Live Life the Fullest
Don ' t let anything hold you back in your pursuit to live life to the fullest. You want to experience everything and anything (well except maybe eating insects, flydiving, going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, or other really weird things). Get out there and do as many as many things as you can.I think I want to say that I don ' t think you need to constantly push yourself to do something every minute. Sometimes you need to sit there and appreciate what you just accomplished. You should also share your experiences with others who might benefit from what you have done.Do not let your health hold you back. Okay, if you brea...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 5, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: fun living with cancer respect terminal ailments Source Type: blogs
I Need Playtime Too
A new study finds that pediatric cancer patients can avoid anxiety required anesthesia before radiation treatment... by... (wait for it) ...substituting playtime.This was the result of work by a nurse at Johns Hopkins who found that there was no standard protocol other than to routinely give anesthesia to pediatric patients." What we found was that we had no standard; we were just basically signing kids up for anesthesia because they were anxious, because of the unknowns. We had complications happen under anesthesia and radiation. Another component was that it was taking up a lot of time. Now, with this program, we ca...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 4, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: medical tests procedures relax stress waiting Source Type: blogs
The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nothing But The Truth
The truth about cancer treatment is very complicated. The treatment options are very deep, strong, and harsh even. They are just drastic. Because they are so drastic, they can very well cause a lot of post treatment effects - i.e., side effects. The information on side effects is not a list, but a mountain.Yes we want the truth. Oncologists I think waffle on how much information to provide to their patients about their treatment options when faced with their treatment options. I can tell you its a lot of information to take in and absorb - and probably not everyone is ready for that. And our doctors are unsure how muc...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 3, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: brainless cancer treatment doctor questions doctors side effects Source Type: blogs
Waiting Around
I hate waiting. I pride myself on being on time. I think that people who constantly run late are rude and selfish because they are making people wait on them. They are not considering anyone else ' s feelings or needs. Basically that is just damn rude.Social occasions aside, waiting for doctors is even worse. Especially when you are not feeling well. This is one reason why I do not like Emergency Rooms and will only go if I am literally dripping blood (and will therefore be put to the front of the line) is I can ' t stand waiting around.A year or so ago, my opthamologist asked me to find a new one. BasicallyI got fired by ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 2, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: doctor appointments frustration respect social media waiting Source Type: blogs
Another Piece of Bad (And Misunderstood) Advice
Who has heard that green tea is good for people with cancer and for preventing cancer? ' Raises hand 'Yes I have heard that. I don ' t really like green tea that much but I do drink it occasionally. I know people who purposely drink green tea because it is ' better ' for them. So here ' sthe bad news:" Green tea and green tea extracts are widely consumed by patients with cancer. Yet overall there is no clinical evidence that green tea or its chemical components slow tumor progression in humans — and importantly, there is some evidence that green tea compounds might interfere with anticancer treatment. "There is some earl...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 30, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: fake news medical information medical research Source Type: blogs
My Health Complicates Everything
I have too many ailments. Combined they interact and cause all kinds of problems. Normal people can have knee problems and then surgery to fix them. Me? Not so much.I hurt my right knee skiing in 2001 and had arthroscopic surgery to fix as much as possible. My right knee became my bad knee. After surgery, the surgeon said if it ever stops locking up come back and see me again.In 2015 I fell in our backyard and tore my left ACL. My left knee became my bad knee and my right knee became my good (or not quite as bad) knee. I then started over stressing my right knee which wasn ' t happy. In the fall of 2016, my right knee star...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 29, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments knee pain surgery whininess Source Type: blogs
Side Effects Vs. Costs
This morning an email on the discontinuation of a certain drug which the article says is a good thing because it will save billions of dollars. The drug in question isTKI and is used to treat CML. It works well at putting people in remission but comes with a high financial cost, $147,000 per year and causes many side effects.This made me think. Which is more important - financial cost or side effects?I am torn on this one. A drug that costs $147,000 per year is phenomenally expensive. If it was a branded drug on my insurance I would be charged probably 40% of that cost. Could I afford that? Even without pulling out a calcu...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 27, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: medication costs side effects Source Type: blogs
People Are Still People Even With Cancer
