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 9/3/11 Liz Salmi 9/3/11

The meaning of the cancer tattoo

The octopus in my tattoo represents a combination of things. It is the chemotherapy drug that, once passed through the blood-brain barrier, seeps through my brain tissue, finds the tentacles of my tumor, killing cancerous cells. The octopus can also represent a mental image of a smart creature protecting me from the claws of a crab.