Note: The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional care. For medical emergencies, dial 911!
Meg Wolff survived cancer -- twice. First she had bone cancer and lost her leg to the disease. Then she had breast cancer and was given little hope from doctors who thought traditional treatment could not save her. Maybe it couldn't. But Wolff found something that did save her -- a macrobiotic diet.
Life is all about balance, says Wolff who authors a website rich in content about the connection between diet and a healthy lifestyle. She offers up-to-date information on her blog, links to recipes and resources, a calendar of events, and a look at her very own book, titled, Becoming Whole, The Story of My Complete Recovery from Breast Cancer.
Wolff says that by changing her diet, she has changed her destiny. She is alive and well and thriving. Give her a visit and see for yourself.
We often hear of cancer heroes that make it a mission in the last years of life to educate the world about cancer while making enormous changes to the way certain segments of society view the disease. But, rarely are these heroes young kids.
12-year-old Pat Pedraja stands as one of these heroic children, as he has been busy trying to educate the public and even kids (among others) to make changes to the bone marrow registry in the U.S. so that those who need bone marrow transplants have access to needed donations. Pedraja has leukemia and is half-Hispanic as well.
It's quite comforting to hear mature words like "people are dying each day ... and I want to change that" come from a 12-year-old, but there you have it. Pedraja convinced his family to pack it up and drive across the U.S. in order to encourage children of donating age to give up some bone marrow for those that need it.
There are about 900 new cases of osteosarcoma diagnosed in the US each year. About 400 occur in children and adolescents younger than 20 years of age.
Osteosarcoma forms in the bones. It is most commonly diagnosed in those who are 15 to 25 years of age. It is also the most common type of bone cancer, and the sixth most common type of cancer in children.
Other types of cancer can eventually metastasize to the bone, however this disease originates in the bone and can spread elsewhere to other parts of the body.
Many cases of osteosarcoma, around 80 percent, begin in or around the knee area.
What are the risks of osteosarcoma?
The disease is most seen in boys and can arise from unpredictable errors in the DNA of growing bone cells during times of intense bone growth. Currently, there is no effective way to prevent this type of cancer but with proper treatment most kids diagnosed with osteosarcoma do recover.
Sam Robb, 20, recently passed on as a victim of bone cancer. As you read his story here, one can't help but be inspired by it. There are countless stories I've read about young cancer victims who have the world ahead of them but end up having that potential cut short by cancer.
Does it take a cancer diagnosis to be inspirational to others? Certainly not -- but the special people, every single one of them, who fights cancer for a day or even a decade are rue heroes. There's no telling what the mind and body are capable of doing while here on the earth, and sometimes the worst of situations brings out the best in people.
This is certainly true in Sam's case, as he became a cancer counselor to young people after being diagnosed at age 15. Every day is a gift, and from reading about Sam, he used the last five years of his bestowing what he could in this world in the time he had left. We should all be so lucky.
The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 16,600 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Bone pain is the most common early symptom of myeloma. Most patients feel pain in their back or ribs, but it can occur in any bone. The pain is usually made worse by movement.
Patients fatigue more easily and often feel weak. They may also have a pale complexion from anemia which is a common medical problem for patients with myeloma and may contribute to the fatigue. If the disease progresses, the concentration of normal cells in the blood may also decrease. Headaches, bruising, nose bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, and tingling or numbness in extremities are all symptoms of myeloma.
Patients may have repeated infections because antibodies to invading viruses, bacteria or other disease agents are not made efficiently of in adequate amounts. Urinary tract, bronchial, lung, skin, or other sites of infection may be the first sign of the disease. In addition, recurrent infections may complicate the course of the disease.
Don Herbert, also known as television's science teacher Mr.Wizard, died at his home Tuesday of bone cancer. He was 89.
Mr. Wizard's target audience was kids (baby boomers: you may already know this) and his lessons taught youngsters to use the thinking skills of scientists through workshop experiments using simple household items. His 1950s series Watch Mr. Wizard was so good it won a Peabody Award in 1954, and Herbert was one of David Letterman' first guests when the show Late Night With David Letterman debuted in 1982. Herbert's show made it to Nickelodeon too and ran from 1983 to 1991. Reruns were shown until 2000. Nickelodeon's Mr. Wizard episodes are available here.
