Abby had breast cancer

Well, not really Abby from ER, but the actress who played her, Maura Tierney.

She was set to star in the series Parenthood (which I think is great, and would have been even better with MT); however, she left the show after filming the pilot to undergo treatment for breast cancer.

Implant shows up in airport scanner

My Left Breast Put Fancy TSA Scanner to the Test
by Sandra Fish

"A funny thing happened to me at airport security this week: The full-body scanner appeared to detect my fake left breast."

Read the full story

Losing faith in cancer screening, by Julie Mason

The Ottawa Citizen
November 2, 2009

"Despite the long lineups at flu shot clinics, there are still an astonishing number of Canadians who say they aren't planning to get the H1N1 vaccine, including the usual suspects: the vaccine conspiracy theorists who think it's all a money grab by Big Pharma; the health purists who won't put anything in their bodies but reverse osmosis water and mung beans; and the thrill seekers who smoke, drive without seatbelts and bungee jump from high places."

Read the full article

The bureaucracy of life and death

Ontario creates a dead end on the front lines of cancer treatment
By Julie Mason, The Ottawa Citizen, October 18, 2009

Read the story

Read for a Cure

In addition to the article by Laurie Kingston in the Centretown Buzz (mentioned in an earlier post), there is a piece about Read for a Cure written by Alice McClymont and Shirley Griffioen. Scroll down to page 5 in the online version to read the article.

Canadian researchers make breast cancer breakthrough

Scientists decode breast cancer tumour's DNA
Telegraph Journal, Published Thursday October 8th, 2009

TORONTO - In a world first, Canadian scientists have decoded all three billion letters in the DNA sequence of a metastatic breast cancer tumour and identified the mutations that caused the malignancy to spread.

Read the full story

Cheryl Kardish-Levitan on 'A' Channel - Sept 25

Set your VCR/PVRs!

Cheryl Kardish-Levitan, one of our Just Doing It team members who has now raised more than $110,000 for the Run for the Cure over the years, will be on A Channel tomorrow at 9.15 am.

If you can watch please do so and support her from afar.

Congratulations Cheryl!!!!

The gaping hole in our health-care system

“Canadians are covered for most treatments and drugs, but those with cancer know all too well some drugs are not paid for by government plans” - Julie Mason, Ottawa Citizen

I can identify with what Julie Mason has to say in her latest column about the potential cost of drugs for those of us needing cancer treatments. While I was on I.V. chemo, the drugs that I received were completely covered by our Canadian health care system. Now that I am on an injection drug (Faslodex) I have to pay for it myself, to the tune of a whopping $696.30 every 4 weeks.

I am incredibly fortunate to be covered by my employer’s drug plan; my portion of the prescription comes to $139.26. I am also fortunate to receive 75% of my salary through long-term-disability coverage.

Without my employer’s drug plan and disability coverage, I would be paying the $696.30 out of the $732 (after taxes) that I receive from my CPP disability. Which means that I would have to deplete my RRSPs, go on public assistance, live in my sister’s basement, or all of the above.

Read the full story

Read other stories by Julie Mason by clicking on her name after Labels below

The End of the Ride by Sue Hendler

Sue's final column appears in today's paper.

"If you are reading this, you'll know that my cancer journey has ended. I gave this column to Whig-Standard editor Steve Serviss some time ago as I wanted to have a way of providing closure to this series which started in June 2008."

Read the full story

Read past columns by Sue Hendler by clicking on her name below.

Fuck cancer

The work of living and dying, by Sue Hendler

Today Sue writes about: The work of living and dying: Will the next day be better or worse?

"Throughout the day, the phone has been ringing, with people asking if I need or want anything. There has been the occasional outing to City Park or to any sunny spot brightening the outside of my building. There is always the adding of items to my to-do list as I think about my will, my memorial service, my messy office at Queen's."

You can read other columns by Sue Hendler by clicking on her name below under Labels.

A gift to last: Joining Sue's Care Team lifts friend's sense of helplessness

Sue Hendler's latest column in the Whig Standard is written by her friend Karla McGrath. In the column Karla talks about Sue's care team and the gift Sue has given by letting her friends know what they can do to help.

