Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
For 18 months, Google has been working to come up with a product offering and a strategy in the promising field of consumer health information. Until now, the search giant hasn’t had anything to show for its labors other than bumps along the way—delays and a management change.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Evan Handler, best known for his work on Showtime’s Californication and as Harry Goldenblatt on HBO’s Sex And The City, is a two-time, long-term young adult cancer survivor who is not shy about his experiences surviving and recovering to this day. His first book, Time On Fire: My Comedy Of Terrors is about as brazen and true-to-form as one can get when dealing with cancer as a young adult. His brand new, soon-to-be-released follow-up tome, It’s Only Temporary: The Good News And The Bad News Of Being Alive is just as provocative, insightful and relevent today as his first book. At the time of this writing, the former book is available for purchase at his website, EvanHandler.com and the latter is scheduled for a hardcover release on May 1st, 2008. Evan will be a guest on The Stupid Cancer Show on Monday, April 28th to share his wit, wisdom and passion with us. Be sure to check it out. Sure to be one hell of a show.
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Submitted by Jayne’s Breast Cancer Blog
Monica Magness, owner of the Girl Gone Thread Wild blog has initiated a Community Art Doll Project.
Each artist will contribute a 2″ fabric square. The squares will be put together as one art doll. Go check out Monica’s blog to participate or to find out all of the exciting plans that she has for this art doll (including donating the proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure). But you’ll have to hurry. Squares must be mailed to Monica by March 1.
Check out the parade of squares to see some that have already been sent in. I just signed up today to do a square. Mine will be humble in comparison to the ones that she has featured on her blog, but (shrug) I have thought up a design that means a lot to me so I’m in!
Once I get it done, I’ll post a picture.
Thank you, Deena, for making me aware of this project.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Chordoma is a rare malignant bone cancer developing in the skull base and spine. Each year, about three hundred people are diagnosed with chordoma, earning its name the one in a million disease. “The tumors can be removed, but the cancer is relentless. Chemotherapy doesn’t work. Life expectancy is around seven years,” according to an AP feature story about environmental engineering college student Josh Sommer battle to survive his diagnosis of chordoma by working in a lab to study and understand his own disease.
The Chordoma Foundation has launched a new website. You can read Josh Sommer’s story in College Student Fights His Own Cancer.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
People who either have no health insurance or rely on Medicaid are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced cancers than people who have private health insurance, researchers from the American Cancer Society report.
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Submitted by Jayne’s Breast Cancer Blog
My breast surgeon guarantees me that the little bump near my port-a-cath scar is not a tumor. That it is likely to be an undissolved stitch although scar tissue would also be a possibility.
Why would I suddenly feel it now? Perhaps because the rest of the area has softened and resolved enough to allow me to feel it. I did figure out, through endlessly prodding said lump over the weekend, that it can be flattened out. And that was a bit reassuring.
“But can’t we just take it out? Biopsy it?” My pleas were ineffective.
“No.”
And he really did use the word guarantee. In addition, he assured me that he doesn’t use that word lightly.
I have had complete confidence in him so far and his reputation is stellar. So I will go with the guarantee in spite of the fact that, I do NOT (and will not) watch-and-see. Ever.
I don’t like the downward spiral that I went on over this. I’m not sure if I think that I acted like a baby, or if it was a reasonable fear. People live with recurrence, and I all but crumbled with the fear of recurrence. I think that I was done in by having two “what-ifs” in one month.
Conclusion: I still have lessons to learn.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Winning the deciding game of the World Series, the part everyone else remembers and celebrates, he doesn’t dwell on, maybe because Jon Lester is determined to be known as something other than Celebrity Cancer Boy.
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Submitted by Jayne’s Breast Cancer Blog
Not that anything of substance has changed since last night. But this morning I feel like I can breathe again. And that “it” is probably not cancer. And if “it” is cancer, then I will not allow it to spoil even one more day than is necessary.
I’m tempted to make myself a rule: no posting in the evening. St. John of the Cross’s book is called Dark Night of the Soul for good reason, eh?
But such is this journey. Up and down. I can’t always be the breezy Jayne who is thrilled with life, who has been taught well by the cancer experience, and so on. Sorry. (And just who am I apologizing to? I don’t know. My husband, my mom and my closest IRL friends I guess. They bear the burden of when-I-am-not-so-fine.)
I am off to have a normal day, folks.
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Submitted by Jayne’s Breast Cancer Blog
Thoughts on Blogging
About a month ago, Lorelle on Wordpress did a post on Cancer Blogs and Blogging.
