From the category archives:

Cancer Treatment

Freedom Pharmacy…not your everyday pharmacy!

by Josh on January 25, 2010

Freedom 2 When was the last time you walked into your local pharmacy and had a genuine and meaningful conversation with your pharmacist? Most of us don’t have this type of relationship with our pharmacist, where they take a vested interest in our health and go the extra mile. I believe it is important to have this level of care… and this is where my good friend Lois Adams and the one of a kind Freedom Pharmacy team comes in. Freedom Pharmacy and Wellness Center have been providing specialty retail pharmacy services since 1984. What makes them so unique is their passion to “provide top quality pharmaceutical products and services as part of a complete ‘Circle of Care’ for each patient.”

Their exclusive service, ‘Circle of Care,’ treats patients as a team effort consisting of a pharmacist, a physician, a nurse and reimbursement specialist. Freedom Pharmacy strongly believes that people with chronic diseases obtain the greatest benefit when all caregivers involved communicate with each other on a consistent basis…which as an ex-cancer patient, I know is crucial to getting quality care! Heck, I’m going to go ahead and say communication is paramount in all aspects of life and health.

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The IsoFlow Catheter: Giving Tumors a Taste of Their Own Medicine

Alternative Therapies

I came across an article the other day regarding a new medical device that just obtained marketing clearance from the FDA. It’s called the IsoFlow Infusion Catheter and is designed by Vascular Designs, a company founded by Robert Goldman. Mr. Goldman had no prior experience inventing medical equipment and had already made his money selling intellectual property in the late 1990’s. It was his sister’s cancer diagnosis that inspired him to start researching various cancer treatments, which spawned the idea of the IsoFlow Catheter. This device allows direct delivery of drugs to a targeted area such as delivering chemotherapy straight to a tumor, rather than through the entire body. It also has a distinctive design which allows medication to be pushed sideways reaching areas that physicians were unable to directly treat before. Unfortunately, Robert’s sister lost her battle with cancer before she could benefit from this device, but will be the reason that many others will win it!

Check out this cool video animation to learn how the IsoFlow Catheter System works. I have to say, this device has me excited and I hope that it can provide people with an alternative treatment when all others have failed.

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The Journal of Eva Sifis (continued) – April 22/23

Cancer Treatment

For those of you who are new readers, this is a continuation of the journal entries of a courageous and inspiring woman named Eva. She has overcome tremendous odds, lived/traveled all over the world and is currently battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Continue reading about her journey through her first days as a cancer patient…

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Styling it while I still can...

Well today is the day my hair comes off. It’s not coming out much, only a few strands. It probably would hold out another week or so but that’s it. I’m not holding on to a lost cause. I don’t have enough hair in the first place to afford it thinning out in the first place! This is my dedication to this process. There is no going back now.
My throat is a bit sore this morning too, just a tickle. My tongue is sensitive and my nose is sort of running. I’m certainly feeling a bit off.
It’s 6.30am and I sit on my bed with my feet flat on the floor, the laptop on the bed-table.
It is here I am reminded of the way I’ve sat in bed ever since I first got this computer. With it resting on my lap with the screen open at my diaphragm and chest. Could this be a contributing factor? I sure have spent many, many hours like this.
The thing that has got me through this hospital experience with a smile on my face is the internet. I have talked for people for hours and hours and hours. Everybody knows and I mean everybody – this is a big factor in this experience, just how public it goes.

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The Marrow Miner, Making Donating Bone Marrow an Easier Process

Cancer Treatment

I think that anyone who has donated Bone Marrow knows what a painful and insidious procedure it is. However, because this procedure can save a life… it’s endured. Daniel Kraft, a pediatric oncologist and stem-cell researcher at Stanford University, has a great deal of experience harvesting bone marrow. Through his experience and research, Dr. Kraft developed a device called the Marrow Miner. This device quickly harvests bone marrow with minimal pain to the donor and may actually enable you to bank your own marrow stem cells when you’re young, in the unfortunate case you would need them later. I don’t know about you, but anything that might encourage more bone marrow donors is a good thing. This ultimately could result in an increased survival rate for those with diseases such as Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Check out Daniel Kraft’s Ted Talk, where he explains his new invention and the difference it can make in collecting bone marrow.

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A Breakthrough for Cancer Patients Dealing with Mucositis

Cancer Treatment

Oral Mucositis, a common complication of radiation and chemotherapy treatment, affects up to 50% of all patients who receive this combination. Patients receiving chemotherapy alone also have a high occurrence of the debilitating condition.

How Does Mucositis Develop?

Aggressive cancer treatments, such as radio- and chemotherapy, often involve painful side effects and complications. Mucositis is one of them. Cells, normally located in the mouth, have a delicate balance of natural bacteria. This balance can be adversely affected by radio- and chemotherapy, leaving the mouth open to ulcers and infections.

Stages of Mucositis:

• The initial symptoms are marked with redness of the gums surrounding the roots of the teeth and swelling of the mucous membrane of the mouth.

• Infection and painful mouth ulcers can appear as soon as five days after chemotherapy begins. If the patient is receiving radiotherapy, signs of mucositis generally take two weeks or more to occur.

• Once the painful, deep ulcers have formed, patients will always be at risk for a repeat incidence of mucositis, as cells below the surface remain permanently damaged.

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