It all comes full circle

Hello again. It's been a LONG while since I've posted, but I'm pretty bad at blogging and life is crazy.

I just started a Master's program to get my M.A. in Counseling and then get my LPC. I haven't known exactly what I wanted to do with my license until just a few weeks ago when I had an epiphany.

I want to open a therapy and counseling clinic for cancer fighters and survivors! I want to work with them in group, individual and couple/marriage/family settings. But, it wouldn't just be that. I want to open a clinic that would be a place of healing and strength building for all fighters and survivors. It would have art classes, writing classes, cooking classes, nutrition classes, photography classes, gardening classes, yoga classes, bicycling classes, basic cancer/life classes. There would be movie nights, Young Adult socials, talent shows, fundraisers, and many opportunities to participate in 5ks and marathons, outdoor hikes and excursions. There would be conferences and forums to discuss important ideas in the cancer community.

It's like.... think of all the things you hear cancer fighters and survivors doing, and mesh it all together, but in a cohesive therapeutic collaboration. I honestly think that having these outlets could benefit so many people. I'd want this clinic to be close enough to a hospital(s) where treatment occurs and I could have a shuttle running between the two to make it easier for people to get involved.

I know that during my own battle, there were MANY things, and still are, that were missing. So many things I wish that I had been able to be a part of. I want to provide that for others. I KNOW how therapeutic and essential being involved in these things can be. I know how important it is not only for mental health and physical health to learn how to cook and eat nutritionally, or to get the skills necessary to write blogs along the journey, or to even just journal feelings. So many things that are just so awesome but people don't know where to go. They don't know how to start. They don't have the support. I want to be that. Just thinking of it makes me so excited that I wish The Doctor could come and take me to my future right now so I can see it.... (The Doctor is in reference to Doctor Who, if you didn't catch that.)

This blog was sort of the beginning. I haven't been able to figure out exactly how to implement it all, but I'm hoping through discussions with others, I can create enough of a database of information to get the ball rolling.

What are/were some things that you feel you need help or understanding about with regards to your cancer journey, whether it be your own battle or that of a loved one? I want to help EVERYONE involved, so that includes family. Knowing where I want to go has already helped me put myself in the right mind frame while doing my studies. I am already thinking about my future clients who are looking for any type of hope or comfort.

What an exciting journey it is.

Imaging Tests and Radiation Concerns

I found this article the other day.

Use of Imaging tests soars, raising questions on radiation risks

Now, I totally understand the concern. Radiation is bad. That's legit. However, that is a price I am willing to pay in order to continue having my bi-yearly check ups to see if my cancer recurring. Really, there is no other way for doctors to catch cancer before it is too advance. Also, a CT scan is how my cancer was found. I am very very grateful for this technology and I really hope doctors don't get "scared away" from a reliable resource that has truly been a blessing. If doctors are going to be even more selective in when they use these types of tests, I am afraid of what that might do for a lot of people suffering silently with cancer. "Oh, you're 25 and have never had any health problems ever? Nahhhh all these signs that in ANYONE ELSE would make me think cancer can't possibly be cancer with you. I'm not going to request that test for you. Have some antibiotics. Go change your diet and you'll feel better." Um, no. It's cancer.

One thing they should really look at is the increase in diseases and illnesses that benefit from imaging testing. More cancer, more brain injuries, more heart disease, etc. etc. So of course there are going to be more tests requested of this variety, but I think that it saves lives and is perfectly valid to use to just check on something.

Chemo Brain

Something that affects almost every cancer patient is "lovingly" called chemo brain. I suffer from it. I try to tell people it is a real thing. It is hard for me sometimes to explain it effectively. I found this article today that definitely helps me know I am not just going crazy.

Here is the original link: A Look At Cognitive Deficits From Cancer Chemotherapy

When we think about cancer, what we usually think about is a cure. Science has made great strides in treatments for cancer, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Some cancers, such as breast cancer and childhood leukemia, have 90% survival rates, and survival is always a cause for celebration.

But with the success cancer treatments, questions arise after the celebration. What are the long-term effects of chemotherapy? How will someone’s quality of life be impacted after the cancer? These are important questions to ask. Chemotherapy has many side effects immediately after delivery; everyone knows about the nausea, vomiting, and headaches. But there are also consequences of chemotherapy in the long term, including cognitive dysfunction. Patients who have been treated with chemotherapy for leukemia as children suffer from increased medical complications, poor academic outcomes, and impairments in executive brain function such as working memory and attention. Adult women who have been treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer show problems with memory performance, which correlates with brain changes included decreased volume in areas like superior frontal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, important areas for learning and memory.