A native of Waconia, Minnesota, Herbert graduated from LaCrosse State Teachers College in 1940; served as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot during World War II; and worked as an actor, model, and radio writer before reaching fame on Mr. Wizard in Chicago -- and then New York -- on NBC.
He is survived by six children and stepchildren and by his second wife, Norma.
Ever since revealing her breast cancer had recurred, there has been speculation about a spread from Elizabeth Edwards' rib -- the initial metastasis -- to other spots in her body.
Last night, on the CBS news program 60 Minutes, Edwards told Katie Couric that a hot spot has been detected in her right hip. But doctors believe it is too small to pose a new health risk, she reports.
"There are a couple of hot spots, on the bone scan, in my right hip, for example," she said. "And one of the questions is whether or not to do radiation to reduce the size of that -- of the cancer in that location -- and for fear that it might weaken my bone and that I might break my hip. But their consensus was that it was too small an area for that to be a risk."
In addition to discussion about the cancer itself, Edwards and her husband John defended their decision to stick with the presidential race. Edwards said she just cannot deny her husband the chance to be president.
"That would be my legacy, wouldn't it, Katie?" Edwards said to Couric. "That I'd taken out this fine man from -- from the possibility of -- of giving a great service. I mean, I don't want that to be my legacy."
Presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth will appear tonight on 60 Minutes where they will publicly discuss with Katie Couric Elizabeth's newest cancer diagnosis and their decision to continue on in the presidential race.
Elizabeth, 57 and first diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2004, shared Thursday that her cancer has returned, this time in her bones. Considered stage four and treatable -- but not curable -- her cancer has generated much discussion and awareness about the workings of this life-threatening disease.
To view a clip from tonight's news program, airing at 7:00 PM ET/PT, click here.
He first played on professional football teams -- the San Diego Chargers, the Houston Oilers, and the Kansas City Chiefs -- and then found fame and fortune in professional wrestling, a sport that landed him in the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.
He is Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd. And on Saturday night, he died of cancer at the age of 68.
Ladd's battle with cancer began in 2004. It started in his colon and later spread to his stomach and bones.
"The doctor told me I had three-to-six months to live," Ladd said in 2005. "I told him Dr. Jesus has the verdict on me."
It seems the great doctor gave Ladd, the 15th player taken in the 1961 AFL draft, more than a few months -- proof that numbers are not everything in the game of cancer.
Ladd, almost 6-foot-10 and more than 300 pounds, started making appearances at wrestling events during his football career. He was first a special events referee and then became a wrestler. It was both a knee injury and the lure of the lucrative wrestling industry that ended Ladd's football career.
"In what other sport can you pick up a $14 pair of boots, $0.59 socks -- spend maybe a total of $50 -- and convert it into $100,000 a year, if you are sharp and train?" Ladd once said. "My intention was to go back to football, but pro wrestling was so good to me."
It is the truest spirit of giving in a story told the day after the most celebrated day of giving in a season of giving, where lives intersect in unexpected ways that remind us of the best in who we are as human beings.
A brother and sister, 15-year-old Stephanie and 18-year-old Kevin Hudon, are both facing cancer. Stephanie's bone cancer has spread to her lungs and her brother is currently undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
A teacher at the high school both Stephanie and Kevin attend, Christine Monahan, had been spearheading a fundraiser to financially help the family through this overwhelming time. Last month, Nathan Burditt, a student who attends the same high school, spent 34 hours in line to buy the coveted and hard-to-come-by PlayStation 3. Monahan said she was kidding when she suggested to Burditt that he donate the newly-acquired gaming system to a raffle to help the Hudon family.
But Burditt took her seriously and donated the popular PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3, one of the it gaming systems this year, attracted $21,000 dollars in raffle ticket sales. Before the PlayStation 3, Monahan had expected to raise $500 dollars during the raffle. Ticket buyers to the raffle, knowing of Burditt's unselfish act of compassionate charity, wrote his name, not their own, on the raffle tickets they bought. Because of this, Burditt won back the PlayStation 3 he had donated.
The simple acts of kindness for a brother and sister struggling to survive cancer made national news. Enter comedic actor Adam Sandler. Upon hearing about Stephanie and Kevin, Sandler sent a PlayStation 3 loaded with games, signed DVDs, jerseys and an autographed Longest Yard poster to them to help make their Christmas a little more joyful.