I discovered this post because my blog was listed, so that was kind of cool. Considering that Lorelle is not a “cancer blogger” she sure did manage to hit on one of the fundamental aspects of blogging about cancer. She writes: “If the disease ends, should the blogger keep blogging about being a ‘victim’ or ‘patient’? Shouldn’t their blogging move on as their life has? What happens to the blog?”
It’s a conundrum that so many of us face as we move further out from active treatment. Some of my favorite bloggers have all but stopped updating their blogs. I guess that’s good - they’re off living their post-cancer lives, right? But without any updates, I’m left to wonder how they are doing.
I know other cancer bloggers who have kept up their cancer blog but started another blog, too. I’ve thought about doing this (and I still might). But am I up for maintaining two blogs?
So I find myself at a bit of a blogging crossroads. I do still have plenty to say on this blog. Creative breast cancer projects come to my attention all the time, and I want to blog about them. Cancer continues to influence my own creative efforts, and I want to blog about that too.
Bad News
I am so so so so sorry to report that I have something sinister weighing on my mind again. On Wednesday, I found a little, hard lump right near my port-a-cath scar. It’s tiny. Like smaller than a B-B. It could be scar tissue, but that scar is almost two years old. How likely is it that this would occur now? It hurts. If I push on it in a certain way, the pain is sharp. Almost like this little bump has a shard on it. I think that it would be unusual for a tumor to present pain in this manner.
It’s not even on my cancer side. But… certainly there are lymph nodes in the area. It’s just an inch or so below the collarbone. Maybe, despite a bilateral mastectomy, it is a new primary tumor. They can’t get all of that breast tissue out, you know.
I had something happen to me a couple of weeks ago. It was related to the bleeding colon polyp that I dealt with last year. I had a few dark days. I had to go in for a test. The test came out fine. I didn’t even write about it. I hardly even told any of my IRL (in real life) friends. Just didn’t feel like dealing with it.
I had a pretty good run of it this past year. I’ve been able to play, work, travel. I’ve had days when cancer didn’t even cross my mind.
Now?
Can’t concentrate. Can’t cope. Can’t breathe. Appointment with breast surgeon on Monday.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
A new blood tests has been developed that Yale researchers say can detect ovarian cancer with 99 per cent accuracy.The test uses six protein biomarkers to identify proteins in the bloodstream that signal an ovarian tumour is present in the body. The test is 99.4 per cent effective. Previous tests for ovarian cancer only used four protein biomarkers and recognized only 15 to 20 per cent of new ovarian tumors.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
By Geoff Eaton of Real Time Cancer.
“Each year in Canada, at least 6500 young adults in the age group 15–39 are diagnosed with some form of cancer. The most common malignancies in young females are cancers of the breast, cervix, and ovaries; while in young males testicular cancer is followed by non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. For unknown reasons, some malignancies are increasing among young adults of both sexes including cancers of the thyroid, lung, brain, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in young women and testicular cancer in young men. Young adults are also affected by the more common cancers. (read more…)
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
According to the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (CACC), the current Canadian cancer system is based on outdated, outmoded thinking past its “best before date.” In its 10th Report Card on Cancer in Canada, the CACC reports Canadians are experiencing care that is inconsistent, unfair and ineffective.Gross discrepancies in access to the diagnostic tools and best treatment for cancer exist, depending upon where a person lives in the country. “Tell me your postal code, and I will tell you your chances of surviving cancer,” says Dr. William Hryniuk, past chair of CACC and former director of cancer centres in the Canada and US. (Editor: Ain’t that grand? Maybe it isn’t just us after all.)
Read the press release – permalink (pdf)
Read the report – permalink (pdf)
Pass the canucks.
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Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog
I have been mulling this question over in my mind for years. I’ve never felt the evidence was that convincing. I’ve known of people who had the procedure and quickly crumped. Also, maybe the results look good because the people who go to these centers for the transplant have to be in pretty good shape just to get there.
All this came to me today as I read of the death of the actor Roy Scheider, who made it big as the sheriff in the movie “Jaws” but who I admired as the Bob Fosse character in the movie “All That Jazz”. He died of multiple myeloma at the University of Arkansas Medical Center in Little Rock, only, I read, 3 years after his diagnosis. This is a major center of myeloma treatment and one where the stem cell transplant has been a favorite. In fact, these people have been its champions, so I suspect he had the procedure.
Now the truth is that the procedure really isn’t a transplant. A patient’s own cells, not someone else’s are used. The way it goes is this. First the patient with myeloma gets standard chemotherapy to control the myeloma and get rid of as many of the cancerous myeloma cells as possible. Then his blood is filtered in special machines to remove the blood-forming stem cells. These are stored while the patient then gets massive doses of chemotherapy, often along with some radiation to kill most of the rest of the myeloma cells. At the same time, this treatment kills all the patient’s blood-forming cells. That is why they need to be replaced. Once the chemotherapy and radiation are finished, his blood-forming stem cells are transfused back into him and they head for the bone marrow where they will start making blood cells again.
