Before becoming a heart recipient, Stephanie Zimmerman, RN, MSN was a nurse practitioner caring for pediatric cancer patients. Susceptibility to infections and rejection of the donated organ are two of the many side effects of undergoing a transplant. Stephanie shares her experiences on her blog: Living the Cure. Guest post by Stephanie Zimmerman,...
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“Always trust your gut. Don’t leave your treatment in the hands of someone that you don’t trust or that does not seem like a team player. Yes, they are all smart—even brilliant—but read, read, read, and question them at every corner and challenge the standard of care. Exercise, healthy eating, learning the ropes of insurance, mediation/prayer...
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Stephanie Zimmerman has been featured in two previous posts. In a June 2016 post called, “After Cancer Treatment: Living Out the Cure,” Stephanie shared her experiences as a survivor of childhood cancer, specifically her experience of long-term side effects of cancer treatment. In a subsequent post, Stephanie @KindredBelle shared her advice...
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Since 2001 when the Institutes of Medicine published a report called Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, patient-centered care has been promoted as the way to improve the quality of healthcare in the US. Responses to the IOM report include NCI’s published Patient-Centered Communication In Cancer Care in 2007 and...
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While writing “Not My Problem” Healthcare: Cultural and Societal Ethics, many questions about healthcare and the experiences of patients and caregivers who advocate arose. Like.. Why are derisive adjectives, (like “difficult” and “demanding”) used to label patients and caregivers who ask hard questions? Why is shunning of...
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Colon Cancer and Prom Night During junior high, Danielle Ripley-Burgess saw blood on the toilet paper when she went to the bathroom. She asked her mother about it, looked it up on the Internet and decided it wasn’t anything serious. But it kept happening and got worse. “The blood in my stool…sadly, bec[a]me something normal.”…”By...
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Cancer Research and Money Funding has been stagnant for years– that’s what the fact sheet of the National Cancer Institute says. This is the federal agency charged with finding a cure for cancer through research. The $4.9 billion per year is spread across a spectrum of cancer investigations, each cancer getting a designated amount. What if this...
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Growing up, Colleen Bronstein spent all summer at her family’s summer home at the beach and when she married they had a pool and visited the beach house twice a year. Fair skinned, freckled and Irish she loved the outdoors. Knowing the Signs “I had an itchy spot on my back for a year or so and when I went to see my family doctor about something...
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