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!
Emily Morrison
“Whatever you're doing today… Take a minute for me,” she wrote. “Now put you’re heart in it and do it better.”
Brain surgery: the inside story (pun slightly intended)
I tell people brain surgery is easier than they think. The doctors put you to sleep and then you wake up X-amount of hours later and you never know what happened because you were asleep! You hurt, and you have to take it easy for a long time, and you can't go on any roller coasters for a while, but other than that it is all good.
Creating a positive cancer environment: Stupid Cancer rocks the house
Probably the most amazing moment of all was on the first night I was there. There was a kickoff event in a nightclub for all the young adult cancer survivors and halfway through a beautiful young woman walked up to me and said my name. It took me about five seconds to realize I was looking at Emily, a young brain cancer survivor I met 10 months ago via my blog.
National Brain Tumor Society refers patient support to Imerman Angels
National Brain Tumor Society recently sent an announcement that they will be discontinuing their Patient Line and Support Network to instead focus more on research and public policy. While I am bummed about the discontinuation of the patient support network (as I was one of the support peeps) I totally understand the decision made by the NBTS board of directors.