“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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“I’m barely 27 and if it were not for immunotherapy and cancer research, I would not have seen 25.” So starts Stefanie Joho speech at a 2017 Congressional Hearing called “Progress in Immunotherapy: Delivering Hope and Clinical Benefit to Cancer Patients.” When Stefanie was 22, she was diagnosed with a very aggressive Stage II...
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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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Hearing this refrain, “I’m fine, I’m fine, really, I’m fine” at the end of a telephone line from a dear family member who had cancer nearly drove me crazy. I knew that she wasn’t fine. Reflecting back, I realize that I may have been asking the wrong question or saying the wrong things. It is tough to know what to say...
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Though this title might seem flippant, there is evidence that Vitamin D supplements may help you get fewer pesky colds and flu. In a recent article published in The BMJ, researchers conducted a meta-analysis on randomized control trials. Backing up, to do a meta-analysis, researchers find already published articles that fit a specific criteria, in this...
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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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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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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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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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