Read today's column

You can read other columns by Sue Hendler by clicking on her name below, after Labels.

Me and my doctor (2), by Sue Hendler

Me and my doctor (2): Living for now, preparing for then

In today's Whig Standard newspaper column, Sue Hendler resumes a conversation with her oncologist, Dr. Yolanda Madarnas, she began in her last column.

Read the article

Read other articles by Sue Hendler by clicking on her name after Labels below.

Impossible dilemmas

In theory, if grownups of sound mind with devastating, intractable and painful illnesses clearly want to choose an early demise, I firmly believe it's their right to do so. But the right choice is not always so clear.

By Julie Mason, The Ottawa Citizen, July 26, 2009

Read the full article

To read other articles by Julie Mason, click on her name below after Labels.

Me and my doctor, by Sue Hendler

In today's column, Sue has a conversation with her oncologist, Dr. Yolanda Madarnas, about what we do, and why we do it.

When asked why and how she's been able to share the stories of her cancer experience in her columns, Sue replys "It's become an escape as well as a healthy dose of realism", which is exactly how I feel about writing this blog.

If you would like to read Sue Hendler's previous columns, click on her name below, after Label.

Read my post: Bloggin' is good for the noggin

Clinical trials

In this week's Kingston Whig Standard column, Sue Hendler writes:

I'm not on trial -- the chemicals I take for my disease are

"Being part of a clinical trial can make you feel good in that you are getting the very latest drug development -- state-of-the-art treatment -- for your cancer. It can make you happy that you are doing something altruistic, too, as you are helping the medical community assess whether this drug is worth more study if it is deemed to show promise.

It can also be scary to be a participant in this kind of research. No one really knows what the drug will do to an actual human body, so that's a little unnerving. On the other hand, you're getting what seems to be an infinite number of tests to see how your various organs, as well as your body as a whole, is dealing with the drug."

Read the full article

To read other newpaper articles by Sue Hendler, click on her name after Labels below.

Ottawa Citizen: Columns by Julie Mason

Here are Julie Mason’s latest columns in the Ottawa Citizen:

The F word: Fatigue is the most common challenge of cancer -- pervasive, life-changing, and not responsive to rest. But there is an answer

The moral implications of the fight against cancer

A show of hands: 'Please, Dr. Dogood or Nurse Caring, would you mind washing?'

If you would like to read other columns written by Julie Mason, click on her name after “Labels” below.

The right to choose

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." - Benjamin Franklin

“I’m planning to live forever. So far, so good.” - Unknown

No one gets out of this life alive… yet death is a topic that most of us shy away from discussing, especially with those people that we love the most.

Well, I have news for all of you healthy folks out there: people with cancer are thinking about it and sometimes even talking about it with one another.

No, I’m not being negative. No, I’m not dwelling on it. It is just a reality of life that I want to consider before I’m in a critical situation and can no longer speak for myself.

In this week’s Kingston Whig Standard column, Sue Hendler asks the question:

Should we have the right to choose death with dignity, peace and care?

My answer is a resounding YES.

You can read other columns written by Sue Hendler by clicking on her name after Labels below.

Right to die Society of Canada

Learning from Elton John about how to write a bucket list

Sue Hendler's latest Kingston Whig Standard column is called: Learning from Elton John about how to write a bucket list.

Although we both attended the concert, things were too chaotic for Sue & I to connect that night. However, it was good to know there was another kindred spirit in the crowd; both of us enjoying the concert from our separate seats; both checking off something from our bucket lists that we had wanted to do for years.

Learning from Elton John about how to write a bucket list

My bucket list

You can read other columns by Sue Hendler by clicking on her name below, after Labels.

A good-news story about cancer

Read about Princess Margaret's one-day service from biopsy to treatment plan in Julie Mason's Ottawa Citizen column:
A good-new story about cancer.

Read other columns by Julie Mason

Sue Hendler's latest column

In today’s Kingston Whig Standard column, Sue Hendler writes about new math, my results and a potential solution to the parking problem.

You can read other columns by Sue by clicking on her name below, after Labels.