Oncology and hematology

2,498 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 37

Your breast cancer screening questions answered

October 19, 2017Oct 19, 2017

Hey ladies! And you gents too! Everyone is affected by breast cancer, either personally or by a family member or friend. Fortunately, we live in a time where breast cancer can be detected earlier and when detected, can be treated…

There seems to be copious amount of information on the Internet: some good, some not so good. Let’s go through a few of these …

Physician voices

Death is certain. How you choose to die isn’t.

Mark McLaughlin, MD

October 17, 2017Oct 17, 20172

“It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.” -Hermann Hesse, "Siddhartha" What does it mean to die with dignity? As a neurosurgeon who…

“It is not for me to judge another man’s life. I must judge, I must choose,
I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.”
-Hermann Hesse, “Siddhartha”

What does it mean to die with dignity? As a neurosurgeon who faces life and death decisions routinely, I ponder this question often. When a terminally ill person decides to choose death over suffering, we perhaps recognize the ensuing act as a dignified death. But …

Conditions and diseases

All cancer care needs to consider the whole patient

Stephen Rosenberg, MD

October 16, 2017Oct 16, 20172

An excerpt from Cancer What You Need to Know. Treating cancer means taking care of the whole patient -- the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual. This starts at diagnosis and carries through treatment and beyond. Unfortunately, for some patients,…

An excerpt from Cancer What You Need to Know.

Treating cancer means taking care of the whole patient — the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual. This starts at diagnosis and carries through treatment and beyond.

Unfortunately, for some patients, cancer does find ways to spread that can cause physical pain, emotional strain, and difficulties in dealing with end-of-life issues. Palliative care and hospice providers are experts in helping people …

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Physician voices

Alternative medicine for cancer: Greater scrutiny is needed

Skyler Johnson, MD

October 14, 2017Oct 14, 20172

As the calendar turns to early October, I’m reminded that this is the 6th anniversary of Steve Jobs’ death. At the time of his death, I was a medical student and my wife had just completed six months of chemotherapy. I was surprised to learn that Jobs had died from complications of cancer and shocked to discover that he had initially refused conventional cancer treatment in favor of alternative medicines. …

Health technology

7 ways we are screwing up AI in health care

Leonard D'Avolio, PhD

October 13, 2017Oct 13, 2017

The health care AI space is frothy. Billions in venture capital are flowing, nearly every writer on the health care beat has at least an article or two on the topic, and there isn’t a medical conference that doesn’t at…

And yet, we seem to be blowing it.

The latest example is an investigation …

Conditions and diseases

The loss of testosterone and how that affects the partner

Anne Katz, RN, PhD

October 9, 2017Oct 9, 2017

I see these couples quite often: the man has been prescribed androgen deprivation therapy and his partner is distressed. He no longer has erections, although for some that had been a problem for years. But even then, they tell me, he at least tried occasionally. Now there is nothing. No hugs, no kisses, no hand holding, no touch. The partners are …

Physician voices

The worst moment of my life shaped me into the person I am today

Priscilla Sarmiento-Gupana, DO

October 6, 2017Oct 6, 2017

More than one million women experience pregnancy or infant loss every year in the U.S., yet many stay silent about their experiences. What if we were brave enough to break the silence? Empowered to declare, “My baby existed and mattered?”…

In 2011, I was a newly-minted pediatrician and finally living the life I dreamed of after so many years of hard work. My husband and I announced my …

Physician voices

Please don’t tell me how brave I am

Anonymous

October 6, 2017Oct 6, 201710

It’s 3 a.m., and I’m wide awake. I’m giddy with excitement and scared. I am 41 years old and tomorrow feels like the first day of school all over again. Only it isn’t. Tomorrow is my first day back at the hospital where I work as a surgeon. Tomorrow is also my first day back at work after chemotherapy.

Two months ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I underwent bilateral …

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Please don’t tell me how brave I am

Physician voices

The moment this physician realized she hated the pain scale

Cherilyn Cecchini, MD

October 6, 2017Oct 6, 20176

I was surprised when I felt my body stiffen as I became aware that an iPhone had just been fiercely thrown in my direction. “I’m calling security,” shouted a distant voice in the background. “I want the 10 mg oxycodone…

I was surprised when I felt my body stiffen as I became aware that an iPhone had just been fiercely thrown in my direction. “I’m calling security,” shouted a distant voice in the background.

“I want the 10 mg oxycodone pills! I am in 10/10 pain!” The patient shouted this to me as he abruptly got up, violently launched his phone in my direction and stomped toward the exit of the …

Physician voices

An episode of racism in medical school. Did it affect her care years later?

Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu, MD

October 4, 2017Oct 4, 2017

The young woman was curled up in a ball. She was sweating and shivering from pain. As she answered my questions — all my many, many questions — tears fell silently from her eyes. I was a third-year medical student,…

The young woman was curled up in a ball. She was sweating and shivering from pain. As she answered my questions — all my many, many questions — tears fell silently from her eyes.

