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Posts with tag Chemotherapy
Posted Sep 5th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Cancer Survivors, Today, I Am Grateful
The following post is one of a series of posts appearing Monday through Friday on The Cancer Blog. This feature -- Today, I am grateful -- allows me to share with readers my appreciation for all the treasures in my life, both big and small. In my post-cancer world, I find It healing for my soul to be mindful of the good in my life. It is my pleasure to share my gratitude with you.
Losing my hair was one of my most traumatic cancer experiences. When first told I needed chemotherapy, I didn't fret about the poisons that would circulate throughout my body, or the nausea that might strike me. What I feared most was losing my hair. It seems silly now. I mean, hair is just hair. If I could trade my hair right now for a guarantee that cancer would never return, I'd do it. But three years ago, when cancer was new and my self-image was faltering, I couldn't stand the thought of losing it.
I did OK once my hair was gone. I found great human-hair wigs and I learned to enjoy my shower-and-go morning routine. I could get ready in an instant. It was all kind of liberating really. Now, don't get me wrong. I was glad when my hair came back. And every day when I look in the mirror, I am comforted by the fact that long dark hair now covers my head. Yes, hair is just hair. But there's just something about it that makes me feel well, happy.
Today, I am grateful for my hair.Posted Sep 4th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Cancer Survivors, Today, I Am Grateful
The following post is one of a series of posts appearing Monday through Friday on The Cancer Blog. This feature -- Today, I am grateful -- allows me to share with readers my appreciation for all the treasures in my life, both big and small. In my post-cancer world, I find It healing for my soul to be mindful of the good in my life. It is my pleasure to share my gratitude with you.
When I think about how much my mom rescued me during my breast cancer treatment, I always land at the fact that she watched my little boys for 35 days in a row while I transported myself to and from radiation therapy. That wasn't all she did -- she also accompanied me to surgery, sat with me during chemotherapy treatments, parked herself by my bedside when I was hospitalized, dried my tears, fed me, hugged me, encouraged me, and loved me.
My mom helped me survive cancer. She is my hero.
Today, I am grateful for my mom.Posted Aug 30th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Cancer Survivors, Today, I Am Grateful
The following post is one of a series of posts appearing Monday through Friday on The Cancer Blog. This feature -- Today, I am grateful -- allows me to share with readers my appreciation for all the treasures in my life, both big and small. In my post-cancer world, I find It healing for my soul to be mindful of the good in my life. It is my pleasure to share my gratitude with you.
The night before my lumpectomy, way back in December 2005, I was consumed with fear, worry, and panic. Since I'd found it, the lump in my left breast had been sitting untouched for nearly two weeks. I imagined the mass spreading with each day and believed I could detect its growth each time I felt for it. A doctor told me if it was growing like I thought it was, my tiny pea-sized tumor would be the size of an apple within days.
My fears were unfounded and irrational. I know that now. But during the moments of uncertainty that filled my days between diagnosis and prognosis, I had no direction. I had only my wandering mind for company. The waiting really is the hardest part. Once faced with the specifics of our diseases, we can take action.
Continue reading Today, I am grateful
Posted Aug 26th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Cancer Survivors
Walking into my cancer center waiting room is one of my most sobering experiences. I enter this room -- jam-packed full of men, women, and children -- every three months for a breast cancer follow-up. It never gets easier. It always startles me, stirs my emotions, makes me realize how so many people are touched by such a treacherous and all-consuming disease. The fact that I sit in this room, that I am one of these many people, still doesn't seem real.
It's been almost three years since I got a phone call from a surgeon declaring, "You have cancer." I didn't believe it then. Even after all I've been through -- surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and more -- I hardly believe it now. But it's real. I have scars and new hair and a whole new set of worries to prove it.
Walking into that waiting room proves it's real. There's nothing like it. There's also nothing like walking out, with a clean bill of health and the promise of three more months.
Posted Aug 21st 2007 2:20PM by Kristina Collins
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Chemotherapy, Services, Cancer Survivors
When: Tuesday, August 21, 2007, 7 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. Pacific)
Where: On the Internet
How will chemotherapy change my body? What are the survival rates for my type of cancer? How often should I get tests done?
A new cancer diagnosis can mean countless new questions.
Bring your worried mind to a informative show on the five steps you can take to deal with a new cancer diagnosis. The
Young Survival Coaltion will help you think through decisions about everything from protecting your fertility to getting a second opinion and paying for treatment. You'll learn day-to-day coping techniques, become more aware of the resources available to you and feel more confident as you become a more aware and more empowered patient.
The guest experts will answers questions from the audience.
Posted Aug 21st 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Colon and Rectal Cancer, Politics, Daily news
White House press secretary Tony Snow says his resignation has nothing to do with cancer and everything to do with money. According to sources from the Bush administration, he will step down from his position. Snow, however, is not making an announcement at this time.
Snow did tell conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt that financial reasons prevent him from serving the remainder of the Bush administration.
"I'm not going to be able to go the distance, but that's primarily for financial reasons." Snow said. "I've told people when my money runs out, then I've got to go."
Continue reading White House Press Secretary Tony Snow announces resignation
Posted Aug 20th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Chemotherapy, Colon and Rectal Cancer, Politics
"Blessings arrive in unexpected packages -- in my case, cancer," writes White House Press Secretary Tony Snow in the July issue of
Christianity Today.
Snow, who discovered in March that his colon cancer had recurred and spread to his liver, said his life-threatening setback is also life-affirming. It has strengthened his faith and brought clarity to his life.
"We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator," says the 51-year-old.