This treatment isn’t curative and isn’t for everyone. It is quite toxic; most centers use this only for patients younger than 65. That leaves out two-thirds of myeloma patients. Also, I’m not sure that today it is the best treatment available even for younger patients. When the transplants first were developed, they did seem a little better than the usual treatment according to the studies at that time. In these early trials, half the patients got the high dose chemotherapy and perhaps radiation followed by the stem cells, while the other half received the standard treatment of that time. In those studies, the high dose chemotherapy patients appeared to live a little longer.
But the standard treatments in those studies aren’t the standard ones today. New drugs have been developed. In fact, new myeloma drugs have been some of the hottest items in cancer therapy in the last few years.
Just this week I read of a report of a totally new combination treatment of three drugs to treat myeloma. These are Biaxin, Revlimid, and dexamethasone. The first two are new and the last an old-timer. The overall survivals in the myeloma patients who received these were as good as we see with transplants. And, although some of the patients did get high dose chemotherapy and transplants after this treatment, they didn’t do any better than patients who didn’t get the high dose chemotherapy and transplant. In fact many of these other patients were also supposed to get the high dose chemotherapy and transplant, but were feeling so good, they passed.
With all these new drugs we need new studies to see if transplants are still number one. Until then, I’d be awfully cautious about going for the transplant when there are so many good drugs around.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze has been diagnosed with leukemia and is currently undergoing tests to determine the severity and stage of cancer. According to the Monday evening news reports, Udeze is visiting Fairview Southdale Hospital and Mayo Clinic for tests.
Last season, Udeze played in all 16 games for the Vikings, recording 47 tackles and five sacks. The Minnesota Vikings and fans are extending their thoughts and prayers to Udeze. Kenechi Udeze, pronounced kuh-NEH’-shee you-DEH’-zuh, is 24 years old.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
If 47 million uninsured Americans is not high enough a number of vulnerable people who often do not visit the doctor soon enough to receive an early cancer diagnosis leading to a higher cancer survival rate, Blue Cross of California is looking to increase the number of uninsured — with the help of doctors.
Blue Cross of California sent out a letter to doctors, along with a patient’s application for health insurance, asking doctors to report any preexisting medical conditions the patient may have left off the health insurance application. That’s right — the health insurance company is asking doctors to rat out patients in an effort to save money.
According to the California Medical Association president Richard Frankenstein, “We’re outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality.”
The Wall Street Journal has linked to an actual copy of the letter sent out by Blue Cross of California to doctors in Blue Cross Asks Docs to Report Patients’ Omissions.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Over the past 30 years, for young adults aged 15-39, cancer incidence has doubled to 70,000 and 5-year remission rates remain largely unchanged, largely due to late diagnosis. The previous decades of “progress” have failed survivors under 40 so there’s no reason to think the next 30 years will be any different unless change starts now. Vote 4 us!
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
The sexual history of a woman is not an accurate indicator in determining whether or not she should receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Furthermore, using this as the standard is likely to vaccinate many women already infected with the HPV virus and miss young women who might benefit most from the vaccine.
“Selectively vaccinating women based on risk factors alone would mean that more than 2 million women, ages 18 to 26, who had the potential to derive the most benefit from HPV vaccination because they weren’t already infected, would miss out on getting the vaccine,” states study lead author Amanda F. Dempsey, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, a member of the CHEAR Unit team in the Division of General Pediatrics at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
According to the researchers, there is confusion about vaccination guidelines. The American Cancer Society recommends vaccinating all females younger than 18, and selectively vaccinating women ages 19 to 26 based on an informed discussion between the patient and her doctor about sexual history. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices, recommends universal vaccination for all women ages 11 to 26, regardless of sexual experience. For more information, read Sexual History Shouldn’t Guide HPV Vaccination.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Being a cancer survivor does not significantly decrease the chance of becoming a parent, according to studies that followed cancer survivors who were diagnosed with cancer between the age of 15 and 35. By mid-30s, men had the same chance of becoming a parent as a contemporary who had never been diagnosed with cancer. For women, the odds were slightly lower but not enough to rule out motherhood.
Norwegian Radium Hospital and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) researchers attributed the success of young cancer patients going on to become parents later in life to fertility-protecting treatment for young cancer patients adopted in the mid-80s.
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Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog
What is “chemobrain”?
