Tomorrow I report for one of my six-month radiation follow-ups. My radiation oncologist will review how I've fared for the past two years since my left breast was zapped, day after day, week after week, in an aggressive attempt to keep cancer from returning to the same local area where it first reared its ugly head. How horrified I would be if I learned the machines used to treat my cancer were faulty, that they did not in fact do anything aggressive, that they were essentially ineffective.

Hundreds of brain cancer patients may be hearing this horrific news, now that malfunctioning machines have been ordered shut down following a manufacturer's warning.

Brainlab of Munich, Germany claims a small targeting error occurred with their machines but that it is unlikely to cause problems for patients. If I were one of these patients, I would still be worried. Targeting the tumor bed area is crucial in any cancer treatment. I don't like the sound of "targeting error," regardless of how minor it may be.

Gilda's Club Delaware Valley and the YSC Community Volunteer Group (CVG) of Greater Philadelphia proudly present a lecture: "Talking to Kids About Cancer."

When: Tuesday, June 26th from 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Where: Gilda's Club Delaware Valley, 200 Kirk Road, Warminster, PA 18974

Children may be quiet, children may be outspoken, but all children have questions. We want to give them the best answers we can. Learn how to talk to kids about cancer, how to address the easy questions and the tough ones. Light refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP to Cathy at 215-441-3290 ext. 115. For more information and driving directions, visit the Gilda's Club Delaware Valley website.

Soap opera actress Darlene Conley, best known for playing Sally Spectra for the past 20 years on The Bold and the Beautiful, lost her battle with cancer over the weekend. She was 72.

Conley, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer just three months ago, also played characters on Days of our Lives and General Hospital -- and many knew her as black market baby broker Rose DeVille onThe Young and the Restless.

Before embarking on a daytime career, Conley made appearances in movies The Birds and Valley of the Dolls and on television shows such as Murder, She Wrote, Cagney & Lacey, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

A minor league baseball team in Hickory, NC is helping to bring awareness to breast cancer recognizing that it is not just a disease for women but a disease that also affects men.  The Hickory Crawdads will take to the field wearing pink jerseys as they take on the Kannapolis Intimidators to help build awareness of breast cancer and the importance of early screening and detection. 

The event will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday June 15 at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, NC. Fifty percent of all ticket sales from the game will be donated to Catawba Valley Medical Center's Breast Health Center to support breast cancer education and free mammograms.

Breast cancer survivors will be recognized during the game at half time and informational booths will be set up about breast cancer screening, treatment and prevention by the Catawba Valley Medical Center's Breast Health Center. CVMC's mobile mammography unit will also be on display.

You can purchase tickets online or call the Crawdad's box office at 828-322-3000. Ticket office hours are 10am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday.

Three days ago, I went all Erin Brockovich about the news that wasn't being reported in the news reports about the Nevada Cancer Institute opening offices in Elko and Fallon. As initially reported by the local Nevada television and print media, this was an effort to help provide outreach, education and support to the projected 11,000 Nevadans who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. At that time, not one of the news reports mentioned anything about the water supply, or the fact that Fallon is classified as a cancer cluster town, or why the offices were being opened. Days later, you can go here, and here, and even here, to be told that University of Arizona scientists think they may have a found the reason for the unusually high number of childhood cancer cases in Sierra Vista and Fallon, Nevada.