| Cancer victim helps prescribe spiritual Rx for patients at local ...
Right before Christmas, a woman sat quietly in a sterile medical office in Riverside, Calif. as she listened to the results of recent tests. Her Kaiser doctor explained the options she had—to live or die. Lynn Koch, who was diagnosed with breast cancer Dec. 6, had the biopsy two days later and before she got dressed they asked when she wanted to schedule surgery. "It all went so fast," she said. "But I had no fear." Since then she has been cleared of cancer and has started a yearlong treatment of chemotherapy to keep the cancer from recurring. She credits a prescription she was given from a man in Tennessee with the results of her quick healing and "fear-free" existence, knowing many women die as a result of this disease every year.
In the KNOW; Sister's cancer diagnosis spurs launch of women's ...
Former Plum Island resident Karen Kezer Dow was concerned when she discovered a small lump in her breast last year. Dow, 51, has always been diligent about getting regular mammograms.
The lump, undetectable by a mammogram, was cancerous and Dow was diagnosed with breast cancer, which quickly moved to eight of her lymph nodes.
A little over a year after her initial diagnosis, Dow's cancer has now moved to her brain. Having already undergone chemotherapy three times and 10 intense rounds of radiation, Dow has now halted treatment and is adopting a "watch and wait" approach to see how her body does.
"People think you have a mammogram and you are safe, but you are not," said Dow, who lives in Manchester, N.H.. "You have to know your body."
According to the National Cancer Institute, one in eight women in America will face breast cancer, and almost 200,000 women in America will be diagnosed with the disease this year.
15-year-old heads up effort to fight grandma's cancer
There are many ways to fight cancer: drugs, homeopathic medicines, chemotherapy, radiation. It can also be fought with a grandchild's love.Shirley Smalling, 69, got the phone call one year ago this month and the doctor was brief and to the point: You have infiltrating ductal carcinoma - in layman's terms, breast cancer.“That's not the news you want to hear," Smalling said.With heavy hearts, the family gathered at Smalling's Dillard Road farm as usual that Sunday after church for lunch.The weekly gathering has always been a special event for Shirley and Victor Smalling's three children and five grandchildren.“As long as I can remember, it's always been lunch at Grandma's house after church," said Victoria Dickson, the Smallings' 15-year-old granddaughter. “The first word out of everyone's mouth as babies is 'grandma.' "Shirley Smalling has endured months of radiation treatment and is now taking medication to fight the disease.Victoria, always the organizer in the family, has decided to tackle the disease in her own way.“I was sitting in church one Sunday and it just came to me," she said.
Woman with cancer forming non-profit to fight back
Just as the Pap smear nearly wiped out cervical cancer, we hope this test will do the same for breast cancer." In addition to working on getting SOMAD running and undergoing chemotherapy, George has continued to work from home. She is a member of "Active Rain," a cyber community of real estate professionals from all over the country. "I worked and I still work all through my treatments. I find that working helps to divert my attention from the ominous pressure I'm under from the cancer," she said. "It keeps my mind focused on other things." Her posts on the Active Rain blog about her cancer fight caught the eye of Paula Henry, a Realtor from Indianapolis, as well as Phoenix Realtor Jay Thompson. Henry said she was so moved by George's story that she opened a bank account so others could help George with medical bills, which she said are more than $200,000.
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