Cancer Survivors

Hair for Hope 2009 invites members of the public to shave their heads to show their support for children with cancer.

Besides creating awareness of childhood cancer, I like the fact that Hair for Hope provides solidarity for children with cancer, that they are not alone in their fight against cancer.

This year, my brother-in-law together with my 5 year-old nephew have volunteered as shavees; Nonchalant as most guys are about their locks/ looks, going bald must come at a personal cost on the social front or client-facing situations.

I'm not sure my 5yo nephew fully understands the effects of his actions but I am so proud of him for bravely volunteering for this event. {I love it that his shavee id is 911.}

Click to read why 5 yo Gareth is shaving his head;

Click to read Jeff's pledge.

Please DONATE for this noble cause--no amount is too small.

Event: Hair for Hope Charity drive
Date : July 5th 2009 (Sunday)
Venue: Velocity @ Novena Square

Hey everyone Tyler's is new to LJ please show your support! Feel free to visit his website at tylertucker.com

Born: October 9, 2000 in Greenville, South Carolina
Treatment locations: MUSC and Baltimore, Maryland.
Total Surgeries: 37
Tyler Updates, pictures, and chatting at TYLERTUCKER.COM

Tyler's Story:
The beginning: When the family found out the horrible news…

At Christmas, just after Tyler turned two, he fell on a small toy car and scratched his jaw. The jaw swelled and by New Years Day we had to take him to the hospital. The hospital staff said that Tyler needed surgery to remove a cyst. Dr. Wilson did the surgery and came out with tears in his eyes. He said that the problem was not a cyst, but cancer and that he sent a portion of the extracted material to the lab to have it analyzed. The results came back as Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Mandible. When the results arrived, January 30, we were called to his office and he cried with us. Tyler was admitted to MUSC Hospital in Charleston, SC immediately. We felt this couldn’t be happening to our baby; not Tyler. The staff at MUSC has been wonderful and have become like family. We learned to love everyone there. Tyler has stolen the heart of everyone on Floor 7b.

Tyler was having trouble breathing because of his jaw, so the Doctor’s decided a tracheotomy was needed. At the same time, Tyler’s jaw fell so the medical staff had to wire the jaw shut. After that, he couldn’t keep feeding tubes in, forcing them to replace the tube six times.

After radiation and chemo, Tyler underwent surgery again where they took fibia bone from Tyler’s leg and transplanted it into the jaw to replace tissue that had been removed because of the cancer. Shortly thereafter, it was diagnosed that the cancer had moved to both of Tyler’s lungs. Doctors removed the upper portion of Tyler’s right lung and the chemo seemed to clear up the left lung. As a result of this surgery a chest tube was inserted. Tyler was so strong that he went walking down the hall with that chest tube still in! Dr. York said she wants a picture of Tyler to go over her desk. She said that he was the strongest kid that she had ever seen and that he was her miracle baby.

Tyler’s illness has been very hard on our family. Ashley, Tyler’s mom, is only in her twenties and is unable to hold down a job and still care for Tyler. He requires long trips to doctor’s appointments and special care. Tyler also has two young brothers that Ashley must care for. But God has been with our family and we believe he will carry us the rest of the way. Tyler had four staff infections while he was in the hospital, which encompassed most of 2003. We took a camper and stayed in it at Lake Air Campground so we could be near Tyler and Ashley through their ordeal.

Tyler has great difficulty talking because moving his jaw is very painful. He can barely eat and weighs on 57 pounds at eight years old. For a long time, Tyler had a feeding tube because he could not eat. After two unsuccessful jaw reconstruction surgeries, Tyler is now facing a titanium jaw replacement. This will be his 37th surgery over 6 years and there will be more as he grows.

Tyler loves playing with his papa George and he loves holding on to Mama and playing with her hair, but when he wants his way, he runs to Nanny, who cannot help but give him what he wants. Tyler is very close to his Nanny Darlene.

Tyler has been through things that most adults couldn’t survive..

Recently..

Tyler is now in remission. This doesn’t mean he is cured or better in anyway. How we wish the cancer the end of his ordeal, but there is so much more Tyler has to go through..

