When you receive a cancer diagnosis, you quickly learn just how precious life is.
Almost seven years ago, I learned I had stage IIIC, HER2-positive breast cancer. My very first mammogram revealed a large tumor in my right breast, just five days before my 41st birthday.
Because my mother died of lung cancer at age 48, my husband and I felt like time was of the essence. We immediately packed up and headed to MD Anderson ...
When Nancy Pinkston’s melanoma crept back, taking up residence in lymph nodes under her right arm, she and her oncologist in Dallas discussed...
Even when Shannon Long found out that she had an acoustic neuroma, a type of benign brain tumor, her gratitude never wavered.
“I was...
Growing up in Lebanon, good health came easily to Vartkes Taktajian. Running, soccer and basketball filled many of the natural athlete’s hours. The husband and father of two felt robust until 1987, when he began experiencing a sharp pain in his neck and trouble breathing. By that time, Vartkes had been living in Houston and working for a local refinery for 13 years.
Assuming the pain and breathing troubles were due to a bad cold...
The first time Anthony Palmer assisted on an intradural spinal tumor surgery, the spinal nerves looked like fiber-optic cables, he thought...
Tucked away in our Head and Neck Center are three artists. But instead of choosing the perfect color for a painting, they select the perfect...
As an attorney, Corey Ellis has endured strict deadlines and harsh hours. All of that, though, pales in comparison to the stress he experienced...
Ava can’t take her eyes off the laptop screen. But it’s not a game or a movie that has so fully captured the 7-year-old’s attention. It’s...
Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that helps your body fight infection. A condition called neutropenia occurs when the number of...
Everyone’s cancer journey is unique, and mine has certainly been more unusual than most.
It began in August 2005, when I was diagnosed...
Like many students, Jasmine Ross started her junior year diving into new classes and projects, but in February 2011, the Texas A&M University-Corpus...
How do I download MD Anderson’s app? Which medical websites can I trust? Where can I find the latest research on my disease?
The information...
Historically, a lot of people who’ve had cancer didn’t have good outcomes. But it’s through their hardships — and the continuous breakthroughs...
When Sherry Zorzi first picked up a cigarette as a teenager, she never dreamed that one day she’d be telling people not to smoke.
“...
Nimble robotic digits smaller than a finger that can excise cancerous tissue from the throat without cracking the patient’s jaw. Patient-physician...
A growing number of adults under age 50 are facing colorectal cancer, and while cancer at any age brings lifestyle changes, these changes...
By the time Jennifer Weihe decided to try laser interstitial thermal therapy, or LITT, with neurosurgeon Ganesh Rao, M.D., she’d already been...
Oscar Ruiz’s home is decorated with many photos he’s taken, from architectural shots and scenes he’s encountered during his travels to images...
When I proposed to my girlfriend, Sarah, in September 2013, I thought that would be the biggest moment of my year. Little did I know that...
Last fall, Carol Porter, D.N.P., joined MD Anderson as vice president of Nursing Practice and chief nursing officer. In this role, she provides...
Debbie Ann Heckeroth wants everyone to know it’s possible to live a good life while having stage IV cancer.
Debbie lived in California...
When Cathy Tompkins complained of an unusual pain near her sternum, doctors took an X-ray and told her she was likely constipated. When her...
In the late 1990s, doctors began to pay attention to chemobrain, a term used by an increasing number of patients to describe mental symptoms...