember leaving the hospital to return home. I was numb with fear. I went into our bedroom and picked up the T-shirt he had casually dropped on the bed before we left for what we believed would be a brief doctor’s visit. I didn’t expect to be returning to our home alone. I pressed the shirt to my face and breathed in his scent and sobbed uncontrollably.
Read More »Getting Personal About Personalized Cancer Medicine
Know Thy Pathologist
When you are facing potentially life-changing treatment or surgery for cancer, you may want to have several opinions from the best surgeons, the most experienced oncologists, and top experts in radiation therapy, right? Well, there's another expert whose double-checking may be worth your while -- the pathologist.
Cancer Caregiving
--The following blog post is Part 2 of a blog series written by Brenda Boitson, a 26 year-old widow, writer, and speaker who resides in Lancaster, Pennyslvania. Her husband, Kevin, lost his battle to angiosarcoma at the age of 36 on October 28, 2008. Brenda detailed their journey through his disease at http://www.theboitsons.info and now continues to blog about widowhood at http://www.crazywidow.info. She advocates locally for sarcoma and grief awareness while working full time and attending school for business. Read Part 1, posted last week.
My husband became ill in June 2008 and within just two months he went from having a sore throat, to being on life support and having an emergency esophagectomy at Johns Hopkins. Our life drastically changed, and that change included a sudden move from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Baltimore, Md. While Kevin was in full care of the Hopkins staff, I could not bring myself to leave his side.
Remembering Kevin Boitson
The following blog post was submitted by Brenda Boitson, a 26 year-old widow, writer, and speaker who resides in Lancaster, Pennyslvania. Her husband, Kevin, lost his battle to angiosarcoma at the age of 36 on October 28, 2008. Brenda detailed their journey through his disease at http://www.theboitsons.info and now continues to blog about widowhood at http://www.crazywidow.info. She advocates locally for sarcoma and grief awareness while working full time and attending school for business.
When I first walked through the doors of Johns Hopkins Hospital, one late night in August 2008, I was uncertain, fearful, and worried beyond belief. My husband of 1.5 years had arrived just a few minutes before me via emergency ambulance transport. He was breathing only thanks to life support, and we still had no answers on the undiagnosed cancerous tumor that was growing in his chest.
Putting Cancer in Its Place
In a conversation with a patient recently, she said to me, “I am a mother and a wife, but when I think of what describes me most, it is that I am a cancer survivor. Having had cancer is the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning, the last thing I think about before going to bed, and is something that I am reminded of all throughout my day.”Read More »Putting Cancer in Its Place
Cancer Survivorship
Defining when a patient becomes a cancer “survivor” seems to vary depending on whom you ask. Some people say that this term can be applied after a patient has shown no evidence of disease for five years; others assert that survivor is a status achieved following the patient’s completion of all recommended treatments and surgeries. The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) states: “An individual is considered a cancer survivor from the time of diagnosis, through the balance of his or her life. Family members, friends, and caregivers are also impacted by the survivorship experience and are therefore included in this definition.” Read More »Cancer Survivorship
- « Previous
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5