“Chemobrain” is another side effect of chemotherapy, which has only recently been recognized. It develops in some people after they have had chemotherapy. Their major complaint is that they have trouble thinking clearly. Most of the studies have been in women who have received chemotherapy after breast cancer surgery. The main finding in these women has been trouble with memory although other problems have also been described. The existence of “chemobrain” is still not settled, because some of these symptoms may actually be caused by the cancer itself. Some people with cancer have been shown to have memory problems even before they receive chemotherapy.
But, more and more, doctors are recognizing the fact that “chemobrain” is real. Careful testing of memory and other brain functions have shown that women who receive chemotherapy after curative surgery for breast cancer will have definite changes in their though processes. And special studies such as MRIs and PET scans have confirmed that there is something wrong, compared to normal people. When the women are asked to think or remember something, the wrong areas of the brain show too much activity while the areas supposed to show activity, seem to be turned down.
This memory problem doesn’t go away very quickly. One study found changes as far out as 5-10 years after the chemotherapy. So what to do? The first step is to recognize it. Not everyone develops this problem and of those that do, many aren’t bothered. But if you need your memory to be first rate, especially if you are in a high-functioning job, help is available.
Doctors have reported successful treatment of women with this condition. No they didn’t fix their brains. But what they did do was train the women to deal with their losses. This was all done at a rehabilitation unit. The procedure was called Memory and Adaptation Training. Basically the women were given memory training and taught how to recognize situations that needed extra efforts. Relaxation training was also included. The women would attend sessions where they received their training and then would practice between visits.
All in all, the program succeeded. At the end of 6 months, the women were able to function better and were more satisfied with their lives.
So if you are receiving chemotherapy or have received it – this is something to think about.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Spending hours on a cell phone each day may affect the quality of a man’s sperm, preliminary research suggests. In a study of 361 men seen at their infertility clinic, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found an association between the patients’ cell phone use and their sperm quality.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Post-Treatment Resource Program Presents, “The Cancer Is Cured, Now What?”. a lecture by Dr. Kevin Oeffinger, Director of MSKCC’s Program for Adult Survivors of Pediatric Cancer.
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/video.js.cfm?streamName=PTRP20070911
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
February 4th has been designated World Cancer Day by a consortium of organizations called the International Union Against Cancer, or UICC (for Union Internationale Contre le Cancer). The group seeks to raise international awareness about the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Years ago, researchers determined certain personality traits led to a greater risk for heart disease and specifically, a higher rate of heart attacks among those who shared common aggressive and driven personality traits. It was a small leap when researchers decided to study the personality traits of cancer patients to discover if there were common personality traits that might suggest who was more likely to develop cancer.
In a metaphor of our physical body as a manifestation of our inner being, early research concluded breast cancer patients tended to possess a lack of trust in their own feelings. Linking personality to a greater risk of cancer is too easy, and I believe lets the true culprit off the hook. Who among us could not learn to forgive more, have a stronger sense of personal identity, speak up for ourselves, stop speaking up so much, etc.
But young children who are diagnosed with cancer make these assumptions abstract and nonsensical. There simply have not been enough years lived to suffer the effects of personality. A decade later, and further research concludes the earlier research is wrong — your personality will not cause cancer.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
A high percentage of cancer patients report using nutritional supplements, according to a study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center researchers. Of those who do, breast cancer survivors top the list while prostate cancer survivors were least likely to add vitamin and mineral supplements to their daily health regimen.
Do supplements work in boosting the health of cancer survivors? The researchers are not certain, and feel some supplements might actually hurt rather than help — but again, they simply do not know as there has not been adequate research conducted into the use of supplements to cancer survivorship.
“Can vitamin and herbal supplements reduce the adverse effects of cancer treatment, decrease the risk of cancer recurrence or improve a patient’s chances of survival? We don’t really know. Research into these matters has been minimal,” said senior author Cornelia (Neli) Ulrich, Ph.D., an associate member of the Hutchinson Center’s Public Health Sciences Division. “While supplement use may be beneficial for some patients, such as those who cannot eat a balanced diet, research suggests that certain supplements may actually interfere with treatment or even accelerate cancer growth,” she said.
To learn more, read Widespread Vitamin and Mineral Use Among Cancer Survivors: Benefits of Such Use Remain Unclear. As a personal aside, I ran into significant research documentation regarding the benefit of vitamin D to cancer survivorship that I take a vitamin D supplement daily. I live in a northern climate where sunshine is limited for a good number of months each year, and it makes sense I do not get enough vitamin D. And as cancer survivorship goes, I do not feel I have time to wait until years of research determine if this will hurt or help. Each cancer survivor needs to do the research, weigh the facts, and come to a common sense conclusion. At least until the focus and money invested in research shifts from cancer treatment to cancer prevention.
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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Treatment gap between pediatric and adult cancer care one reason why, study reports. When it comes to getting cutting-edge treatments for cancer, teens and young adults might be missing out. Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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