February 2017 Vol 3 No 1

Julie Salman chronicles her experience with thyroid cancer, including dealing with a new reality and coping with radiation.

As a survivor and “thriver” of 27 surgeries, Amy Oestreicher turns to art for stability.

It’s certainly true that great medical strides have been made in recent years in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, but there has been less focus on addressing issues uniquely associated with the patient’s experiences.

Singer and songwriter Melissa Marshall was 51 when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in September 2013. After a lengthy battle Melissa was cured, and began a crusade of inspiration and education.

Sandra Ross's watercolor painting of her sister, an 8-year ovarian cancer survivor.

The main point in Susan Gubar's book Reading & Writing Cancer: How Words Heal is the healing nature of dealing with cancer through the written word, as Susan aptly quotes Virginia Woolf, who said, “in illness words seem to possess a mystic quality.”

Prevention is an integral part of life. Since lung cancer causes more deaths than any other type of cancer, taking steps to prevent this deadly disease should be a “no-brainer.”

Despite the great advances in cancer therapies, only a small proportion of patients with cancer participate in clinical trials today. This has a detrimental effect on the development of new cancer drugs.

Staying active is one of the best ways to care for your health. In fact, during times of illness, a person’s activity level can predict how well they will recover. Sitting for a long time has been suggested as harmful to our health.