Continue reading Cancer a blessing for White House's Tony Snow
Posted Aug 15th 2007 8:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Skin Cancer, Cancer by the Numbers
My sister has skin cancer -- the basal cell variety. She has two spots, both on her chest, each one scheduled to be surgically removed in a few weeks. If it were me with this new diagnosis, I'm sure I'd be freaking out, maybe because I've already had breast cancer and tend to panic about any cancer or maybe just because I'm a worrier by nature. But my sister is taking her cancer news in stride, and I am too -- because now that I've done a little research, it seems this type of cancer is pretty easy to beat.
Here's a little refresher lesson on the skin: The skin is the largest organ in the body, and is made of three layers -- the epidermis (top layer), dermis (middle layer), and subcutis (deepest layer). For the purpose of this post, let's focus on the epidermis.
The epidermis has three layers -- an upper, middle, and a bottom layer. This bottom layer is comprised of basal cells. This is where basal cell cancer begins.
Continue reading Cancer By The Numbers: Basal Cell Carcinoma
Posted Aug 13th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Chemotherapy, Pancreatic Cancer, Celebrity news
Italian opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti, hospitalized on Wednesday with a fever, is doing better and should be discharged within the next few days, according to his wife, Nicoletta Mantovani.
The 71-year-old tenor underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer one year ago and has since endured at least five rounds of chemotherapy. Although not confirmed, some sources say Pavarotti has pneumonia.
Posted Aug 10th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Blogs, Cancer Survivors
"Our life is a series of images," writes
Biko Mabilog on her blog canvas and manuscript. "They pass us by like towns on the highway. Sometimes, a moment stuns us as it happens. And we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image. We know that this moment will live on forever."
Biko's stunning moment came when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This moment may live on forever, but this courageous woman is handling it with such grace as she documents her journey for all to read. Plentiful with poignant words and powerful pictures, Biko's blog makes it clear she cherishes her life, her family, her every experience.
Finished with chemotherapy and in the throes of radiation, Biko writes, "I am enjoying the mundane things in life and savoring the moments I have with family and friends. Being able to choose my priorities, my commitments, my concerns makes me feel happier, healthier, more in charge of my life. It's good for my health, it is good for my soul."
Continue reading Cancer survivor blogs life as a canvas
Posted Aug 8th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Chemotherapy, Cancer Survivors
My hair is changing -- again. It started out perfectly straight, blond, and shoulder length. Then it came tumbling out, thanks to the chemotherapy drugs adriamycin and cytoxan. Four months later, it was back -- curly, dark, and way too short for my liking.
Over the past two years, I've grown to enjoy my hair. The longer it gets, the less curl it keeps. I like it this way. The color has grown on me too. When I look back at photos of my lighter locks, I think dark suits me better. Why do I get the feeling, though, that my hair won't be dark for long?
I still think of my hair as dark, I guess because it was once so very blond and it is so very not blond at the moment -- in my opinion anyway.
Continue reading Shades of cancer
Posted Jul 27th 2007 4:31PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Lung Cancer
Patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer who receive an high dose of chemotherapy initially, before their treatment begins, can expect an increase in overall survival, according to a new
study out of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and published in the July issue of the
International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.
When patients with NSCLC are not eligible for surgery, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation is suggested. NSCLC is the most common form of lung cancer in the U.S.
Patients who received this initial treatment, or induction therapy, saw an increase in overall survival of six months. The rates for distant metastasis-free survival were also better for the group that received the induction therapy, with a success rate of 42 percent versus 23 percent in the group that only received the chemoradiation therapy.
Posted Jul 25th 2007 11:42AM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Brain Cancer, Childhood Cancers, Chemotherapy, Radiation
A recently-published
study has found that a significant proportion of children under the age of three with the brain tumor ependymoma can skip or delay radiotherapy by using chemotherapy without lowering their chances of survival.
This research has taken 12 years to complete and were released in
Lancet Oncology in July 2007 by the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group at The University of Nottingham in the UK
Radiotherapy can be harmful to a young child's brain, affecting IQ, short term memory, growth and puberty.
According to experts, the survival rate for children with ependymoma is increasing, but still unacceptably low.
Posted Jul 22nd 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Celebrity news
We know her best as the spunky headband-wearing contestant on
Survivor: The Australian Outback and most recently as the vivacious co-host on the daytime talk show
The View. Elisabeth Hasselbeck is a fighter -- whether she's duking it out to win $1 million or defending herself in front of a television audience. Remember her on-screen political feud with Rosie O'Donnell just before O'Donnell's departure from
The View?
Hasselbeck seems sweet and innocent. I'm sure she is, really. But she surely has the ability to stand her own ground. She owes this trait to her mom, she says.
"My senior year of high school, my mother was diagnosed with an advanced from of breast cancer," says Hasselbeck, now 30. "She was put on intensive chemotherapy and had to take time off from her job as an attorney. Suddenly, I was the grown-up: I took her to her first chemo appointment, and helped her shave her head. The experience taught me a lot about looking inside for strength."
Continue reading The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck on surviving cancer
Posted Jul 20th 2007 3:30PM by Heather Craven
Filed under: Chemotherapy, Celebrity news
Hilary Swank is not your average Hollywood celebrity. She is private, talented and driven to do good things. One of her current projects will benefit the charity
Pantene Beautiful Lengths Campaign. This charity collects hair from woman and then creates wigs for patients who have lost their hair to cancer therapy.
Swank, who is currently sporting long locks, will have to grow enough hair to produce an 8 inch pony tail. As per the Pantene requirements, she will not be able to use permanent dyes on her hair and cannot have more than 5% gray in her hair. The actress reports that she is looking forward to
donating her hair to a good cause and sporting a new look.
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