Meanwhile, Burditt, who has won the PlayStation 3 in the raffle he donated it to, wanted to turn around and sell it to make even more money for the Hudon family. Everyone is telling the young man he has done so much more than anyone ever expected from any one person that he should keep it now. The raffle ticket buyers wanted him to own it after he so willingly gave it up to help someone he did not even know. It is reported that Monahan is keeping the gaming system boxed at her house until Burditt makes a decision on whether he will accept it for himself, or to what purpose he intends on using it to help again.
When someone is diagnosed with cancer, I believe each of us holds the secret wish that we could make the cancer go away. But we know we cannot, and yet we want to do everything we can do for them. Easing the journey, with a donation of time or money is one way, as is filling the life of a cancer patient with as much joy and laughter as possible, and if it distracts them from the current reality, all the better. Burditt, Monahan and Sandler did just that for Stephanie and Kevin Hudon of Manchester.
I found Sandee's blog two years ago, when my breast cancer diagnosis was fresh and I was completely lost. I was immediately struck by the courage of this woman whose story is nothing short of inspirational.
Sandee was diagnosed with breast cancer -- or The Dragon, as she lovingly calls it -- in September 1998. Faced with a stage II disease that had not yet spread to her lymph nodes, she endured a partial mastectomy, six rounds of chemotherapy, and 25 radiation treatments. Despite medical intervention, cancer traveled through Sandee's bloodstream and showed up one year later in her bones and liver. Then in September 2004, a scan showed multiple tumors in her lungs. Today, weekly chemotherapy treatments -- she calls them brutal -- are a way of life for Sandee who is fighting with everything she's got.
Sandee uses her blog -- I Will Survive -- to update readers on her health and to thank friends and family members who shower her with support. And Sandee posts with each entry one random thought, along with something for which she is thankful.
On November 22, Sandee wrote in a post called Bitter Sweet about the results of her recent chest CT -- stable -- and about her cancer-survivor cousin whose MRI results indicate tumor activity in his brain -- again. Sandee writes about a chemotherapy treatment and a bone treatment that followed the very next day.
"Double whammys are never good," she writes.
In this same entry, she grieves the loss of a friend who passed away three years ago, and she thanks a friend for visiting her during a treatment. Sandee closes with a random thought -- I can take "me" being ill but not those I love -- and gives thanks for having known her friend and angel, Andrea.
I am thankful for Sandee -- and the spirit she infuses into a life consumed by cancer.
Brendan Borek High Tides Memorial Fund provides assistance to residents of Cape May County, New Jersey who have a child or young adult with cancer. Brendan was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and lost his battle in December of 1991. Brendan was a surfer and his friends wished him high tides during his cancer battle since the high tides at the Jersey shore would bring the best surfing conditions.
The memorial fund brings high tides conditions to those who need it in the Cape May area. Services provided include professional counseling and advocacy programs to financial and material assistance.
On August 15, 2006 the Avalon Yacht club is hosting The Local Artist and Friends Art Show. All ticket proceeds and fifty percent of all artwork sold benefits Brendan's fund.
Thanks to Chris Twonley for the tip and for donating some of her amazing paintings to the show!
Osteosarcoma begins in the bones. It is the most common type of bone cancer tumor in the group of bone cancers called osteogenic sarcomas. It affects 5 percent of all teens diagnosed with cancer. Symptoms usually include pain or swelling in the legs or arms.
Tina blogs about her daughter Kristina Rose. Kristina's website caught my eye one day because we share the same name. I wanted to read about her story. I have since then been in contact with Kristina's mom Tina. She is an amazing mom who lives with the fear of Kristina's cancer returning. Kristina is doing wonderful and is now over a two year survivor!
The Relay for Life is something that is very important to Tina. She wants to make sure that a cure is found! You can go to the American Cancer Society website to find more information about the Relay for Life or go here to find information about the Relay of Life that Kristina and her mom will be involved in.
On March 29th, 2004 Kristina was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. She was only 11 years old. She is a beautiful young woman now, as you can see! Tina might not have too much to blog about these days except that Kristina is being a normal teenager and spending lots of time on the phone. This I love to hear!
Some days are just better than other days -- and good deeds can make it a better day. Earlier this month, I shared a story with you about Brian Mammen, an 18 year-old who has been battling cancer for the last three years and is having a tough time right now. I told you that Brian is a young man with dreams -- things he would like to do. Helping Heroes Productions had been contacting the media and community friends in the hopes that someone could help make his ultimate dream of playing guitar with Van Halen's legendary bass guitarist Michael Anthony a reality.
