Support groups are not for everyone
I’ve been in a state of brain cancer reflection this week as I prepare for two upcoming presentations related to patient engagement through digital media. (I know, I’m a nerd.) Then I remembered this day… The bus About four weeks after my first brain surgery I decided to go to my first cancer support group...
Baseball: the ultimate cancer therapy
I didn’t grow up in a family that was into sports. My annual exposure to sporting events was the Super Bowl, which was primarily an excuse to consume meatball subs and large amounts of French onion dip. I never played Little League. In high school my favorite P.E. class was singles tennis. I never had the...
Brain surgery: the inside story (pun slightly intended)
I volunteer as a “Mentor Angel” with a group called Imerman Angels. This organization carefully matches and individually pairs people touched by cancer (a cancer fighter, survivor or caregiver) with someone who has fought and survived the same type of cancer (a Mentor Angel). I’ve been volunteering with Imerman Angels for nearly six months, and before...
Pets and cancer
Can owning a pet count as palliative cancer treatment? I’ve heard there is a correlation between owning a pet and a reduced cancer risk. It has something to do with pets helping lower stress and blood pressure. I no longer worry about getting cancer (HA!), however, I do want to improve my overall health–and maybe...
The birth of the brain tumor hashtag on Twitter (and how it was inspired by the breast cancer community) #btsm
When it comes to team spirit, the breast cancer community has got it going on. This community certainly has enough patients, survivors and caregivers to give the community a boost when breast cancer accounts for a little more than 10 percent of all cancer diagnoses each year. And when it comes to advocacy, the brain...
Join my team for the Bay Area Brain Tumor Walk
Dear friends, family and people we don’t know: Are you ready to join a crew so fierce that brain cancer cowers at the mere mention of our name? Team Glioma Girls invites you to join us for the Bay Area Brain Tumor Walk in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, May 5,...
To have a slow-growing brain tumor
Three and a half years after my diagnosis my health care system finally hired a neuro-oncologist for the Sacramento area. You’d think the California state Capitol would have a fancy oncologist a bit sooner than that, but apparently neuro-oncology isn’t a popular field (what with brain cancers representing only 1% of all cancers). Kaiser would...
Reading list
Have a brain tumor or other neurological disorder? Interested in how the brain works? Want to kick ass and defeat your disease? Check out some of the books on my reading list. (This list will be updated as I finish new books.) The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, Siddhartha Mukherjee An Anthropologist...
Sarcasm
I’m having my first post-chemo MRI tomorrow. I’m sure I will sleep soundly tonight.
My health care is like Apple
Woah! Check me out… my blog has been quoted in a story from TheHealthCareBlog.com. My part is near the end of the article… but you should read the whole thing. Does America Want Apple or Android for Health Care? By Davis Liu, MD The future direction of American health care is unclear. Certainly the...
What are your post-brain surgery deficits?
Back in November I started exercising again. And then about two weeks ago I hired a personal trainer to get my body back in shape. Of course, I told her about my medical condition, weaknesses and medications I am taking. She’s suggesting a new diet and all that good stuff. I’m going to build muscle...
Continuing challenges
Woah! Now that I’m done with Temodar it seems like my cancer experience is over–but it’s not because I still have cancerous tumor in my brain. WTH! The weird thing (and all you brain tumor peeps know this) is that unless you have an extractable, hard tumor with defined borders, we will have brain tumors...
