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 7/22/12 Liz Salmi 7/22/12

Together we're giant: forgetting about brain cancer for a day

To me, 'without struggle there is no progress' totally applies to cancer. It captures us, and holds us hostage. And if we are lucky enough to be physically freed from cancer, and escape treatment intact, there are parts of us, at times, that are emotionally enslaved by cancer. I don't want to admit it--because it sounds embarrassingly weak--but I know I am, at times, enslaved.

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.