Your normal temperature is around 98.6ºF (37ºC). When your body gets hotter than this temperature, the hypothalamus (a part of your brain) tells your body to lower that temperature and tells your sweat glands to perspire. Sweat is primarily water but does contain small amounts of salt, ammonia, urea and sugars. Released through pores all over you body,...
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“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.” ~ Shakespeare “Eyes that do not cry, do not see.” ~Proverb Great poetry has been written about the eyes. Yet do you know much about them? Let’s follow light as it goes into your eye, take a look at the inside of your eyes and learn some facts you probably didn’t...
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Marathons are grueling 26.2 mile treks. The Boston Marathon is the oldest (started in 1897) and is one of the Marathon Majors (along with London, New York, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago). Marathon Man Raising Money For LLS In 2001, at age 48, family practitioner, Larry Saltzman ran his first marathon in Chicago. That started a 13 marathon odyssey to...
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This summer has been a challenge after a family member with celiac disease had a gluten exposure (Click here to read more about celiac disease). Gluten damages the small intestine villi (see 5 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Small Intestines), which are essential for nutrition absorption. For over a month, gastrointestinal pain, vomiting...
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Here’s dinner! Open your mouth and say, “Yum!” Digestion starts in your mouth. Teeth, tongue and salivary glands are instrumental in the first step in digestion: tearing food into smaller pieces and providing moisture to move those pieces down the esophagus. But what happens next? Let’s find out. Digestion: The Big Picture Think...
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Last summer we provided a series of posts on oncology basics. Oncology Basics: Preparing for ASCO covered some of the history of oncology. In Understanding Cells, we reviewed what is newly understood about cells–it’s way beyond what you learned in high school biology. DNA with lots of animated videos also explained some of the basics...
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Asking for help has been really bothering me lately… Before writing this post, I read a lot about the topic. It seems that the experts agree that it is a strength to ask for help. They actively promote asking for help. But that just felt wrong to me. I’d been advocating for months for a loved one and getting absolutely nowhere. Maybe it was...
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By Stephanie Zimmerman, RN, MSN Dear Healthcare Providers, Although professionally, I am a former pediatric oncology nurse practitioner, I write this letter as an individual who lives with the long-lasting impact of late effects stemming from the successful treatment of Ewing’s Sarcoma as a child in the late 1970’s. I write because I am fortunate to be...
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In April, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) held a free education event on cancer called Progress and Promise Against Cancer in Washington, D.C. Surrounded by experts in cancer research, Kim Hall Jackson shared her patient story. One evening in 2008, Jackson, an event planner, was running the mayor’s inaugural event in...
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Blood, your own private sea, moves through your body because of your powerful, pumping heart. Through blood, every cell in your body communicates with one another. What do you know about this special fluid? Your blood is not just fluid. There are four components to your blood: plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The liquid...
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“I am 24 years old. Last year on January 15th 2016, I was diagnosed with Stage 2A Classical Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had 12 cycles of ABVD chemotherapy over 6 months and went into complete remission on August 8th, 2016. A few weeks before my wedding, on November 4th 2016 I had my first follow up CT scan which showed enlarged...
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“Family and friends can be great sources of support but truth be told, no one can ever really know what you are going through other than those who have been there themselves….” ~Rachele Chaar Ghosn For Rachele Chaar Ghosn, a 24-year-old woman with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, finding others going through treatment for Hodgkins was paramount....
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