Called the “Emperor of All Maladies.” there’s little doubt that a cancer diagnosis throws life completely out of control. Unfortunately, this chaos creates vulnerabilities that can and have been exploited. It is tempting to believe the idea that if you control your thoughts and make them positive, you can control cancer. However...
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What’s Wrong With Me? “The therapist thought a ‘nose job’ would improve my self-esteem,” Amanda Greene remembers. He could never have guessed that the suggestion of surgery would finally result in a diagnosis of the cluster of strange symptoms that she was experiencing. At 15, Amanda bruised easily and was constantly tired. “After school,...
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When Karen Jagoda asked Tal Givoly to explain Medivizor to the audience of “The Empowered Patient” radio program and podcast, accepting was a no-brainer. He told her, “I love the name of your program…as you will see…that is what we [at Medivizor] are trying to create.” Listen and learn more. Here’s the...
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The world is flat guys, Twitter is awesome! #doctors20 — Ángel González (@angel189) February 2, 2015 Worldwide Conversation Only on Twitter can people around the world chat with each other in real-time about an issue that impacts so many. Monday February 2nd, a group of 114 people from places as different as South Africa, Belgium, Australia,...
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The Cancer Research Institute has created an infographic to explain cancer immunotherapy. Cancer immunotherapy is an incredible resource to treat cancer. Essentially, the immune system is activated and its ability to remove specific cancer cells is re-enabled. The infographic below explains the components of the immune system that are...
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Thinking about Blood Blood carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells and waste products from the cells. Blood vessels—capillaries, arteries, veins—carry that blood throughout the body. Obviously blood vessels are important to life. The tissues in our body produce compounds that enhance the growth of blood vessels and that stop the growth of blood...
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Cost Medical care for cancer is costly. In addition, there is the financial burden that patients and families face in getting to and from the best care–which may be located at medical centers far from home. The situation can seem overwhelming. Corporate Angel Network Into this dilemma, little known resources have arisen to meet this challenge. One of...
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Over the years spent tweeting together, the #BCSM (Breast Cancer Social Media) tweetchat community has asked some tough questions. #BCSM is a community on Twitter that meets every Monday night at 9pm ET. On November 18th, they continued their annual “holiday survival guide” or holidays and chronic illness. How To Celebrate With a chronic...
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One of the most eloquent books about life, love and understanding is called A River Runs Through It. Written in 1976 it starts, “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly-fishing…” and takes you on a journey through the natural beauty that is the Black River in Montana where fly-fishing is art and...
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Being a Spoonie You may not know it but if you are a patient with a chronic illness, you may be a spoonie. In 2010 Christine Miserandino wrote a post called The Spoon Theory. In the post, Christine describes explaining to her best friend what it really feels like to live with Lupus. She asks her friend to hold 12 spoons and tells her that the spoons are...
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Why does nature repeat the same forms over and over again? This is a question that has driven Dr. Mina Bissell‘s cancer research. In a 2012 TED talk, Dr. Bissell spent 17 minutes summarizing decades of research–asking and answering unique questions that are toppling and evolving our understanding of cancer. Developmental Genetics Her talk...
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“Based on our 20 years’ experience working with families with cancer-predisposing mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, it is time to offer genetic screening of these genes to every woman, at about age 30, in the course of routine medical care.” A recommendation to screen all women, around age 30, for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations? “many women with...
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