Tyler will need to be brought three hours each way to MUSC Hospital for follow up appoints all of his life. According to his doctors, he will never be 100% better. He is missing half of a lung and has had both of his legs broken to get bone for his jaw. It is devastating that he must endure more pain to take the next step and install the titanium jaw.

Tyler tends to get sick often because his body is so weak from the chemotherapy. It breaks our hearts that he cannot do the things that normal kids take for granted. Right now, Tyler is home-bound, so he is not even able to enjoy school. Without many kids in his neighborhood, Tyler gets lonely for other children.

Sadly, Tyler may never be able to eat properly. We pray that the surgery on his jaw will give him some form of normalcy. He will never have the kind of childhood many of us enjoyed and he may never be able to have children of his own some day because of the chemotherapy.

Tyler’s cancer is uncommon. We only came across five or six other children with the same cancer in our web research. Sadly, many of those children did not make it. Others had the cancer return. Tyler has beaten the odds at every turn. The doctors never believed he would make it. We feel so lucky and blessed to have Tyler still with us and we believe he will make it!!!!!!

The chance of Tyler’s cancer coming back is very high, but we believe he will beat it. It is the care and support of people from all over the world that gives us faith. We have hope, and we know Tyler is a warrior!

Hello! My name is Patricia Metzger and I am a graduate student studying clinical psychology. Like you, I have been faced my own cancer diagnosis, along with having supported several family members and friends diagnosed with a wide range of cancers and other life-threatening diseases. These experiences have forever touched my life and have inspired me to attempt to better understand the experiences of those facing cancer and other life threatening illnesses.

As part of my dissertation research, I am conducting a study examining interpersonal relationships and communication amongst those facing cancer or another life threatening disease. I hope to gain a greater understanding of cancer's impact on relationships, the role of communication following a diagnosis, and it's role in psychological health and relationship development. In the long term, I plan to develop interventions/therapies to aid in the emotional, psychological, and relational adjustment to this disease.

I am currently seeking participants in a study of relationships after one partner has received a diagnosis of cancer. Any person who is part of a serious, long term relationship (e.g., married, partnered, engaged, etc.) and has either received such a diagnosis, or has a spouse/partner with a diagnosis, is invited to participate. Both halves of the couple are asked to complete the survey; if both persons complete it, they will receive $25 compensaion. Alternatively, these funds can be donated to a charitable organization of your choice, such as the American Cancer Society, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, Susan G. Komen Foundation, or any other organization of your choosing.

You and your partner are invited to participate in a brief study lasting no more than 20 minutes - most persons complete the survey in just 10-15 minutes. It will ask you about your experiences following diagnosis with cancer. Only persons who are part of a long-term relationship should complete the survey; we also ask you to refer your spouse/partner to also complete the questionnaire. All responses are confidential and anonymous; no identifying information will be collected. Responses will be used only in aggregate form, so that no one can identify your responses.

The web address for the study is:

https://survey.uwyo.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l4LK8pl6

In exchange for completion, $25 compensation will be offered to couples where both persons complete the study. Funds are only available if BOTH partners complete the survey. You are asked, following your completion, to ask your spouse/partner to also complete the study. You should simply refer them to the same web address noted above. Available funds can be mailed to you, or donated to a charity of your choice. If you choose to have funds mailed to you, contact information will be stored separately from your survey responses.

To refer your partner and receive compensation, you should direct your spouse/partner to this same survey link (https://survey.uwyo.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l4LK8pl6). Completion by both you and your spouse/partner will better help us understand relational issues resulting from diagnosis and will help us to develop interventions, treatments, and therapies that will facilitate coping with this difficult life event.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me at the following email address: metzger@uwyo.edu.

Thank you very much for your assistance on this project! Completion will help us better address the needs of those facing cancer and other serious illnesses so as to minimize the stressors at this time. If interested, please contact me via email (metzger@uwyo.edu) for the results of the study.

