Recent Comments:
Tickled pink about cancer victory
The Cancer Blog
Feb 22nd 2007 11:46AM MY eyes filled with tears at this story. Here is a very young man who is not so macho that he can't wear pink. In fact, really macho men wear whatever they want to wear including pink. This also proves that chivalry is not dead. What a wonderful young man Joey is!!
Exotic dancer donations rejected by cancer organization
The Cancer Blog
Feb 13th 2007 9:27AM Great idea, Richard! I'm currently uninsured and still in debt from my original diagnosis and surgery. I applied for medicaid but was denied twice. Since then, I applied for patient assistance programs and was accepted (thank goodness). I managed to get enough funding together for reconstruction but that eventually failed when I developed seromas that leaked. I got patched up three times from that but on my last visit to the surgeon, he said "We can keep doing this but we're not getting anywhere. It's time for the expander to come out."
Needless to say, I was devastated. Now, I face a lifetime carrying around one large, large breast which throws off my balance and affects my upper back quite a bit. I'm considering trying to get funding for another mastectomy just to even me up.
Since I don't have insurance, I have other medical needs that could use attention as well. However, I do now have a job that has doubled my income since my diagnosis but it is only part time and even with the improvement in my finances, there is no way in the world I could even get insurance, nevermind afford it. That leaves me with begging for every dollar for every procedure I have done...mammograms, blood work, dr. visits, etc.
About the fund raising? It hurts me to know that these women have done the best they can to try to remember someone that was a part of their community and to help someone else with their efforts. It stinks.
Dose-dense chemotherapy better for breast cancer
The Cancer Blog
Dec 27th 2006 4:20AM No one should try to guarantee any patient of any kind of chances whether they are 50% or any other number. There is never really any guarantee. It is impossible to predict accurately no matter what.
Some people deserve the chance that chemo can give them and then I have to wonder why so many are accepting of chemo when it can have such disastrous and long-lasting side effects. It's been shown in some study, that I can't remember the name of, that some children who have had to go through chemo during childhood cancer treatment will ultimately have immune system issues later in life. Well....yeah! Why not?
Not only that, right here in cancer blog, I was reading about kidney transplant patients who are at risk for developing cancer later on. Well...after taking immunosuppresive drugs....uh.....yeah!
I see a pattern developing here. Am I alone in that?
Awareness month reason for breast cancer reminders
The Cancer Blog
Oct 13th 2006 11:31AM Many of the methods of treatment for breast cancer are NOT for breast cancer alone but will benefit those who have many other types of cancer. Chemotherapy is a good example. Radiation is another. Many, many types of cancer use both not to mention surgery. There is a commonality with all cancers and a good bit of the attention that breast cancer gets will benefit us all.
Breast cancer in older women
The Cancer Blog
Sep 25th 2006 8:02PM This is a tough issue. Like you said, many women that are older can tolerate the treatment pretty well and might do well with nothing but surgery. The rest really need to think hard about it as the side effects of chemo can be a quicker killer than cancer.
Advocacy for more breast cancer research and detection for the uninsured
The Cancer Blog
Sep 21st 2006 1:24AM While uninsured, detection is the easy part. Once detected, what happens next?
When I was diagnosed, I proceded to do what I could to save my life as a result of cancer. So I had a mastectomy and gave no thought to the expense figuring that I would apply for Medicaid afterwords and it would be retroactive. I really took it for granted that as a result of near poverty income and lack of insurance that I would get Medicaid without a hitch! I was so wrong. I was denied after the first application.
At that point, I was profoundly depressed as I had no resources at all to cover my surgery expenses nor could I cover any subsequent treatment. If I bought food so I could eat to stay alive, I couldn't pay for anything else. So I appealed that denial and was denied again. I was ready to drive up to DC without my shirt on and make my plight very public.
Eventually, I discovered things like patient assistance programs that covered my prescription medications but I'm still in the hole for the surgery I had almost two years ago and I'm afraid of the future. Cost of detection is nothing compared to the cost of treatment. It's a couple hundred dollars for a mammogram or about the same for a doctor visit, depending. I go to a clinic that charges a sliding scale fee so it costs me only $40 per visit.
I can't imagine what it would have been like were I to decide to get chemo in addition to everything. There is no way I could afford that. Neither detection or treatment should be a choice. It should be available to all uninsured. How else can we stop this epidemic?
Drive-thru mastectomies: Jewel lobbies for better women health care
The Cancer Blog
Sep 20th 2006 3:06PM Well, Jewel's efforts are sure to be appreciated by the women and men that have insurance but what about people like me that have nothing? In spite of that, I had a "drive-thru" mastectomy almost two years ago. Thing is, I didn't feel sick and I believe that hospitals are for sick people. I just "dropped in" for surgery and wanted to get the heck outta there. Having a mastectomy is enough but I didn't want to hang around long enough to pick up hospital germs. That would have lead to more serious complications. Pain? I didn't have enough to warrant the use of anything above a regular Tylenol.
Lung cancer being overdiagnosed
The Cancer Blog
Aug 6th 2006 12:33PM After my mastectomy for breast cancer, I did further study into the odds I'd be facing with and without "traditional" chemotherapy. I had talked to several survivors who had different types of chemo and different reactions. What I did NOT like at all were some of the side effects and, in some cases, they were long lasting. Going through all of that for months on end seemed to me to be worse than the risk factor. So I did not undergo any chemo or radiation for my breast cancer. However, because my tumor was hormone receptor positive, I do take an aromatase inhibitor daily.
All of this is in the face of a pathology report that said: the tumor, although large, is well-defined, the margins are clear and there is no lymph node involvment.
Well, yeah...they got it all. What do I really need chemo for? This was MY decision and I don't regret it one minute. It is a decision any patient can make for any type of cancer.
Naked Trick: Bulgarian divas nude tease for breast cancer
The Cancer Blog
Jul 27th 2006 7:44AM How about a real shock and the use of nude breast cancer survivors? The reality of what it is like might hit a few people just right. If they don't like what they see, then they need to shell out some support money for the cause.
Strong chain of connections links breast cancer survivors
The Cancer Blog
Jul 26th 2006 10:38AM Sad as it might be, a good portion of the medical community doesn't pay heed to the complaints of younger women who develop breast problems. Some of them are not cancer but quite enough are. Considering the breast cancer is almost an epidemic, more and more younger women and men are showing up with breast cancers and one of the complaints I've gotten is that the doctors don't pay enough attention to them. Even when some of these young women have a strong family history of breast cancer and they later develop lumps or other signs of breast cancer, it is too often overlooked as a result of age/sex.
Very sad indeed.