How do we go about trying to help people with this cognitive dysfunction? The usual “cognitive enhancers” like Ritalin may work, though they might have a larger side effect profile in some people who have undergone chemo, and Modafanil also shows promise. Erithropoetin works during chemotherapy, but what about later? But the real issue is not treatment, it’s know why people who undergo chemotherapy have long-term cognitive dysfunction. How does it occur? What does it mean?

If we are going to help the cognitive dysfunction that occurs after chemotherapy, we need to find ways to study it. There are many potential confounds. First, there are the confounds associated with cancer itself: fatigue, the effects of surgery, elevated cytokines and other inflammatory markers. Chemotherapy drugs are often given in batches, and the combinations are often changed. There are many things that could confound how much cognitive impairment cancer patients experience. In order to try and get around the many confounds associated with studying the cognitive effects of chemotherapy in humans, Ellen Walker and her group at Temple University are looking at the effects of chemotherapy drugs in mice, looking in particular at adults, and at juvenile mice treated with chemotherapy.

First, the group looked at adult female mice doing an operant task, putting their noses into a nosepoke hole to receive food. The animals learn the task on the first day, and are back into the test the second day, to see how well they recall what they learned.
Walker and her group found that chemotherapy drugs like paclitaxel, carboplatin, and 5-Fluorouracil disrupted the performance of the mice, and the effects were not dose dependent. In a dose-dependent response, the learning deficits would get worse as the dose increased, but in this case, the effects of learning were actually worse at lower doses of carboplatin, meaning that we can’t just lower the dose to try and prevent the effects of cognitive impairment.

Walker et al also wanted to look at the effects of chemotherapy in a childhood model. So they looked a young mice treated with the chemotherapy drugs mexthotrexate or cytarabine individually and in combination during development, carefully mimicking the doses used in humans. Then they tested the mice in a cognitive test called ‘novel object recognition’ when they were adults. Novel object is fairly simple, you give a mouse a single object on the first day, which it explores and gets to know. On the second day, you give it the first object, and a second, unknown object. This makes the mouse discriminate between an object it has seen before and one it hasn’t. Mice treated with methotrexate or cytarabine showed deficits in novel object discrimination, suggesting that being treated with chemotherapy drugs during development resulted in cognitive deficits, similar to those seen in humans.

And the changes went further than cognitive deficits. The mice treated with chemotherapy during development also showed more sensitivity to the rewarding properties of amphetamine (spending more time in drug paired environments).
By developing models of chemotherapy treatment in mice, Walker et al hope to understand the mechanisms that might underlie the cognitive dysfunctions seen in humans. Then, they hope to find ways to help, and help cancer survivors experience their new lease on life without some of the problems that might go with it.

A Brand New Day, a brand new blog

For my inaugural post on this new blog, I'm a little intimidated. I feel a great responsibility to convey the right tone and deliver such an important message.

After attending the 5th annual OMG! Summit for Young Adults in Las Vegas, put on by Stupid Cancer, I had an overwhelming drive to do more about cancer awareness. Not only for ME, but for all those that I love and care for. Surely I could be talking more and getting real facts and information to the people who matter most to me. Surely there is a way to prevent at least one less person the pain and trial that is cancer. I realized I could use the digital resources that have been given me to rally for this cause. And thus, a new blog was born.

My goal and hope from this is a conglomerate of many things, namely: to aid cancer patients and survivors in becoming first and foremost their own advocate and connecting them to others who've faced a similar battle; to instruct and enlighten everyone I can in being aware of the signs of cancer, and how they can help and support others who have cancer; to find a way to fix the major heath care problems we have in this country, mainly through posting facts and information showing current data and measures that need to be taken; and lastly (unless I want to add more later, for funsies) to give my unique perspective on life after cancer, what I wish had happened before, during and directly after treatment, and what ever else I feel is important to discuss to get people educated.


This blog is not to outright share my story, keep you informed on tests and treatments, or even to really express my feelings about me and my cancer history. This isn't a rant page. That all can be found here. (I'll start updating on there again soon, I hope.) This is a whole new venue, a whole new mission. This is not about me. This is about YOU!  This blog is about making sure no one else goes through what I did, and if you are, to help you navigate this whole new world (cue Aladdin) as smoothly and comfortably as possible.

Cancer sucks, but you don't have to do it alone. There is a lot of information out there. It can be overwhelming. I know I've missed so much and wish that I had known more before, during and after cancer. The more I try, the closer I might be to my goal in helping enlighten someone's mind about cancer.

Stupid Cancer. Survivors RULE!