Dreams come true if they involve people with big hearts. Michael Anthony came to see Brian at Brian's family home and spent the day with him, playing guitar, sharing music, laughter and stories. As Brian's grandmother tearfully watched as Brian lived his dream, she is quoted as saying, "It is times like this that cause people to reach out and really touch each other, and it makes me feel so wonderful."
"I've been blessed with great kids and career, and if I can give anything back I am glad to do it," Anthony said. In addition to spending an hour jamming with Brian, Anthony gave him a signature guitar strap, CD, and specialized Van Halen picks -- and a signed bass guitar. Hats off to Anthony! Who rocks as much as a successful musician as he does as a compassionate human being.
Having a dog or cat or any other pet diagnosed with cancer is just as hard as having a friend or family member diagnosed. We have to determine the treatments and procedures since they can't speak up. A common cancer in dogs and cats is bone cancer. Osteosarcoma is the most common long bone tumor in dogs and cats. Often it is mistaken for arthritis or pulled muscles or stiffness in its early stages and so is not diagnosed sometimes until drastic measures have to take place. Cats and dogs differ in the way bone cancer matures and how treatment should be administered. Because of the rapid nature of osteosarcoma, treatment should be sought as soon as possible. The only trouble is that the most common sign -- lameness and pain -- usually happens when it is already taken firm hold.
Meg Wolff survived cancer -- twice. First she had bone cancer and lost her leg to the disease. Then she had breast cancer and was given little hope from doctors who thought traditional treatment could not save her. Maybe it couldn't. But Wolff found something that did save her -- a macrobiotic diet.
We often hear of cancer heroes that make it a mission in the last years of life to educate the world about cancer while making enormous changes to the way certain segments of society view the disease. But, 
Overview of osteosarcoma:
Sam Robb, 20, recently passed on as a victim of bone cancer. As you read his story here, one can't help but be inspired by it. There are countless stories I've read about young cancer victims who have the world ahead of them but end up having that potential cut short by cancer.
The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 16,600 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Bone pain is the most common early symptom of myeloma. Most patients feel pain in their back or ribs, but it can occur in any bone. The pain is usually made worse by movement.
Don Herbert, also known as television's science teacher Mr.Wizard, died at his home Tuesday of bone cancer. He was 89.
Ever since revealing her breast cancer had recurred, there has been speculation about a spread from Elizabeth Edwards' rib -- the initial metastasis -- to other spots in her body.
Presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth will appear tonight on 60 Minutes where they will publicly discuss with Katie Couric Elizabeth's newest cancer diagnosis and their decision to continue on in the presidential race.
He first played on professional football teams -- the San Diego Chargers, the Houston Oilers, and the Kansas City Chiefs -- and then found fame and fortune in professional wrestling, a sport that landed him in the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.
It is the truest spirit of giving in a story told the day after the most celebrated day of giving in a season of giving, where lives intersect in unexpected ways that remind us of the best in who we are as human beings. 
I found Sandee's blog two years ago, when my breast cancer diagnosis was fresh and I was completely lost. I was immediately struck by the courage of this woman whose story is nothing short of inspirational.
Brendan Borek 
Osteosarcoma begins in the bones. It is the most common type of bone cancer tumor in the group of bone cancers called osteogenic sarcomas. It affects 5 percent of all teens diagnosed with cancer. Symptoms usually include pain or swelling in the legs or arms.
Some days are just better than other days -- and good deeds can make it a better day. Earlier this month, I shared a story with you about Brian Mammen, an 18 year-old who has been battling cancer for the last three years and is having a tough time right now. I told you that Brian is a 
Having a dog or cat or any other pet diagnosed with cancer is just as hard as having a friend or family member diagnosed. We have to determine the treatments and procedures since they can't speak up. A common cancer in dogs and cats is bone cancer. Osteosarcoma is the most common long bone tumor in dogs and cats. Often it is mistaken for arthritis or pulled muscles or stiffness in its early stages and so is not diagnosed sometimes until drastic measures have to take place. Cats and dogs differ in the way bone cancer matures and how treatment should be administered. Because of the rapid nature of osteosarcoma, treatment should be sought as soon as possible. The only trouble is that the most common sign -- lameness and pain -- usually happens when it is already taken firm hold.
