Articles

A friend of mine recently asked me, as a lung cancer patient, if I had any insight into the process of dying. This seemed reasonable to me -- in the...

And I mean cigarettes. I'm sure you heard from everyone non-stop that you needed to quit smoking or have you quit? I am here to discuss the harsh realities of...

Do you remember when you were first diagnosed or when you received word that your tumors were on the move again? It was a very scary time, without a doubt...

"I'm doing fine." That is the response I usually give when asked how I am doing. People ask me how I feel and I usually tell them that "I feel...

Let me start by saying that I realize I am lucky to have medical insurance provided through my husband’s employer. There are many people in the lung cancer community who...

Lung cancer bloggers are not always around very long. Our community is ever-expanding, but the sad truth is that we can expect a loss of our voices with some regularity...

Have you ever visited a Cancer Support Communities (CSC) clubhouse? Every time I go, I think I will be more active. I went yesterday and once more, I am vowing...

I have always been the "good" girl...always looking to do "the next right thing". Nursing was the most natural path for me to follow despite the fact that I had...

At some point, most of us will have lost one or both of our parents by the time we hit our own middle age. My father died a short time...

June is National Healthy Homes Month. This year’s theme, "Unlocking the Potential of America’s Children: Check Your Home – Protect Your Family," serves as a great reminder to test our...

SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance and SSI stands for Supplemental Security Income.  Did you know there is a very distinct difference between the two? When my cancer was...

Dusty continues her interview with ASCO’s Patient Advocacy Director, Jeannine Salamone. Click here to read Part 1.Dusty:“You mentioned what organization they represent and if that organization is a 501(c)(3). How...

Cancer patients require a wide variety of options for their care, both curative and palliative. Sometimes that includes heavy-duty pain medications. There are times when those drugs fall under the...

Like with all of us, my cancer diagnosis threw a real wrench into my life. Suddenly, what was easy and taken-for-granted was no longer easy at all. For instance, working...

Read the beginning of Jeffrey's experience trying medical cannabis in Cannabis Cans, Can'ts, and Quandaries: Changing Perspectives. The gummy and mint products I procured had a combination of THC and...

I know, I know. It's a taboo subject these days. But, let's face it, faith plays a huge role in the way many patients and their loved ones deal with...

I live in California where cannabis is legal (at the State level) for both medicinal and recreational use. Before it was legal for recreational use, there was a medical dispensary...

During the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, I interviewed Jeannine Salamone, ASCO’s Director of Patient Advocacy (pictured below), about the organization’s advocacy programs. Below is...

Are you a never smoker or someone who quit 30 years ago? Do you realize you can still get lung cancer? All you need to get lung cancer is lungs. Period. A young...

Back in the day, when it was suspected that we had cancer, we were sent for a biopsy. The cells were studied to determine if we had cancer and what...