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 6/12/22 Liz Salmi 6/12/22

The diagnosis & plan: grade 2 astrocytoma, radiation & temozolomide

I still have a grade 2 astrocytoma. This is great news, however if the last few months tell us anything, despite pathology and all the science my tumor is not behaving like other grade 2 astrocytomas. This is what continues to worry us but we take the positive and move forward.

Can chemotherapy mess with your hair’s ability to regrow?

All the bad crap in your body comes out at some point or another, and it often leaves through your hair

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.