Life does not stop with a cancer diagnosis. It should not. If you have cancer, you are still a person. You do not need to let cancer take over everything. You are still a human being and need to do normal human being things. Like going on vacation. Or moving to another state.If you want to go on a vacation, all you need to do is talk to your oncologist and they will help you figure out what changes need to be made. If you are in the middle of chemo, you can probably take a week off. Its not that complicated.Your cancer diagnosis does not get to swallow you whole and take over everything in your life. People in cancer treat...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 26, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: being a patient cancer diagnosis fun humanity Source Type: blogs
Standing Up For Myself
I have to learn that standing up for myself again.... I have to do better with that word ' no ' again. There is only so much of me - not the flabby part (I have plenty of that) - my physical abilities are what is limited. I have to be careful on what I do and how much I do.For example, I am slowly learning not to be the perfect hostess who jumps up to help anyone who asks a question while in our house. I just can ' t. If I jump up for every request, I won ' t have any energy left. If its a good friend who wants a corkscrew, I am happy to say it is in the top drawer of the side board... If its not that close a friend, ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 25, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: overscheduled overwhelmed Source Type: blogs
I've Been Away
As us New Englanders say, I have been on the Cape for a few days. What does that mean? I went to Cape Cod. I stayed with a friend and her significant other for a few days at the house they rented for a month.Her significant other had to go back home for a few days so the two of us had fun shopping at thrift stores, consignment stores, yarn stores, and book stores. I was on the hunt for a few items - spoon rest and clock for the downstairs. I found them. And a few other things that I didn ' t need. Like yarn, clothes, etc.Finally the weather cleared up and we went to the beach. It was awesome. Do I have pictures? No. But th...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 23, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: beach friends shopping vacation Source Type: blogs
Insurance Only Covers What It Says It Will (Usually)
We all purchase insurance for all sorts of things. We have car insurance, home owners insurance, renters insurance, property insurance, flood insurance, and of course medical insurance in addition to many other policies.Recently I have seen commercial on TV that offer insurance for homeowners to cover things like dishwashers, hot water heaters, air conditioners, etc. They show ' customers ' asking their homeowners insurers to cover their broken AC units. After being turned down, the announcer offers home insurance policy to cover the appliances etc. I think - what a scam. I consider this to be the same as the extended...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 19, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: health insurance insurance costs Source Type: blogs
The Combination Diagnosis
Presto, you were a healthy person, who in addition to going out for drinks and appetizers with friends on weekends, you also used to go to the gym, hike, bike, swim, blah, blah, blah. All sorts of activities. Then, the ball drops. Now you have cancer and another ailment which prevents you from doing much of everything.You read about those ' other ' cancer people, who took their athleticism to new heights after their cancer diagnosis. They climb not just mole hills, but Mounts Everest and Denali in the same month. They learn to stand on the big fat boards and pole their way across the Pacific. They boast about their return ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 18, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cancer diagnosis disability Source Type: blogs
To Test or Not To Test
Once you are diagnosed with cancer, you have two key desires:Get the damn thing out of me! Make Sure It Doesn ' t Come Back!So you have surgery and they remove every thing they can. You might have to have more surgery to get those pesky clean margins. Then the give you nasty drugs for chemo and might zap you a few times as well with radiation as well. You might get some pills too. All sorts of fun and games thrown at you. The doctors swear to you that they have done everything possible to get the cancer out of you. So you go back to your oncologists and they tell you... see you in three months! You kind...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 17, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cancer detection cancer diagnosis medical tests Source Type: blogs
Houston, We Have A Problem
I stole that line from the episode of Brother Vs. Brother that I am watching as I type. I cannot believe how much I have been sleeping. We had a heat wave here. (In Boston terms, that means 3 days in a row over 90 degrees. The rest of the world may snicker about that but we just don ' t get that much heat here.) And I am not used to it.Sunday I wore myself out completely and got overheated and I had to rest with an ice pack on the back of my neck for an hour or so. Monday was another sweltering one. Tuesday was hot as well but I went to the beach for the morning. As I left the beach, I felt the waves of fatigue start. I ha...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 15, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: fatigue napping sleep Source Type: blogs
More News I Don't Need
You know they tell us that evil cancer cells come out of the nasty cancer tumors and send them secretly through your body so that they show up later as unwanted metastases. These little cancer cooties (the professional term) are just nasty and unwanted and really want to kill us all in the end.Now we havenew research (because we always need more research) on how metastases occur. Or more correctly where and when the cancer cooties come from the tumors. Earlier research had thought that cancer cells came from the exterior of the cells and not very early." Even in remission, cancer looms. Former cancer patients and their doc...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 14, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: cancer recurrence cancer research medical news metastatic cancer Source Type: blogs