Again, you can access this brief study at:

https://survey.uwyo.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l4LK8pl6


Sincerely,

Patricia L. Metzger, M.S.
University of Wyoming
Department of Psychology
metzger@uwyo.edu

NOTE: Please encourage your partner to take this! It's a small amount of time and is a huge help in the long-term goal of developing interventions for those facing this horrible illness - understanding BOTH sides of the story takes this someplace research hasn't gone. THANKS for your help!!

Karen Cheng is a stay-at-home mum in Perth Australia with 2 growing boys and a third child on the way.

She was invited to do a face-to-face interview with Lance Armstrong because like him, Karen's husband is a survivor of testicular cancer twice.

Karen's blog isn't about sports and she is not a professional journalist; they chose her to conduct the exclusive interview because of her interest in raising funds for cancer research and she has a cancer surviving story to share.

Click here to read her interview and her thoughts.

Errol Morris is one of the most talented documentarians alive. Few people possess his ability to draw out informative and emotional responses from fellow human beings, a talent we’ve seen on display from films as diverse as Gates of Heaven all the way to Fog of War.

Small wonder then that his 8-minute short film Survivors, created for the Stand Up To Cancer benefit, is by turns gripping, humorous, and powerful. The film is comprised of reflections from people who have survived cancer, as well as their friends and loved ones, with the ever-elusive Morris occasionally heard interacting with them in the background. You can download the movie on iTunes by clicking here. To learn more about Stand Up To Cancer and to support their cause, make sure to head on over to their website.

~and how hard was that to watch??? :(

im curious to hear if anyone has completly changed their diet and began a new eating lifestyle after finishing their cancer treatments.  theres many small health choices ive heard about (such as a total Raw/vegan diet) but no one i know has really made a 180 degree turn from what they were consuming before..
overall, i know it depends on the specifics of each person. so what works for one may not work for another.  but i think theres many tips we all could be doing that could benefit anybody...

ive made some minor changes but i wouldnt really say its drastic:
--added more cooked vegetables to my dinner.  broccoli sucks but youll see me eat it every now and then
--cut out most fried foods (except for splurges like when i go to Roscoes, In N Out, or Popeyes)
--more fish. 
--occasional wheat grass shots
--more home made meals
--daily vegetarian multi-vitamin ; currently have some Fish Oil gelcaps as well
--more grilled food when possible
--cut out most to all sugars, except for natural fruits and the occasional choclate covered macadamia nuts from the bulk bin
--no sodas
--less alcohol 


i know i could do a few more things,
--go more organic/free range
--stop eating out
--a push to eat more meals with no meat (thats what the vegatarians do eh?)

then theres the complete flip
--no more breakfast cereals and milk.
--go vegan
--go raw
--juice fasting
--isnt there some anti-base or anti-acids diet that cleans up your ph levels?



fyi: i had non-hodgkins lymphoma and last fall was involved in a autologous bone marrow transplant.  im pretty much back to normal now and wondering about all the info out there... 

if you didnt have a clear life plan before cancer. maybe it was just try some things and see what happens. is it ok to still think that way after cancer?

after finishing going through hell, youre given this almost second chance at life . shouldnt you then make the better of it?



just wondering out loud...

My name is Bette-Jane Raphael and I am a writer and editor at Red Rock Press in NewYork. Red Rock is putting together a book for cancer patients. This is a not-for-profit endeavor aimed at bringing help and hope to those currently in treatment for the disease.

I am looking to interview cancer survivors for the book, individuals who have been in remission and/or cancer free for at least 3 years and who feel their experiences can offer comfort to those in the midst of dealing with the disease.

Did you learn something new about yourself during your treatment? Did you acquire a new skill or interest, fulfill a long held ambition, form a new relationship or re-form an existing one? Did you devise strategies that helped you ease your suffering and/or take a more active role in your treatment? Did you rethink the course of your life, or encounter something unexpected that changed it? Did you experience something surprising and/or inspiring? If so, I’d love to talk to you.

The interviews should take no more than an hour to complete and can be done by phone. Stories included in the book will appear under the interviewee’s byline (unless anonymity is requested), in his or her own words. Interviewees will be able to see and approve their stories before publication. No one will be paid for his story.

