Christina Applegate Has a Double Mastectomy

Yesterday, the headlines read something like “Christina Applegate says she is 100% clear of cancer.” I thought to myself “Wow that is a bit of a bold statement.” I mean, how can she be so sure? Today, the news broke that the “Samantha Who?” star had undergone a double mastectomy. For those that may not know, this means she had both her breasts surgically removed. The 36 year old actress had been diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast earlier this month, so why the surgery to remove both breasts, which some may see as radical? In her first interview … Continue reading

Same Insurance, Different Treatments

A study shows that all women who have military health insurance do not necessarily receive the same exact types of health care treatments. The study showed that black women who had breast cancer were less likely to get aggressive treatments for it than were white women who had the same form of cancer. The study was done by researchers who were based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Cancer Institute. Researchers compared the types of treatments for breast cancer that were given to women who had health insurance through the Department of Defense. The women in the … Continue reading

My Cancer and Stress

When your cancer treatments are done most people think you are done with cancer. The reality is much different. The psychological issues that come with a cancer diagnosis last long after the last treatment is over. With me, at my first oncology appointment the doctor said to me “We can treat you this time but when it comes back we can’t”. First let me say that those words from him caused me a great deal of stress. Here is this doctor and he is basically telling me I was going to have a recurrence and it would kill me. For … Continue reading

Who Was Susan G. Komen?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And one name I hear associated with the fight against breast cancer over and over is Susan G. Komen. Susan G. Komen was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of thirty-three. Her three year battle with the disease included nine operations and three courses of chemotherapy. She passed away in 1980. Her sister, Nancy Brinker, founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982. Brinker felt that her sister might have had a better battle against the disease if more people understood cancer and how it is treated. Komen had also asked … Continue reading