Best of Cancerwise 2017: Advice from our patients and caregivers
If you — or your child — were diagnosed with cancer, what would you do? How would you handle the treatments and the side effects? How would you keep your spirits up? These are just a few of the topics our patients and caregivers discussed on our Cancerwise blog this year.
Here's some of the best advice they shared in 2017:
On making treatment decisions
When 8-year-old Elise Robinson was diagnosed with osteosarcoma...
Best of Cancerwise 2017: 11 inspiring quotes from our patients and caregivers
Many cancer patients have mantras — or inspiring sayings — that they do their best to live by. Some are reminders that good things can come...
Stomach cancer survivor finds hope at MD Anderson, even after wife’s death
For 78-year-old widower Do Lee, the hardest part of having stomach cancer wasn’t chemotherapy, radiation or even learning to eat again after...
Immunotherapy clinical trial gives four-time skin cancer survivor another chance
As a child growing up in the 1950s, Dean Potter spent a great deal of time outdoors working on his family’s Rhode Island farm, playing at the beach and sailing on the bay. But he didn’t use sunscreen, because the product was still in its infancy back then.
“In those days, you put baby oil on to get the first good burn of the season, and then tanned the rest of the summer,” Dean says. “We didn’t know any better.”
So, when...
Pediatric leukemia survivor gives back to MD Anderson at Southwest Airlines LUV Classic
Ethan Tepera was only 13 years old when he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in October 2011. He’d been pale and feeling nauseated...
10 questions about gynecologic cancers
Each year, approximately 100,000 women are diagnosed with some form of gynecologic cancer: cervical, ovarian, fallopian tube, uterine (also...
Throat cancer survivor now singing MD Anderson’s praises
Music has always been a part of James McManus’ life. The middle son in a family of musicians, he was the lead singer of a rock ‘n roll band...
Colorectal cancer survivor: Explore your family’s cancer history
As a funeral home owner and operator in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Rev. Lawrence Meadows knows what it means when doctors start talking...
7 things sarcoma patients should know about allografts
For Ewing’s sarcoma and other types of sarcomas, treatment can sometimes include surgery to remove a tumor. That can also mean removing part...
Identical twin’s tissue donation gives rare sarcoma survivor a second chance
When Marian Fields first felt a lump in her back in 2012, she asked her twin sister Mary Jane to look at it. Her twin said it looked just...
For melanoma survivor’s son, MD Anderson-Topgolf corporate alliance is personal
MD Anderson has been a part of Len Turpin’s family for generations. In the 1960s, his paternal great-grandmother was successfully treated...
After a breast cancer diagnosis, twins become genetic testing advocates
Twin sisters Ana and Roxana Lopez were only 17 when their mother died of breast cancer. Over the next eight years, several of their aunts...
Hypnosedation: Is it possible to have surgery without general anesthesia?
If you were told that there was a way to have surgery painlessly without general anesthesia, would you try it? Breast cancer survivor Kelly...
Cervical cancer survivor becomes a mother, thanks to fertility-sparing treatment
After being diagnosed with stage IB cervical cancer in October 2012, Allison Pozzi consulted four different specialists near her San Francisco...
Immunotherapy clinical trial gives hope to leukemia, melanoma survivor
An acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis (AML) in May 2016 came as no real surprise to Julia Dutton. She’d been fighting debilitating fatigue for...
Breast cancer survivor finds comfort in quilting community
Michelle Hines has never had ovarian cancer. But that didn’t stop the Maryland transplant from making a quilt that directly supports MD Anderson...
After stem cell transplant, multiple myeloma survivor scales Mt. Kilimanjaro
Gary Rudman has a motto: “Never quit. Never stop. Not today. Not ever.” And he’s lived by it throughout his multiple myeloma journey....
Celebrating life after a cord blood transplant
April 4 is just another day to most people. But to Erika Evans, it’s an important one. This year, it marked the fifth anniversary of the day...
Multiple myeloma survivor finds hope, empowerment in clinical trials
Gary Rudman began experiencing severe lower back and leg pain in early 2013, just a few years after he retired from the U.S. Air Force. His...
Ovarian cancer symptoms: 4 things to know
Bloating. A feeling of fullness. Constipation. All of these can be symptoms of ovarian cancer. They can also be the result of a bad meal.<...
Five-time salivary gland cancer survivor faces life with a smile
Kelly Mireles’ smile is the facial feature most people notice when first meeting her. That alone is a minor miracle.
Kelly had most...
After clinical trial reveals lung cancer, survivor becomes early detection advocate
When Sherry Zorzi first picked up a cigarette as a teenager, she never dreamed that one day she’d be telling people not to smoke.
“...
A caregiver’s advice for preserving quality of life
Singer Kimmie Rhodes had been married to legendary music producer Joe Gracey for 28 years when he died of metastatic esophageal cancer in...
Remission after allogeneic stem cell transplant and clinical trials
When Sandra Hurley was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) back in 1997, an Ohio-based oncologist gave her two to four more...
Tongue cancer teaches patient and caregiver the art of reinvention
Singer and songwriter Kimmie Rhodes holds a somewhat unique distinction: she’s supported two different people on their oral cancer journeys...