TSA Tries to be Helpful

Many of us have horror stories about interactions with the TSA at various airports. Some of them have even made the national news; do you remember the very old woman in a wheelchair who was taken aside and frisked because she was wearing Depends? My own infuriating experiences have always been related to the newer x-ray screening machines and the fact that I wear a prosthesis. To be fair, the bad episodes are happening less often as (I assume) the TSA people who read those images have become more experienced at differentiating a prosthesis from a bomb. It does still happen, however, so I approach each machine with some trepidation. As I have written before, my strategies depend upon the mood of the moment. If I am feeling especially tough and feisty, I whip out the prosthesis and toss it in the bin along with my shoes. That always garners a number of horrified looks, but sometimes I don't care. If I am feeling more shy or vulnerable, I take it out in the ladies' room and stick it in my purse. And sometimes I just take my chances. Read more... Comments (0)

Sex and Cancer

  I have written many times before about sexuality and cancer. The bottom line is that cancer is never a sexual aide, that a diagnosis and treatment impacts intimacy for everyone, and that it is not talked about as much as it should be. For most people with a new diagnosis, worries about sex are not at the top of the worry list; there are exceptions, but most of us are more distressed about possibly dying, the impact on our children, worrying about chemo and hair loss and nausea, professional issues, etc. It is also usually not at the top of our doctors' lists as there are so many things to discuss in the relatively brief appointment times. And, of course, are doctors are human and not all are so comfortable talking about sex. In our practice, I know that one of the common reasons for a referral to me is sexual concerns--expressed to the oncologist and quickly referred. Read more... Comments (0)

Same Issues in England

  It is always comforting to me to realize that others share our concerns. There is nothing surprising in this article from the BBC about survivorship issues in England and the need for physicians to expand the conversation beyond the specific medical concerns. People completing cancer treatment the world over must share the same worries about returning to work, families, sexuality, energy, etc. The health care system is somewhat different in Britain, and GPs (general practitioners, similar to our PCPs) seem to do more of the oncology follow up than is generally true in the US. Studies here have suggested that women who are followed by their PCPs after breast cancer treatment do just as well as those who continue to see their medical oncologists, but that is generally not the system. I suspect, in the era of more attention to costs, that may become increasingly true here, too. It is less expensive to see the PCP than to see a specialist.

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Understanding Risk of DCIS

  Whatever the specifics of a breast cancer diagnosis, women worry. Of course we may worry a little more or a litte less depending on the statistics we hear or some of the details of the pathology, but we generally understand that no one gets a guarantee and that we are each an "n" of one. It has always interested me that this is equally true for women who are diagnosed with DCIS (or LCIS) which is generally described as "Stage 0". In fact, some doctors say that DCIS is not cancer, that it is something that might become cancer in the future if not treated. And the real kicker there is that many DCISs (is that the plural?) would never become invasive, but that we don't know how to tell those sleeper ones from the potentially dangerous ones. Read more... Comments (0)

Fear

  Fear and anxiety are constant companions in the early months or even years of living with breast cancer. As time passes and, if we are lucky and stay well, they diminish, but they rarely vanish forever. All it takes is hearing about a friend whose cancer has recurred or experiencing a symptom that likely will go away but causes panic in the short term or reading something about a woman who has died of breast cancer...and the fear grips us. Read more... Comments (0)