As soon as I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I started reading, researching, and investigating. I hunted down every bit of information I could find about the disease that had somehow tunneled through my breast tissue. What I found kept me in the know. I felt informed and in control -- and a bit skittish too.

My doctor once told me to stop reading. It was causing me too much worry, too much unnecessary stress. And while I didn't stop reading altogether, I did cut down on my Internet research. Since anyone can post anything on the Internet, it can be an iffy source of information. So iffy that some doctors -- like mine -- have expressed concern.

Doctors may be able to breathe a sigh of relief, though. According to a study published in the April issue of the International Journal of Medical Informatics, using the internet generally convinces patients that their doctors are right on track with their medical opinions.

Source: MAMM magazine, May/June 2007

Good Morning America coanchor Robin Roberts returned to work on Monday, a little more than one week after her breast cancer surgery. Some think her return was a bit hasty. Some think it was the absolute right thing to do. I'm of this camp -- the jump-back-into-life approach. It's exactly what I did after my surgery and throughout every step of my treatment. And while there were surely days I could have cut myself some slack, I tried to keep on my toes. It was the only way I knew how to manage the chaos of cancer.

In the spirit of helping women cope with their breast cancer diagnoses, Roberts' very own doctor offers some insightful words of wisdom. Click here for guidance about returning to work, managing through surgery and radiation, maintaining emotional health, and the importance of mammograms and self-exams.

What is your take on how Roberts is handling cancer and how her doctor is handling the topics that become critical in the fight against this disease?

A new study out of Britain shows that though many men with prostate cancer recognized they had symptoms of a serious disease, they were hesitant to go to the doctor because they felt it wasn't 'macho.' Another reason? Fear. It's a natural reaction--wanting to bury your head in the sand and ignore your gut when you're afraid something might be seriously wrong--yet it's dangerous and it's killing thousands of men every year. This fear may not be unfounded though -- the study also showed that men's GPs were often unsympathetic and gave off negative vibes when it came to their male patients.

The men in my life are all brave, but I can see them being the same way when it comes to their health -- avoiding the doctor and the bad news they may hear. How do we change this sort of thinking and save our men? What do you think of these findings?

I'm an organizer, a plan-maker, a woman of many lists. It's all part of my Type A personality -- the one that contributes to a bit of stress but also helps me stay on top of things. I like staying on top of things.

Lists have become more important to me than ever, thanks to cancer and chemo and my forgetful brain. If I want to remember something, I must write it down. If I let just a moment pass without recording the thought I want to keep, it's gone. So I have ongoing grocery lists, household to-do lists, task lists, even lists of questions I want to ask my doctor. Since I see my doctors just once every few months, I keep a running list. Sometimes the list is quite long when I arrive for my appointment. Sometimes I don't have time to cover each topic. Sometimes I transfer questions onto future lists.

It would be nice if I could get all my medical questions answered at each visit. I once read that the typical amount of time a doctor spends with a patient is eight minutes -- so it makes sense I never cross off all my list items. But in the future, I may do better at covering my bases, thanks to this advice I found in the in the July 2007 issue of Good Housekeeping.

In this age of technology we live in, it seems like all we need to survive is an Internet connection. We can use the web to buy clothes, buy groceries, order dinner, work, do our banking, pay our bills ... the list goes on. The only things we need to leave the house for are visits to the doctor, dentist, hair dresser and so on. Wait, cross going to doctor off the list. You can do that online now too.

What I'm referring to here is Health Check USA, which allows you to screen yourself for a number of things, including cancer, over the Internet. Once you've ordered a test, you'll receive a package in the mail with instructions on how to collect the necessary samples. Once that's done, you send it back and will receive your results over the phone. Sounds simple, huh? Maybe, but I still think visiting your doctor is of the utmost importance.

What do you think? Will you be ordering a test any time soon?

Unless you've been touched by it, cancer can seem a world away. But it's not, and no matter your age, there are steps you should be taking to avoid getting cancer. My Doc Hub has compiled this list of thing you should be doing now to avoid getting cancer in the future. They are:

-Maintain a healthy weight
-Exercise regularly
-Don't smoke
-Eat healthy
-Cut your alcohol consumption
-Cover up in the sun
-Don't have unprotected sex
-Compile a medical and family history
-Talk to your doctor about risk factors and getting screened

If you're not doing these things right now, there's no time like the present.

