Metastatic melanoma patient grateful for leptomeningeal disease clinical trial
I was 40 when I was diagnosed with stage IB melanoma. Five years after I had surgery to remove the tumor on my back, I was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma.
My local oncologist in Oklahoma City reviewed my PET scan and told me to come back in three months to recheck the suspicious spots found on my lungs. My wife and I felt like they were treating me as ‘just another cancer patient.’
Before I had even gotten into the car...
How to manage the fear of cancer recurrence
Overcoming cancer or completing treatment can make many survivors feel like they’re on top of the world. But there’s another very real, raw...
Diagnosed with breast cancer after menopause? Aromatase inhibitors can help
The female hormone estrogen is “fuel” for about 80% of breast cancers in women who’ve gone through menopause.
“Menopause itself...
After rectal cancer diagnosis, horse trainer is back in the saddle again
As a horse trainer, Trey Bullinger spends hours in the saddle every day. That’s why he blamed hemorrhoids when he noticed blood in his stool.
“Moving up and down on a horse can do that to you,” he says.
But Trey would soon learn that the bleeding was caused by rectal cancer, not hemorrhoids.
Rectal cancer symptoms provide a wake-up call
Trey’s story starts like that of many rectal cancer survivors. He...
Stomach cancer survivor to complete cross-country bike trip
When Daniel ‘Joe’ Einspahr, M.D., and his son bike into Virginia Beach next summer, they will have more than one reason to celebrate. Not...
Mantle cell lymphoma survivor creates COVID-19-killing computer game
Musician Jeff Blankenship was playing guitar in the orchestra pit during a local theatre’s live production of “American Idiot” when he began...
A Ewing’s sarcoma recurrence won’t stop me from living
I recently completed radiation therapy, but I’m still waiting to find out if it was successful in destroying a tumor that spread to my lung...
Immunotherapy clinical trial and surgery get kidney cancer survivor back in the game
Last year, Primus Moore was among seven referees selected to officiate Oklahoma’s all-state high school football games.
“It’s inspiring...
How I’ve stayed positive despite a triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis
Before I enrolled in one of MD Anderson’s triple-negative breast cancer clinical trial in November 2016, I was in a dark place. I’d been re-diagnosed...
Racing despite adenoid cystic carcinoma metastasis
In the last five years, I’ve competed in 10 professional outrigger canoeing competitions across North and South America. I’ve also had stereotactic...