I was a third-year medical student, and the resident I was working with had asked me to evaluate this woman. She had

…

Physician voices

Saying goodbye shows how strong doctor-patient bonds can be

Don S. Dizon, MD

October 2, 2017Oct 2, 2017

Starting a new job is always stressful -- the move from one institution to another, getting hospital credentials, obtaining provider credentialing for various insurances, meeting new staff, and adjusting to a new work “culture”. Having done my share of moves,…

Starting a new job is always stressful — the move from one institution to another, getting hospital credentials, obtaining provider credentialing for various insurances, meeting new staff, and adjusting to a new work “culture”. Having done my share of moves, these are nearly universal experiences. However, as I find myself walking around the hallowed halls …

Patient voices

A first-hand account of single-payer health care

Darrel Moellendorf

September 29, 2017Sep 29, 201710

I am sitting in my hospital room in a bone marrow transplant unit in a European city. I am a patient who has recently received a stem cell transplant. I am U.S. citizen, but I am a resident of a…

I am sitting in my hospital room in a bone marrow transplant unit in a European city. I am a patient who has recently received a stem cell transplant. I am U.S. citizen, but I am a resident of a country with a single-payer health system. The insurance system here covers 85 percent of the population. And participation is mandatory, although high earners can opt out by purchasing private insurance. …

Conditions and diseases

Guarding against infection falls to families as care shifts to home

Melissa Bailey

September 27, 2017Sep 27, 2017

Angela Cooper arrived home from work to discover her daughter’s temperature had spiked to 102 degrees — a sign that the teenager, who has cancer, had a potentially deadly bloodstream infection. As Cooper rushed her daughter to the hospital, her…

Cooper, who works at a Chevy dealership in Iowa, has no medical background. She is one of thousands of parents who …

Conditions and diseases

Breast cancer awareness needs to change

Linda Girgis, MD

September 27, 2017Sep 27, 2017

Pink ribbons are everywhere, and we all know what that means: breast cancer. While this has helped raise awareness on a horrible killer and the importance of early screening, it does not address the fact that there is still no cure for stage IV cancer or the fact that men get breast cancer as well. Yes, it is important that we all know that breast cancer is prevalent in our …

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Breast cancer awareness needs to change

Conditions and diseases

Experimental treatments: When patients want something outside of standard of care

Don S. Dizon, MD

September 26, 2017Sep 26, 2017

I was reading my emails this morning and came across one from the Foundation for Women’s Cancers, announcing September as Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Their social media campaign centered on the hashtag #sharethepurplelove, and the focus on clinical trial awareness…

Physician voices

A glimpse behind the scenes to make your test happen

Jennifer Lycette, MD

September 22, 2017Sep 22, 2017

I am not the first physician blogger to write about the difficulties of prior authorizations, denials, and appeals, but recent occurrences in my own practice have been so convoluted that I feel they must be shared. The nonsensical denials would…

The nonsensical denials would almost cause one to laugh, if not for the reality that each denial represents potential delay in care for the patient and redundant work for the physician. That’s work that expands …

Conditions and diseases

This October, share the message of early breast cancer detection

Stephanie Graff, MD

September 19, 2017Sep 19, 20174

I love breast cancer awareness month. As a breast medical oncologist, it gives me an opportunity to spread the message of how important early detection is for improving the success of breast cancer treatment. I am surprised regularly at the number of women who either are not doing mammography at all or who do it every couple of years when they remember. We know that women who are participating in …

Physician voices

When we are in need, we crave someone who knows us

Alexis Drutchas, MD

September 11, 2017Sep 11, 2017

During elementary school, I saw my dad mostly on weekends, because he traveled for business during the week. Between watching soccer games and running errands, he never missed an opportunity to tune the radio to Car Talk. He is an engineer with a passion for cars, and Car Talk was his Holy Grail. He would guess what was wrong before the expert hosts spoke, and he was usually right. “Aha, I knew it …

Physician voices

Cancer doesn’t take away from the beauty of life

Mark A. Lewis, MD

September 10, 2017Sep 10, 20172

As an oncologist, I have spent my career learning how to break bad news. I am still not entirely sure how to tell my children about the tumor in my pancreas, why I will be gone from our home next…

As an oncologist, I have spent my career learning how to break bad news. I am still not entirely sure how to tell my children about the tumor in my pancreas, why I will be gone from our home next week for a Whipple operation, or my excuse for abstaining from wrestling matches for the foreseeable future.

I am blessed with two kids, temperamentally diametric: a careful, sagacious nine-year-old daughter and …

Medical education

A cancer survivor embraces the light of going to medical school

Shekinah N. Elmore, MD

September 8, 2017Sep 8, 2017

This article was originally presented as student remarks at the 2015 Harvard Medical School commencement. At the end of medical school, I always return to a musing, a zen koan of sorts from Dean Jeffrey Flier. At my white coat…

This article was originally presented as student remarks at the 2015 Harvard Medical School commencement.

At the end of medical school, I always return to a musing, a zen koan of sorts from Dean Jeffrey Flier. At my white coat ceremony, a close friend and current resident, Dr. Nina Gold was chatting with the dean about the heft of our newly bestowed bright white coats. He asked her, in one beautiful …

Oncology and hematology

Articles, page 37

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