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell is a cancer survivor. And so she knows the pain and heartbreak associated with the disease. Still, she vetoed a bill that would have allowed people with serious illnesses to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. It's just too problematic and sends mixed messages to children, Rell said in a statement last Tuesday.

The decision was a struggle for the Republican Rell, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and underwent a mastectomy just after taking office. Had she not vetoed the bill, those older than 18 with medical conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS would have been permitted to grow and use medical marijuana plants with written permission from a doctor and after registering with the state.

Twelve states allow patients to use medical marijuana despite federal laws forbidding it. Connecticut, for now, will not be joininig these states.

When my dad was sick with cancer, it was like pulling teeth trying to get his doctor to pay attention to him, and that's one of the reasons I think my dad went untreated for so long even though he was slowly dying. We tried to convince him to switch but he felt some sort of bizarre loyalty to his MD. And loyalty is a good thing in this day and age, but your physician is there to protect your life and if yours isn't looking out for you as well as he or she can, it's time to switch, no matter how much you like them. It's your life on the line, after all.

AOL Health has put together the 10 signs you should dismiss your doctor and find one who will take proper care of you. Unfortunately, where I live in Canada, one can't choose their physician -- there's too much of a shortage, and people are lucky to have one at all.

You Can Beat Cancer! is a weblog written by a medical doctor specializing in public health and epidemiology.

The author tell us -- Cancer is certainly curable in the early stage, and in late stage, there are many available treatments to prolong their lives and also to let them have a good quality of life. Do not be despair. Ask your doctor for more information on the treatment options.

The blog is designed to teach readers the latest in cancer treatment. You can find articles about prevention, treatments, vaccines, new advances, insurance issues and much more.

Remember that old saying -- An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Well, it seems that an apple peel a day might keep cancer at bay, according to a new study.

A dozen compounds have been found called triterpenoids. These compounds found in the peel of an apple either inhibit or kill cancer cells in lab cultures.

"We found that several compounds have potent anti-proliferative activities against human liver, colon and breast cancer cells and may be partially responsible for the anti-cancer activities of whole apples," says Rui Hai Liu, Cornell associate professor of food science.

Previous studies have shown that apples not only fight cancer cells in the laboratory but they also have shown to reduce the number and size of mammary tumors in rats.

So, don't peel those apples. Eat the whole thing!

I have a rough patch of skin on the bridge of my nose. It's been there for some time -- how much time, I really don't know -- and I am aware of it every day when I look in the mirror. I wash it, coat make-up on top of it, and sometimes pick at it and watch the flaky skin disappear. It always comes back, and then I study it, wash it, cover it all over again.

It's Skin Cancer Awareness Month and so I've been thinking more about this spot than usual, wondering if it could be more than just a spot. I even went so far as mentioning it to a medical student I saw a week ago during a breast cancer follow-up visit. But the inquiry never made it to my doctor and I've since let it drop.

I'm never sure just how to handle medical issues like these. Typically, I'm hyper-sensitive and worry about all that could be going wrong with my body. Sometimes, I am able to cope normally, realizing most everything is probably nothing. That' the route I took this time. Yet now, now that I've talked to my mom who had a basal cell skin cancer removed from her face years ago -- the kind that flakes away and then comes back -- I'm becoming convinced, pretty sure anyway, that this could be worse than I've imagined it to be.

1. My Life Without Me: This is a story about a young working mother named Ann with two daughters and a husband. She lives with her family in a tiny trailer in her mother's backyard. After she collapses one day she goes to the doctor who gives her grave news. She tells no one. Ann's emotional journey leads her to unexpected places and gives her life new meaning: the tender moments, the volatile emotions she must keep inside, the recognition that she has the power to understand, examine and fully live her own life.
2. Sweet November: Each month free-spirited Sara starts a new relationship. her task is to take a month to make one man become a better person, and then she moves on. While November rolls around and Sara targets a busy Tycoon, she does not plan on falling in love. But they do, and as a result, Nelson learns the painful secret behind the brevity of Sara's romances.
3. The Family Stone: A comedy with heart. This story is about an annual holiday gathering of an unconventional New England family. Before the holidays are done, relationships will unravel while new ones are formed, secrets will be revealed and the Stone family will come together though its extraordinary capacity for love.
4. The Doctor: Jack is a doctor with it all. He is then diagnosed with throat cancer. Now that he has seen medicine, hospitals, and doctors from the patient's perspective, he realizes there is more to being a doctor than surgery and prescriptions.
5. Fine Things: Bernie Fine, a is a home loving New Yorker. One day, while walking the floors he meets Jane, a little girl who has lost her mother. When they find her mother, Liz, Bernie is enchanted with her and they become involved and eventually marry. Liz becomes pregnant, but their joy is short lived as after their son, Alexander, is born Liz is diagnosed with Leukemia.
6. Wit: This is a story about a women receiving treatment for ovarian cancer. She is in the hospital bed showing what life is like for a cancer patient, most likely going to die from her disease, to hold on to her wit.
7. Stepmom: Jackie and Isabel have nothing in common--one is the ideal mother, the other is struggling to be any kind of mother--until circumstances force them to share a family and put aside their mutual hostility for the sake of the children. They discover how precious life, love and the ties that bind them really are in this tale about the intricate circumstances surrounding what happens when a man's new wife learns from his former wife that she is terminally ill with cancer.
   

