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Cancer Matters

Perspectives from those who live it every day.





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.

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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.

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CT Scans Reduce Lung Cancer Deaths by 20 Percent

Starting in 2002, more than 50,000 current and former smokers aged 55 to 74 signed up for the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) at Johns Hopkins and more than 30 other sites across the nation.  The trial was to last 10 years, but eight years into the study, leaders of the trial found their results thus far were significant enough to stop the trial and announce their findings.

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Completion of Treatment — Time to Celebrate?

This post is written by Lillie Shockney, the Administrative Director of the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center and a two-time breast cancer survivor.

Completing Treatment - Time to Celebrate?

You'd think so. You've been through surgery, perhaps chemo and radiation, maybe on or completing hormonal therapy and you are finally "done" breast cancer treatment. So ready for a party?  Most will say no. Why? Though most of you (and me) are thrilled to be done treatment, the idea of celebrating sounds some how risky. I spoke to a woman today who had just finished her treatment. She said, "I'd love to have a party but don't want to jinx myself-you know, the cancer might come back. "  And thus the fear of recurrence, whether it be local recurrence (back in the breast or chest area where it started) or distant recurrence (in the form of metastatic disease with breast cancer springing up in another organ) paralyzes women from feeling comfortable with celebrating this mammoth job they have completed-- overcoming breast cancer.Read More »Completion of Treatment — Time to Celebrate?

Let’s Beat Pancreatic Cancer Together

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The following blog post was submitted and written by representatives at the Lustgarten Foundation.  Johns Hopkins and the Sanger Institute published two papers in the journal Nature describing how pancreatic cancer develops far more slowly than once thought.  Major media outlets covering the news included The New York Times, Bloomberg News, Reuters, CBS News, Science News, WebMD and Health Day.  Read the Johns Hopkins' news release for more information.

The Lustgarten Foundation, the nation’s largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research, applauds the work of cooperating investigators at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the Sanger Institute on their groundbreaking research in the area of pancreatic cancer. The studies, which were reported online Wednesday, October 27, in Nature, affirm early detection and screening as promising areas of investigation that hold significant potential for saving lives.

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Finding the Spark Again After Cancer

Elissa Bantug
Elissa Bantug

One of the most common complaints I hear from cancer survivors is a change in their sex life.  Within days after returning home from my mastectomy, I attempted to be intimate with my husband even though I had yet to regain the ability to dress or shower myself with medical drains still attached. I thought this would be good idea but my husband briskly pushed me away.  This was yet another blow to my already very fragile state.

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Give Cancer a Red Card

The final score was 3-0 last night at my son's soccer game -- his team won, but not because they have a single star that makes all the goals; rather, they worked together to make a collective effort in winning the game.

The soccer community is now rallying their global fans and participants in a match against the world's biggest killer -- cancer.  That's what it takes to beat this disease - many people working together to make an impact on a very complicated and tough adversary.  Every bit counts, because when we add up each of our individual efforts, we can make a greater impact.

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Putting Cancer in Its Place

Elissa Bantug
Elissa Bantug

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

Elissa Bantug
Elissa Bantug

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