Dana MacFarlane may have been the one who received a leukemia diagnosis, but she’s certain every one of her family members suffered just as much during her treatment. Still, she chooses to see the good that’s come out of her journey.
“I’m closer to everyone in my family due to this cancer,” she says.
That’s been especially true for her relationship with her oldest daughter, professional pole vaulter Demi Payne.
“We...
Two-time widower Paul Nielsen was in excellent health at age 67. So the former marathon runner knew something was wrong when he started feeling...
My late wife, Melissa, was diagnosed with stage IV synovial sarcoma — a rare type of soft tissue cancer — in January 2016. She died from complications...
In the early 2000s, Virginia Plett watched her mother and aunt successfully undergo breast cancer treatment at MD Anderson. So when the Kansas resident received her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2017, she knew exactly where she was going for her treatment.
“My mother wouldn’t have stood for anything else,” jokes Virginia, whose mom Margaret Looper has been a volunteer at MD Anderson in The Woodlands for the past 13 years....
When he was 15, my husband Jesse underwent a colectomy, a procedure that removed his colon. Jesse opted to do this after learning that he...
Dana MacFarlane is still in awe of her sudden onset of acute myeloid leukemia in July 2017.
“I take blood tests on a routine basis...
Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer or have completed one treatment and are preparing yourself for the next, the thought of radiation...
When it comes to contagious diseases like the flu, cancer patients are among those most vulnerable to infection. So, it’s important for cancer...
Everyone is dealt a card or two in life that will pose their greatest challenges. For me, that card was being diagnosed with stage III lung...
Suzanne Phillips enjoyed 26 years working for Dow Chemical Co., much of that time as a researcher in product development. It was a thrill...
Before I was on a clinical trial, I felt sorry for patients participating in them. I considered clinical trials a last-ditch effort, and felt...
My dad has been a patient at MD Anderson since July 2015, receiving treatment for stage IV renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer....
When I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in January 2017, my biggest fear was how my kids would be affected.
My husband and...
As a registered nurse and a cancer survivor, I have a somewhat unique perspective: I can see things from the point of view of both the patient...
Ten years ago, I completed my first shift as an inpatient volunteer at MD Anderson’s Texas Medical Center Campus. For the past six years I...
Anesthesia is used to make you emotionally and physically comfortable during surgery. It can relieve anxiety, block pain and, in some cases...