Metastatic breast cancer survivor: Living with ‘realistic optimism’
As a metastatic breast cancer survivor, I participate in a lot of support groups. I’m probably active in at least five or six on Facebook alone. The people I’m closest to are in the “Stage IV Under 40” and the “Pregnant or Breastfeeding with Cancer” communities.
One of the hardest parts of having metastatic -- or stage IV -- cancer is losing friends in those support groups. And since I was diagnosed in October 2016, I’ve had...
How to build resiliency and move forward
The couch was Janice Simon’s refuge. Overwhelmed and exhausted, the comforting cushions and a healthy dose of HGTV temporarily kept the personal...
For some spinal tumor and breast cancer patients, too hot or too cold is just right
Surgeons at MD Anderson are using extreme heat and cold as their weapons against some forms of cancer.
They’re finding that the minimally...
5 things we learned from our daughter’s rotationplasty
In September 2014, when she was just eight years old, our daughter Elise was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. It was in her right leg. Part of her treatment involved a surgery called a “rotationplasty,” which my husband and I had never even heard of prior to coming to MD Anderson.
Here are five lessons we’ve learned since then — about rotationplasties, sarcoma and life in general.
Realize kids see things...
The doctor behind our Healthy Heart Program
Susan Gilchrist, M.D., loves to take on a challenge and to build things. Her latest passion is building a program that helps cancer patients...
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...
Cervical cancer survivor: Why I support the HPV vaccine
As a nurse, I’m a firm believer in vaccines. And that’s even truer now that I’m a survivor of cervical cancer, which is caused by the human...
Stage IV breast cancer survivor: Look at your family history
Everyone on my father’s side of the family has died of cancer — my dad of prostate cancer, my grandpa of lung cancer, and my grandma of kidney...
Cancer pain management brings patients relief
For 16 years, Rose Trapolino had a hard time walking because of the pain and tingling in her feet.
The breast cancer survivor suffered...
Metastatic melanoma survivor: 'Coming back to MD Anderson is a great feeling'
In May 2016, Victor Barreiro learned his melanoma, originally treated in his hometown of Mexico City in 2014, had returned and spread throughout...
The future of cancer diagnosis and treatment: Liquid biopsies can reveal cancer and more
Some of cancer’s secrets are hiding in patients’ blood. Uncovering them involves only a simple blood draw.
MD Anderson is taking innovative...
Meet Randal Weber, M.D., our chief patient experience officer
Many of our head and neck cancer patients know Randal Weber, M.D., as their surgeon. But Weber recently took on a new role as MD Anderson’...
Starting chemotherapy? 6 questions to ask
Finding out that you need chemotherapy can be overwhelming. But as I’ve learned from working with cancer patients as a nurse over the past...
MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program: 5 things to know
While its name was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s ambitious goal to put a man on the moon, the Moon Shots Program...
Who is radiation physicist Julianne Pollard-Larkin?
Julianne Pollard-Larkin, an assistant professor of Radiation Physics, always loved math and science. As a teen, she once signed herself up...
My stem cell transplant: 5 things people ask me
After I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in April 2015, I was treated at MD Anderson by Dr. Robert Orlowski with chemotherapy and a stem...