A mother who lost her daughter to cancer had something to say on her blog about the depiction of childhood cancer and other cancers for that matter on television. I wanted to share her words.

Think about this:

I have just finished watching the new episode of "House." It was about a teenager who was facing a bone marrow transplant (his younger brother was to be the donor). So many things were unrealistic -- don't they consult with real doctors to get the facts? I think it was a couple of weeks ago that the episode of "Grey's Anatomy" also dealt with the topic of childhood cancer and a bone marrow transplant. It was even more unrealistic. One of the doctor's, "Izzy", ended up being the little girl's biological mother. The same day that she discovered that she was, they did a quick blood test and then harvested her bone marrow without any anesthesia and moments later they were infusing it into her daughter. Not quite the way it really works! It is quite frustrating to think that people are watching these shows and will get a false sense of reality -- and so many of us a working hard to get the word out about childhood cancer! Oh well, I am going to try to do my part to get the truth out. I am going to start working on a documentary that will share the reality of what so many families are living with.

Slathering on sunscreen protects us from the dangers of the sun. Right?

Nope, say experts who insist protective clothing and hats are the best way to cover up against UV rays, prevent skin cancer, and minimize the aging effects of the sun.

Think about this:

Most of us rely on sunscreen for skin cancer prevention. But one doctor from Zurich who just finished reviewing sun protection strategies around the world says although the predominant mode of sun protection is sunscreen, this method can be abused in attempts to extend time spent in the sun.

If you have just been diagnosed or are ready to go through treatments it is important that you understand your disease and the therapies recommended. A great website, www.webmed.com has a list of questions that you should bring along to your next appointment.

Remember -- Knowledge is power!

10 Cancer Questions for Your Medical Oncologist About Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, or Immunotherapy

1. Why are you recommending this treatment for me? Why is it preferable to others?
2. What does this treatment do, exactly? How well does it usually work?
3. What are the risks and side effects of this treatment?
4. How long will I need this treatment?
5. Where will I go to get this treatment?
6. What should I expect from the treatment itself? How long will it take?
7. Should I bring a friend or family member with me to treatment?
8. After treatment, will I need time to recover? Will I be able to drive myself home? Will I need to miss work?
9. Should I make any changes to my diet or lifestyle during or after treatment?
10. How can I reach you if I have concerns or further questions?

10 Cancer Questions for Your Surgeon or Surgical Oncologist

1. Why are you recommending this surgery for me? Why is this treatment preferable to others?
2. What will this surgery accomplish, exactly? How well does it usually work?
3. What are the risks of this operation?
4. How should I prepare for this surgery?
5. What will happen during the procedure?
6. How long will I need to stay in the hospital?
7. What will my recovery be like?
8. What complications should I look for?
9. When can I go back to work?
10. How can I reach you if I have concerns or further questions?

10 Cancer Questions to Ask the Radiation Oncologist

1. Why are you recommending this treatment for me? Why is it preferable to others?
2. What does this radiation therapy do, exactly? How well does it usually work?
3. What are the risks and side effects of radiation therapy?
4. How many weeks will I need this treatment?
5. Where will I go to get this treatment?
6. What should I expect from the treatment itself? What will happen? How long will it last?
7. Should I bring a friend or family member with me to treatment?
8. After treatment, will I need time to recover? Will I need to miss work?
9. Should I make any changes to my diet or lifestyle during or after treatment?
10. How can I reach you if I have concerns or further questions?

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