Autologous stem cell transplants – part of therapy being used more and more for other diseases

January 16th was the tenth anniversary of my autologous (given my own previously harvested stem cells back) transplant. (If you hit that link you'll see what is probably not the greatest picture of me.) The stem cells then rebuilt my immune system which was compromised by my prior six days of high dose chemotherapy. That … Read more

“Spirituality may be tied to easier cancer course”

Not that this is a surprise – it's been shown in other studies. The new analyses reviewed previous studies of spirituality involving more than 44,000 cancer patients altogether. The studies varied in many ways, but religion and spirituality were associated with better health regardless of specific religion or set of spiritual beliefs. A sense of … Read more

Exercise and cancer treatment

An interesting study (in mice, but still interesting!) of exercise, chemotherapy, and tumor growth. From the NY Times. How Exercise May Aid Cancer Treatment In a new study involving mice, aerobic exercise slowed the growth of breast cancer tumors and made the cancer more sensitive to chemotherapy. The results raise the possibility that exercise may … Read more

Time flies: 9th anniversary of my 20 day stay in Sloan Kettering

Nine years since I checked in. I posted about this anniversary in 2008, with some additional links here – Time flies when you're having fun: Today is second anniversary of start of my twenty day stay at Sloan Kettering This was for my "high dose" chemotherapy, aiming to kill any remaining surviving cancer cells from … Read more

3 Separate cancers in one year – no problem! Guy’s trekking to the South Pole

Well, he's a better man then me… From the Telegraph (UK). Hit the link forthe whole article – it's a quick read – pretty amazing. British grandfather celebrates beating three types of cancer in a year with trek to South Pole Doctors operated almost immediately, removing parts of his large and small intestines, stomach muscles … Read more

Pregnant women and exercise (specifically marathons)

Pretty good and detailed feature in yesterday's NY Times. Women – as everyone knows – are tougher then men. For Pregnant Marathoners, Two Endurance Tests When Paula Radcliffe won the New York City Marathon in 2007, nine months after giving birth to a daughter, Isla, Radcliffe was considered an anomaly. Her intense training through her … Read more