This week I was doing some filming. I got asked about some of the changes I had seen during my own experiences with cancer since 2007. Back then it was still difficult to talk publicly about the subject. But the Internet was just coming into its own. Being bombarded with information booklets is what I remember most. Which was an improvement from previous years where it was hard to find. However, these days you only have to open any social media platform, and cancer posts are everywhere. Surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy sessions are there for everyone to see. People proudly displaying their scars. Also, this week I helped facilitate our regular  prostate cancer  support group in my  local cancer center . Something I have been doing for many years. Here we have members that have been attending for a long time, and also newly diagnosed patients. We kicked off the session by asking one of our regulars to tell us how things were for him. Before we knew it, we had got into a part of

Last week,  Theresa's Research  and the Mayo Clinic held their sixth annual Metastatic Breast Cancer Conference. It was here in Scottsdale, so I lined up childcare for two days (though I keep wishing conferences would add it to their offerings) and drove down the street to see what was new in research and give hugs to a few of my friends -- Susan and Kelly and Julia and Christine and Jersi and Janice and Kate, for starters. I first met Kate five years ago when I went to DC for a friend's wedding and to get my nipples tattooed by  Vinnie . It was springtime, and pouring down rain. We met at the Museum of Natural History because I couldn't figure out where else to go with my 3-year-old son in a downpour. A million other people had the same idea, but Kate patiently sat with us in the cafe as Quinn ate gummy worms and we talked about  my  metastatic disease and what it had been like to see Vinnie. At the time, Kate was an early-stage survivor but always  a strong advocate  for

During the summer clinical of 2013, I met a Soul – A Patient – A Warrior– A Survivor, who taught me it is never too late to embrace life. In July of 2012, she felt an oversized lump in her right breast on a stunning Sunday morning while celebrating her only son's sixth birthday. She never went into detail about the medical predicament she found herself in as a result of that lump, preferring to focus on what it did to her life and how she became stronger, happier, and a better person as a result. She does, however, want us to know that she had a very terrible experience enduring chemo and radiotherapy treatments, as well as having surgery to remove both of her breasts. She never questioned herself - "why did it happen to me?" – from the minute she was told she had cancer. She although instinctively recognized that this was a sign. It's not a disaster, nor is it a death sentence, but it's a sign. And if she was sensitive enough, patient enough, and trusted

Imagine a creepy parasite hidden in your body, feeding on your strength, wellness, and happiness. Well, that is what Cancer will look like if it had a body form. It will remain inside your body without any symptoms and just suddenly exposed itself without any warning. Having breast cancer is taboo in our society. The literacy rate of cancer awareness is almost negligible. People fear being a victim of it, but nobody wants to talk about it. The survivors are not being encouraged for telling their stories. Even with the rising cases, we fail to acknowledge that Breast cancer touches more lives than you may think. So, let’s just not beat about the bush and face it. The number of women being affected by this lethal diagnosis is increasing day by day. Now we cannot turn our faces around. It affects more than 2 million women across the whole world every year. In Pakistan, 1 of every 9 women has a risk of developing breast cancer. This is a high time to spread awareness related to breast

Cancer is a scary topic.   No one wants to talk about it.   No one wants to think about it.   No one wants to even imagine it happening to someone they love…… but not wanting something doesn’t make it less of a reality. Cancer is a reality and affects more than 2 million women across the world each year. In Pakistan, 1 in every 9 women has a risk of developing breast cancer and sadly the number is increasing each year. There are multiple reasons behind this rapidly growing number but the most shocking reason is a delay in diagnosis. This delay in diagnosis is strongly related to our culture where both men and women feel embarrassed and consider breast health to be a “private matter”. They understand the importance of routine blood sugar and cholesterol tests but avoid mammograms, often until it is too late. Mammograms identify breast cancer even before it can be felt on physical examination. The earlier the identification, the better the prognosis. This is an established fact and