Note: The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional care. For medical emergencies, dial 911!
Search Results for sievers
Cancer always lurking in shadows for Leroy Sievers
Leroy Sievers has many titles. He's a journalist and a commentator and even a blogger. He's a cancer patient too. And while he accepts cancer patient as one of his working titles, he never would have said this title dominates all others in his life. He is, after all, more than cancer. On his December 4 NPR podcast and My Cancer blog entry, Sievers reports about a host on a radio call-in show who recently asked him if cancer overshadows everything else in his life. "No," he answered, recalling the first time he had cancer. He was treated with surgery and moved on. Cancer didn't overshadow anything. But that cancer was different than the cancer now invading his lungs, spine, and brain. And after a bit of thought, Sievers thinks he may have been too quick with his radio response. This cancer is not a drive-by-disease, he says. It's grabbed him -- and is holding on. It has changed his entire life. He can no longer do everything he once did. And not a day goes by without a reminder of cancer. The treatment, the ...
Journalist Leroy Sievers may just crush cancer
As Leroy Sievers says, "Most of you know me as someone with cancer. Google my name -- and yes, I confess, I've done that -- more often than not, it comes up linked to one other word: cancer. But what about all the other things I've been?" Sievers has been a journalist for most of his adult life. He's also been a baker, a short-order cook, a teacher, and an aspiring author. Yet cancer is the word most often used to describe this man. But maybe not for long. Could it be that Sievers -- a man whose life has been derailed by a deadly cancer traveling throughout his body, a man who has been contemplating death with each passing day -- may soon be rid of cancer altogether? Actually, Sievers already sees glimpses of cancer falling to the wayside. Having undergone a new procedure called Radio Frequency Ablation -- where needles are stuck into tumors, burning them away from the inside out -- Sievers sees a brighter future. He's seen his latest scans. He's seen the black holes where tumors once lived. He's seen that no ...
Journalist Leroy Sievers adjusts to newfound hope
Journalist, commentator, and cancer patient Leroy Sievers -- the guy we've written about before, the guy who has covered many wars and witnessed countless deaths, the guy who is now observing his own death as cancer in his lungs and spine chip away at his life -- has realized that getting good news takes some getting used to. Sievers got some good news recently. He learned that the new combination of chemotherapy drugs he's been receiving has shrunk the tumors in his lungs. And scans show the tumor on his spine is healing. It's taken him days to truly understand this concept -- this concept of hope that has miraculously delivered him more time. He didn't expect it. Sievers fully expected that he would soon be dead. That's why he's been savoring the cold, crisp fall days -- because he was not certain he would ever see such a season. He was sure he would never host another Halloween party either -- a party he canceled this year due to his health. But now, as he takes in this new sensation of hope, he ...
NPR Leroy Sievers journalist blogs My Cancer
"Death and I are hardly strangers. In my career as a journalist, I've covered 14 wars, genocides, natural disasters. I've seen tens of thousands of people die in front of me. Most of those deaths were sudden, brutal, painful, often without dignity." -- Leroy Sievers Leroy Sievers, after a routine colonoscopy four years ago, was diagnosed with colon cancer. After undergoing surgery, he was diagnosed cancer-free. At the time, he referred to himself as a poster child for early detection and treatment. Earlier this year, he began slurring his words and one side of his face began to droop. Tests revealed a brain tumor. Further tests revealed lung tumors. Sievers asked the doctor for the worst-case scenario -- the doctor gave him six months to live. ...
Continue reading NPR Leroy Sievers journalist blogs My Cancer
Cancer's rearing it's ugly head again for Leroy Sievers
In November, we told you about Leroy Sievers and how his sense of hope was restored after the tumors in his lungs shrunk. His cancer went in to hiding for a while, only to re-emerge with a vengence. He's got tumors on his spine and his ribs, plus remnants of the tumors on his lungs to boot. He's been through it all before but he's not taking it well this time, because he finally felt like he was starting to live a normal life again. He's been brought back to reality in a way that people who've never had cancer can't really fathom. To look death in the eye and still carry on is something I can't comprehend but nonetheless, I feel shaken and sorry for what he has to endure, and will say a silent prayer that he can beat this beast once again. ...
Watch tonight "Living With Cancer" on the Discovery Channel
Living With Cancer is an inspirational documentary that will air on the Discovery channel tonight at 8pm EDT. Hosted by Ted Koppel, it chronicles the experiences of Leroy Sievers, an executive producer at Discovery.
In 2002 Sievers was diagnosed with colorectal cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and brain. The program features a discussion with Sievers as he deals with chemotherapy, scans and cutting edge procedures.
Koppel says the program is intended to show that people can and do live successfully with cancer everyday.
Sievers says "Normalcy is the greatest gift anyone can give you, let me continue to be me, not cancer. I am not my disease, I just have a disease. That's all"
Tune in -- I know I will.
...
War journalist now witnessing his own cancer death
Leroy Sievers is a journalist who has spent a long career covering dozens of wars. He is accustomed to seeing other people die. But now, he is witnessing his own death. And on a recent NPR podcast, Sievers talks about how his doctors are trying to kill him by pumping poisonous chemotherapy drugs into his body. They haven't succeeded in killing him yet -- but they haven't cured him of cancer yet either. Blogger Dalene Entenmann wrote about Sievers on July 3, 2006, pointing readers in the direction of his NPR blog My Cancer. Since her posting, Sievers has continued to reflect on his battle and on October 3, he shared an essay about chemotherapy -- the same essay he reads on the NPR poscast. He tells readers and listeners that nowadays he reports for chemotherapy every three weeks and sits for five or six hours while drugs sail through his veins. The drugs just keep coming -- and a vacation from this drug treatment is nowhere in sight. It's become a way of life for a man who is simply buying time. It is a ...
Tech Talk blogger recommends top cancer sites
Daniel Sieberg, science and technology correspondent for CBS News and blogger for Tech Talk recently went searching for online sites offering help and hope for those seeking insight into the world of cancer. Sieberg went about his search by typing into Google the word cancer. Thrown back at him were more than 250 million results. Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and misinformation, Sieberg sifted and sorted through everything that faced him -- and he narrowed down the results to his favorite five. Sieberg is right on with his picks, and while I personally would have included The Cancer Blog as a source loaded with accurate, reliable, and inspiring information, I still commend Sieberg for so effectively hunting down some very good cancer resources. For what it's worth, I happen to highly recommend them myself. American Cancer Society National Cancer Institute WebMD M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Leroy Sievers Blog ...
Ann Romney's insensitive remarks
The latest edition of People Magazine has an interview with Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's wife Ann. While she writes about being diagnosed with MS, she remarks, ' I thought, 'Couldn't I just have cancer and die?' Her remarks are raising some eyebrows among cancer specialists and survivors, including Leroy Sievers, who writes this powerful response, and I can see why. Since when did cancer become a quick way to die? Cancer is something the goes on for years, that slowly destroys your body and chips away at your spirit piece by piece. During my dad's time with cancer, he was depressed, constantly ill and in pain and unable to eat more than a bit of soup every day. He needed major amounts of pain medication just to get through the day. He tried to enjoy his last few months with his family but he couldn't because he was too sick to do anything. And while I'm sure MS isn't a walk in the park either, does that sound like a more desirable illness? Hardly. What are your thoughts on this? ...