If you’re interested in being interviewed, you can e-mail me at survivorbook@gmail.com. Please give your name, age, type of cancer and dates of treatment, followed by a sentence or two describing your experience. If I think your story sounds right for the book, I will contact you to set up a preliminary interview. I look forward to hearing from you.

On Bitstrips, Dave Teetzel (or "Thag") created a comic strip series called "Cancer Sucks." He makes humor out of his frustrations, AFTER being diagnosed with cancer. His condition has recently grown worse.

Please send him your support! We are cheering you on, Dave.

I am posting and regularly updating ALL of his daily strips at the bottom of this page.

Today is the day. May 13 is LIVESTRONG Day and in honor of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's one-day initiative to raise awareness and funds for the cancer fight, we're offering ½ price registration for the 2008 LIVESTRONG Challenge.

We're gearing-up to register 2,000 new Challenge participants today, 500 more people than we registered last year. We're also attempting to raise $72,000 on this single day, a 50% increase on the funds raised on LIVESTRONG Day 2007.

And if ½ price registration weren't enough, we've got some great incentives for you. The team who registers the most team members on May 13 will receive ten, 2007 LIVESTRONG Challenge jerseys. The individual who raises the most funds in their online account* on May 13 will receive a Trek bike.

As a past Challenge participant, you are a crucial part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's fight against cancer. We'd love to have you participate with us again this year, so register today and enter code: LSDAY08 into the discount code box on the registration form.

Thank you for all of your past support and we look forward to seeing you later this year.

LIVESTRONG,

The Challenge Team

Basically, if you want to sign up... go to www.livestrong.org and follow the directions. Hope some people get involved, its a great experience.

Crossposted from my journal:

Friday night, on Battlestar Galactica, President Roslyn has lost her hair due to the chemo. And though the first thing that occurred to me was that she still had eyebrows (I guess lack of eyebrows is hard for modern TV makeup to do) I watched feeling so many memories come back in a gush. I remember going in for those appointments every three weeks, walking into the hospital by myself, knowing I was staying there for three days. I remember the x-rays and the meeting with my oncologist, reporting on the progress. I remember the insertion of the IV, before they put the PICC line in again.  I remember the tubing and the IV stand with the little electronic monitor. I remember the pre-treatments, to protect my kidneys from the poison. I remember limping off to the bathroom constantly because of all the fluid going into me. I remember the Doxorubicin, red like blood, like toxic wine, ever so slowly injected into the line, with the nurse sitting at my side for twenty minutes as it went in. I remember the Ifosfamide in a slow overnight drip. I remember the vomiting, just twenty minutes of it, but so violent, I thought my stomach was trying to tear itself from my body, then being suddenly over. I remember just laying there for the rest of the day, dazed and sick, barely able to move or read or do anything. Until the hiccups came for that strange forty minutes in the afternoon. It's apparently common in chemo patients. No one knows why. I remember the day I reached to stroke my goatee and it came away in my hands. I remember the day nothing remained of my brows but a few stray hairs so I just plucked them, because browlessness seemed somehow better than those few pathetic hangers on. I remember the constant itch and strain in my eyes because my eyelashes were gone.

I had to dig out the one picture I have of myself in that time. It was taken at a party, so I have a huge grin on my face, and my arm is around a friend. But there is not a single hair on my head. I'm pale and a bit thin and my skin has this pale, sickly yellow colour to it. It's strange to see myself in such terrible shape, and yet still filled with joy to be with friends.

These memories are hard ones. And I look at them rarely. No one who is here in Toronto now knows that part of my life. The ones who were here then are all somewhere else now. Even my family never really saw that part of it. But they are in me, hard edged and ready to rend me from the inside. It was awful. So awful I don't have words and words are what I do. I have no idea how I endured it and it was but one small part of a four year ordeal. I want to talk about it. I want to speak of it, but I don't know how. I want to weep and scream and howl at just the memory of it. But it was so long ago now, almost seven years. I am well and healthy and trying to figure out my life. It's in me and part of me, and yet no one in my day to day life has even the slightest understanding. And I don't know if I could tell them. Or if they'd even want to hear.

