Patient & Researcher Blog

Here I aim to capture what I am learning as a newbie researcher from a patient perspective.

Living with a slow growing brain cancer

It is taboo for researchers to talk about their work before it is published.

I think that’s a bummer.

My favorite part about research is learning new things in real time. Here I share my observations as a learner and my n of 1 (personal) findings as a patient.

Note: I started blogging about brain cancer in 2008, at age 29.

I had no background or knowledge about healthcare when I began. Please excuse typos and other misconceptions. What you read here is me in real time, like a time capsule.

There are more than 500 posts here. Use this search to look for something specific. Good luck!

Liz Salmi 2/18/13 Liz Salmi 2/18/13

Four months at a time: living between brain scans

I feel bad blogging about fear and freak outs because it makes me sound like I get down on myself. This isn't true. I just happen to own a space on the Internet where I am allowed to tell the world that living with a slow-growing brain cancer can be scary sometimes.

Liz Salmi 6/18/12 Liz Salmi 6/18/12

Baseball: the ultimate cancer therapy

Whenever Tim Lincecum struck out a batter, Buster Posey hit a home run, or Pablo Sandoval wore his hat sideways during a rally, I felt like I was part of something greater than myself. I became one of hundreds of thousands of fans in orange and black who leave their hearts in San Francisco.

Liz Salmi 6/1/12 Liz Salmi 6/1/12

Should a 32-year-old with brain cancer save for retirement?

Should one save for retirement when they have an incurable form of cancer with a high mortality rate?

Liz Salmi 5/6/11 Liz Salmi 5/6/11

Not dying from cancer: the ultimate imposter syndrome

My friends celebrate the end of my treatment like I'm some sort of badass. I feel like a fraud because I didn't really do anything. I was a participant in the process.

Liz Salmi 8/29/10 Liz Salmi 8/29/10

What is family?

Upon hearing the news and finding out that I had a "mass" in my brain, my best friend called her dad. He was in town the next day--asking the important medical questions, demanding answers, advocating on my behalf (because I was too out of it to know what was going on).