News - Part 8
Radiation Fibrosis Syndrome: What It Is and How to Treat It
Radiation therapy, like surgery and chemotherapy, is a mainstay of cancer treatment. The reason radiation is used to treat cancer is that it is usually toxic to the fast growing cancer cells while supposedly having little adverse effects on the slow growing and relatively radiation resistant normal body cells. Unfortunately, normal cells are often affected…
Living with Cancer-Related Sexuality Changes
As cancer survival rates increase, more attention is being paid to quality-of-life issues such as sexuality. Initially you may be concerned about lifestyle changes or limitations from cancer and do not focus on sexuality issues until you are resuming your life. Treatments and/or the disease itself can cause changes in sexuality, but health care providers…
Tomorrow’s Pain
It was the size of the needle that made the biggest impression on me. Cindy Sanderson, a clinical psychologist in her mid-40s, was delivering a lecture to the psychiatry service of the cancer hospital where I was training. She didn’t offer the usual research on this or that psychiatric issue; instead, Sanderson described coping with…
From the Deepest Valley to the Highest Peak: A Survivor’s View From the Top of The World
When asked by the New York Times in March 1923 why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, English mountaineer George Mallory famously responded, “because it’s there.” Nearly eighty years later, Ohioan Sean Swarner also summited Mt. Everest; not because the mountain was there, but because he was. The survivor of two highly-lethal cancers during his…
Psychological Challenges of Surviving Cancer
About 11 million Americans alive today — one in 30 people — are either currently undergoing treatment for cancer or have done so in the past. The National Cancer Institute considers all to be cancer survivors. Many would attest that cancer is not only life-threatening, but also life-altering.Cancer and its treatment sometimes leave scars and…
INFORMATION ABOUT GENERAL PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL & PRACTICAL SURVIVORSHIP SUPPORT
American Pain Foundation Founded in 1997, the American Pain Foundation is an independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization serving people with pain through information, advocacy, and support. Aspen Cancer Survivor Center The Center’s mission is to optimize the quality of life of cancer survivors. It provides scientifically based fitness programming, nutritional guidance, mental health services and one-on-one…
The 2011 Mike Hogg Award and Lecture
The Mike Hogg Lectureship was established in 1958 and is one of the most prestigious awards at MD Anderson. Nobel Prize winners who are still active in research are honored and invited to deliver a lecture as part of the award. The event is underwritten by the Mike Hogg Fund and hosted by the MD…
2011 Tree of Life
Join the Fox Chase Cancer Center for the 23rd annual Tree of Life Ceremony, honoring the special bonds between all touched by cancer. The moving program includes special remarks, musical performances, refreshments, and culminates in the lighting of the Tree of Life. Leaves bearing the names of loved ones, caregivers, and friends will be hung…