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An Advance Directive or Living Will is an important document that explains your wishes if you are so ill that you are unable to speak for yourself. You don't have to be old, sick, or facing a life-threatening diagnosis to create an advance directive. It is best to prepare the document when you are well, clear-thinking, and without the stress of a severe illness. Here is what you should know about an advance directive:   Before you face a life-threatening situation, make your wishes known [...]

It's okay to be at a loss for words when a friend or a family member has been diagnosed with cancer. Here are a few tips to help when you are not sure what to say or do.   Be honest and acknowledge that you don't know what to say. It is acceptable to say, "I'm at a loss for words," or, "This must be hard for you." However, you don't have to say anything. People feel uncomfortable with silence and think that they must [...]

It is unfortunate but visits with the doctor are getting shorter and shorter.  If it feels like your doctor has her hand on the door to exit as soon as she enters the room, you are not alone. Because of increasing pressures on doctors to see more patients in less time, everyone is getting short changed! Here are some tips to help you get the most from a precious few moments with your doctor: Know your medical and family history.  You should know your prescription [...]

As if a cancer diagnosis is not bad enough, many of the terms and words that are thrown around by doctors and nurses are just plain confusing.  How many times have you stopped your doctor to ask a question, only to be more confused by the answer? Here are a few terms you may hear at your visit: Terms: Benign: a growth or tumor that is not cancerous and does not have the ability to spread. Cancer: uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. [...]

Does air cause cancer to spread? No, air does not cause cancer to spread. This is an untruth that continues to spread like wildfire. The TRUTH is that cancer spreads when a) it goes undiagnosed or untreated or b) when it does not respond to treatment.  This myth most likely started before there were advanced imaging studies like CAT scans, PET scans and MR imaging (MRI). These studies now give us a pretty good idea about how much cancer is present in organs like the [...]