Category: Experts Speak

Do You Have Chemobrain?

Sometimes when I am giving a speech and am embarking on the subject of fatigue, I’ll ask the audience members to raise their hand if they are not tired. Usually not more than one or two hands go up. People laugh in that “ah ha” sort of way, and I imagine that they are thinking,…

Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship

“We are talking about disease where you really do have long-term survivors.” Ezra Cohen, MD If you’ve been diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC), you are considered a cancer survivor. You will be one for the rest of your life. If you’ve completed your treatment, you’re probably ready to move on with your life….

Dietary Supplements: Risks, Benefits and Other Information

Surviving a cancer diagnosis can mean a continuous battle to maintain health and to prevent recurrence. Surveys show that majority of survivors resort to dietary supplements with the hopes of cure and improving quality of life. Whereas some supplements offer health benefits, others have unintended adverse effects.  Therefore, it is important for patients to address…

Best Options for Prostate Surgery: Traditional versus Robot-Assisted Procedures

A diagnosis of prostate cancer that hasn’t spread comes with treatment options such as watchful waiting, hormone therapy, and radiation. But if your doctor recommends prostate removal, you have one very important decision: trust your surgery to human hands or to robotic arms controlled by your surgeon. A study led by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts…

Acupuncture for the Cancer Survivor

In the last two decades, many cancer survivors have resorted to Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which includes natural products, mind-body medicine, manipulative and body-based practices. According to the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, acupuncture is considered a form of mind-body medicine. A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report indicated that more than 8…

Skin Care For People Living With Cancer

As a result of advances made over the last several decades by scientists and oncologists, more and more people are living with cancer. Yet despite recent, remarkable medical discoveries, an important aspect of patient care has been overlooked, even though it centers on the most visible human organ: the skin. For obvious reasons, the skin,…

Nutrition and Weight Management for Healthy Cancer Survivorship

Nutrition and exercise are two areas in which lifestyle changes can help you to reduce the risk of recurrent and new cancers and promote overall survival. Both optimal nutrition and adequate exercise will help you to achieve a healthy body weight. A Survivorship Nutrition Plan The optimal diet focused on cancer prevention emphasizes increasing your…

What Cancer Survivors Can Do To Help Themselves

An increased understanding of the biology of cancer, improvements in cancer screening techniques and use, and the development of more effective cancer therapies have contributed to significant improvements in quality of life and survival for cancer patients. Due to these reasons, there are approximately 12 million cancer survivors living in the United States currently. Sixty-five…

Ensuring Happy, Productive Lives for Childhood Cancer Survivors

Overall childhood cancer survival rates now approach 80%. That is an exciting statistic! In childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), cure rates are as high as 95% in some patient groups. When you think back to the mid 60′s, when ALL cure rates were only 5% – that is a phenomenal improvement. And why??? The multi-institutional…

Cancer Caregiving: Rewarding, Fulfilling, Frustrating, Burdensome, or Spiritually Uplifting?

As I began writing this article, I started to think about the many caregivers I have known and what they have shared with me about their experiences as caregivers. The myriad of descriptors they used are only a few of the words in the title of this article. One caregiver said she had never had…