Cancer treatments, like surgery, can be painful. Tumors can press on bones, nerves or organs as they grow, causing pain. Although cancer pain can't be eliminated, it can be controlled.

The more specific you are about your pain, the more your doctor can treat it. Make sure to include information about when your pain started, what it feels like and how long it lasts. Note changes in your pain, and if it is constant or if it comes and goes. Always let your doctor know what you do to relieve the pain and how well it works. Ranking your pain on a scale makes it easier for your doctor to understand.

Always remember that there are several things you can do at home to reduce your cancer pain. Home treatments to manage pain include:

• Over-the-counter medications
• Heat or cold therapy to relieve painful areas of the body
• Stretching, yoga, and exercises to help maintain strength, flexibility, and mobility
• Behavioral treatments, such as relaxation, biofeedback, meditation, or guided imagery.
• Healing touch and massage.
• Complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, prayer, and humor therapy.

Breland underwent chemotherapy over the summer for Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. Ryan overcame pancreatic cancer in 2000.

Check out AOL Health for more information on cancer prevention.

Cancer patients often have a hard time coping with hair loss. Remember, not all chemotherapy medicines cause hair loss, and doctors can tell you what to expect.

Although hair loss doesn't occur right away -- and hair grows back after treatment -- losing one's hair can be an emotional experience, especially because hair loss occurs on all parts of the body -- facial hair, arm and leg hair, underarm hair and pubic hair.

During chemotherapy, hair and scalp need special care.

• Use a mild shampoo and a soft hair brush.
• Try to air-dry your hair.
• Wear a short hair cut, which will make hair look thicker and fuller.
• Sleep on a satin pillowcase.
• Do not use rollers, dye hair or get a perm.
• Use a sunscreen, sunblock, hat, scarf or wig to protect the scalp from the sun.

Some feel more comfortable leaving their heads uncovered. Others like to wear scarves, turbans or wigs.

If you choose to wear a wig or hairpiece:

• Shop before losing hair to match color, texture and style.
• Try borrowing first. The local American Cancer Society can help
• Remember that a hairpiece needed because of cancer treatment is a tax-deductible expense and may be covered by health insurance. Check the policy, and ask for a prescription for a "hair prosthesis."

He was an international superstar and sex symbol who sang about the joy and sorrow of love in songs like "Close the Door," "It Don't Hurt Now," "Love T.K.O." and other hits.

Born in Philadelphia in 1950, Pendergrass's career was marked by a dramatic style change after he suffered a 1982 spinal cord injury. The car accident that left Pendergrass paralyzed from the waist down also took away some of his singing power.

Instead of becoming bitter, Pendergrass created a new identity as a role model by starting the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance to benefit others with spinal cord injuries.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the West End musical impresario best-known for writing the score to the Phantom of the Opera, was given the "all clear" after being diagnosed with prostate cancer last year.

The disease was first diagnosed in its very early stages after the composer complained of a weak bladder. An existent E. coli infection made the pain more severe than normal. In November, Webber had his prostate gland removed at a London clinic.

"If that infection had been found and cured, I could have been blissfully unaware that I had a cancerous tumor that was on the verge of breaking loose around the rest of my body," Webber told the Daily Mail. "I could have thought my frequent trips to the bathroom were due to a weak bladder. I have been bloody lucky."

Since his diagnosis, Webber has encouraged all men to get regular prostate exams -- regardless of how embarrassing it might be.

Risk factors for prostate cancer include age, medical history, race/ethnicity and height. Men who are 65 or older are most likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Men whose fathers and brothers have had prostate cancer are twice as likely to be diagnosed as those whose relatives are cancer-free. African American men and taller men are also more likely to develop this cancer.

Check out AOL Health for more information on prostate cancer screening and reducing your prostate cancer risks.

Kline, who decided to raise money for pediatric cancer research after meeting a 15-year-old cancer patient several years ago, began his 13-day, 481-mile trek on Dec. 20. He'll complete his run from the Dallas' Cotton Bowl Stadium to the Texas Children's Cancer Center in Houston on Friday. Along the way, he has stopped in Austin and San Antonio.

Why did Kline choose such a huge undertaking during the holidays? It wasn't to key in on others' generosity. Instead, he wanted to sacrifice the holiday hoopla for a painful, sometimes mind-numbing routine.

After all, he told The Houston Chronicle, the repetition would be much easier to endure than the cycle of chemo cocktails, radiation treatments, surgeries and waiting for test results (and good news!) that the kids he's raising money for face daily.

Kline has dedicated each challenging day to a different child who has died. The last day, he says, are in honor of the children who have beat cancer or are fighting for their lives. Current patients, their friends and other supporters will run the last block and up the steps of Texas Children's Cancer Center together.

Check out AOL Health to learn about late effects of childhood cancer.

Teresa Heinz, wife of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), announced last week that she has been fighting breast cancer for several months.

The cancer was discovered in September during Heinz's annual mammogram. In early October she underwent lumpectomies, surgical procedures to remove the tumors, on both breasts. In November, she had another pair of lumpectomies performed at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She will undergo radiation next month.

Heinz has been an advocate for breast-cancer issues and early detection in the past. On Dec. 24, she penned an editorial for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that encouraged women to get their mammograms to detect cancer early. Heinz discovered her cancer while it was still in Stage 1.

The opinion piece was a reaction to the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations that women start receiving biennial mammograms at age 50.

Previous recommendations encouraged women who were 40-years old or older to get mammograms every 1-2 years. They also stated that women with a family history of breast cancer or who have had breast cancer or other breast problems should get mammograms at a younger age.

Check out AOL Health's Breast Cancer Center to learn more about risk factors, screenings, diagnosis and treatments.