And today was Mother's Day. Number two since my mother died. I miss her. She was so amazing and full of life. So kind and giving and strong. Such a good and rich life, so well lived. I am but a pale imitation. And yet what she and my dad gave me helped keep me alive.

That is what our lives are, I think, these weights that we carry, these holes that are left by absence. They make us strong and appreciative of what we have, how we live. They can give us the strength to go on, to make something of the rest: the joy and laughter and the music and the love.

They give us what we need to live.

I've searched through the community for information on this and didn't see anything. And I've searched the internet but haven't found anything relevant. If this isn't appropriate, please delete!

I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in June of 2007. Since my contract was up at my current job, I decided not try and find a another job while going through treatment. Now I'm in remission and ready to start working again. However, there are some things I'm not quite sure how to handle.

First, I've been out out of work for nearly a year. How should I handle questions regarding this hole in my resume? Is it better just to say it was a medical issue or to be honest and say it was cancer?

Also, has anyone broached the subject of health insurance with an employer? I really need a job with decent health insurance (obviously) but I don't know if there's an appropriate way to ask about this. I don't want to take a job with benefits just to find out that their health insurance is awful. Is there a tactful way to handle this?

a friend in my group shared this quote with us a while back and i really loved it.



"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat"


 Theodore Roosevelt,
"Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

Hey everyone!


This summer I'm going to participate in the 3 Day Breast Cancer walk in Boston. All of the proceeds go directly to the Susan G. Komen For The Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust, which funds breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. The walk is a 60 miles long and spans 3 days. Each walker is required to raise at least $2200. My goal is to raise $3000. Any little bit helps!

I'm walking in memory of my loving grandmother Adrienne Campbell who passed away due to breast cancer at the age of 67.

If you would like to make a donation, please visit my personal fundraising web page at:
http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/BostonEvent?px=1783786&pg=personal&fr_id=1182

or for more information about the walk or how to get involved, visit the official 3-day page at:
www.the3day.org

Thank you so much :)
Robin

ps: this is cross-posted. I don't mean to troll or spam, I just wanted to spread the word about our amazing 3 day journey.

If this is not allowed, the MODS can delete it. thanks again.

Anyone interested in doing the Livestrong Challenge in Philadelphia this year? If so, stop by and talk to me... maybe join my team. I'm looking for people to ride a bike any of the distances or to do the 5K run/walk... or if you just want to donate thats cool too. Hope to hear back from some people.

http://philly08.livestrong.org/teammacstrong

Vitamins, Minerals and Me 
Hosted by the Todd Cancer Institute.
Learn the effects of vitamins and how they can fit into your lifestyle.


Location: Van Dyke Theater, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
Held: April 3, 2008, 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Free.

Registration is Required
Call: (562) 933-0961 to RSVP 

The next lecture is on: Vitamins, Minerals, and Me
                                        Cancer Prevention in a Pill
                                        April 3, 2008
                                        6:30 - 8 p.m.
      *  What vitamins and mineral supplements should you take and how much? 
      *  Join Dr. Robert Nagourney as he explores the issues relato this topic.

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Today is a weird anniversary for me. Its been 2 1/2 years since the surgery that was supposed to cure me. That means I'm halfway towards the Army reviewing my medical discharge. That was always what I had wanted to do with my life, be an Army officer. Now I'm a month away from graduating college with a degree I wasn't planning on using but because of my illness I'm stuck with it.

There haven't been any signs of it coming back, all of the scans come back with no trace. I wasn't able to do it today because of a ton of work but tomorrow I think I'm going to get on my bike and go for a ride through the country-side. It clears the head and helps to put things in perspective. I can't do what I wanted to do with my life but I should be thankful that I can go for a ride tomorrow because most people who had the type of cancer that I did weren't as lucky.


"It's gotta be like a, like an angel on your shoulder see? If you ever get hurt and you feel that you're goin' down this little angel is gonna whisper in your ear. It's gonna say, 'Get up you son of a bitch 'cause Mickey loves you'."

Also, anyone else get accepted for the LiveStrong Summit in Ohio? We should do something if there is more than a few of us.