Beautiful, Amazing and Inspiring

I want to share another blog of note by an AMAZING women. Carrie Robinson has provided me with inspiration,  laughs, and leaves me amazed by her spirit in the fight against her cancer. 

Carrie is a young adult cancer survivor and fighter. She is the founder of Midwest R.E.A.C.H. Project (Regional Education, Awareness & Cancer Helps Project). The objective of the organization is to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in the target states by reaching those populations most in need of resources and education in prevention, early detection, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation.

In her “spare” time, Carrie is training for her first triathlon in 2010! Read more about Carrie in her own words , and learn more about her efforts to change the world one person at a time.

LIVESTRONG Carrie and good luck in Austin!

The Medpedia Project – Welcome

I am excited to welcome Medpedia to my blog network. I am honored to be one of their community administrators for this incredible project. The ”Communities of Interest” pages are where consumers share the latest information on topics of interest and medical professionals join the conversation. I am part of the Breast Cancer Community , along with Thomas McGlone, MD. Dr. McGlone is a general surgeon specializing in breast, lung and colon cancer. He is a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

The goal of The Medpedia Project is to create a new model of how the world will assemble, maintain, critique and access medical knowledge. It will, over time, be a repository of up-to-date unbiased medical information, contributed and maintained by health experts around the world, and freely available to everyone. The result of this effort will be to transform how both medical professionals and the general public acquire information about health and connect with each other.

Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School and other leading global health organizations, are contributing in various ways to Medpedia. Other health and medical organizations that are supporting Medpedia include the American College of Physicians (ACP), the Oxford Health Alliance (OxHA.org), the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies, (FOCIS), and the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA). These groups are contributing content and promoting participation in Medpedia to their members. Medpedia is also receiving content and cooperation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and many other government research groups who are eager to have that public domain information distributed to both the general public and to healthcare professionals.

The content on or accessible through Medpedia.com is for informational purposes only. Medpedia is not a substitute for professional advice or expert medical services from a qualified healthcare provider. It is a fantastic community and resource where patients, students, caregivers, medical professionals, researchers, and anyone interested in learning more can go for support. Check out Medpedia and join the conversation!

Gastric Cancer Fund Joins Blogging World

You’ve heard me talk about the awesome work JP Gallagher is doing with his organization The Gastric Cancer Fund. GCF has now joined the blogging world to help grow the organization and to support others facing the disease.

JP is doing amazing things with GCF. I am so impressed by the efforts to build the first gastric cancer registry! Please add the blog to your blogroll and help spread the word. We all know how powerful the internet can be in this cancer fighting community.

Click here to find the GCF Blog.

Comment From Reader

The comment on my previous post was deleted. Here is the comment:

How can you compare the events of 9-11 to cancer? It was a tragedy felt by all of us Americans and even the world! Do you really think it makes as big of an impact?
I have always followed your writing but do not think I can anymore.

My response:

I always respect feedback – both positive and negative. Thank you for sharing your views. As I made sure to mention: “In posting this I am not trying to minimize the tragedy that occurred eight years ago today.” I have friends who lost loved ones, and I had friends working at the Pentagon as well. It was a day that changed us as a country.

As of this spring 2,998 died in the terror attacks.
•19 terrorists
•2,966 victims

All but 13 people died on that day. The remaining 13 later died of their wounds. One person has died since the attacks, of lung cancer. It is suspected to have been caused by all the debris from the Twin Towers.

It is also a fact that 560,000 Americans are expected to die from cancer this year, or more than 1,500 per day. 1500 x 2 = 3000.

It is a powerful comparison.

Where Were You?

Today is  a day that we will always remember – 9/11. This morning I’ve heard so many people say that it is my generation’s Pearl Harbor. We pause to remember the victims, and to honor the fallen heroes.

I always have a chill that runs up my spine when I think about the tragedy. My oldest daughter was 7 years old and I took her to NYC for the very first time. We were there just two weeks to the day before the attacks - looking at the Twin Towers from the Empire State Building. She looked at me and said “those are the coolest buildings that look exactly alike.” We then made our trek around NYC and stood at the base of those cool buildings. We watched all the hustle and bustle of people going about their day.

Though  it was hard for a 7-year-old to wrap her head around the magnitude of the incident, my daughter cried the day of the attacks. We as a nation cried that day.

It is common to hear someone ask “Where were you when the towers were hit?” I remember vividly what I was doing. Oddly enough I had an entire TV crew outside of my home. They were doing a story on one of my cancer projects. I was poised and set to talk about statistics and risk factors. As I was having the mic pack strategically hidden, a camera man came running from the van asking me to turn on my TV. He was horrified as he said, “some asshole just flew a plane into the World Trade Center!”

We all flew into my living room to see the live coverage – me and a remote news team. As we watched the breaking news, the second plane flew into the other tower. We all stood still and knew then it was no accident.I think about all the lives that were lost in those moments. The people who watched in horror knowing their loved ones were there simply going to work.

Last August I was fortunate to be a part of the LIVESTRONG Summit in Columbus, Ohio. I know the cancer statistics and I can spout them off easily. When I heard Lance Armstrong say we lose the same amount of people every two days as we did on 9/11 the comparison shook me. 1,500 people will die today from cancer…another 1,500 tomorrow…and the next day. It still shakes me to look at a cancer statistic it in those terms. In posting this I am not trying to minimize the tragedy that occurred eight years ago today. I just hope the statistic shakes you as much as it continues to shake me. Every two days we lose so many people to another type of terror. Cancer.

Courage Unmasked – Tonight!

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship is sponsoring one of the most unique events. It will truly be unlike any fundraising event you have ever experienced before.

On September 9, 2009, the American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center  (Washington, DC) is hosting the event called “Courage Unmasked.”  Over 100 artists from all over the country are creating fine art by transforming radiation masks formerly worn by head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. These masks are used to position and immobilize their heads during treatment.

It was during one such treatment session that this idea came to a patient, also an artist, who wanted to find a way to ease the financial burden on other HNC patients who cannot afford this expensive, grueling, but necessary radiation. The auction proceeds will go into the charity fund, dedicated to help HNC patients.

My brother-in-law, Chet, battled this form of cancer. Shortly after Chet’s diagnosis he lost his battle. He endured treatments and horrible steps to fight the disease. Chet’s was yet another life cut short by cancer. He left behind four young, beautiful children and a very inspiring wife, Lynn (a breast cancer survivor).

You can take a look at these amazing works of art by visiting the Gallery at the Courage Unmasked website. During the event the “Courage Unmasked: Giving A Voice to The Oral Cancer Survivors” film will make it’s debut. It is a short documentary about head and neck cancer patients produced and directed by Fulvia Musti Ciarla, professor of Italian at Georgetown University.

I am anxious to hear reports from the gala this evening!

“We are the troops on the front lines.”

Amazing story shared by Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer …

I love this story from the CNN heroes series about breast cancer survivor, Andrea Ivory, who is on a mission to save lives one house at a time. Ivory formed the Florida Breast Health Initiative group to educate women about breast cancer, and she has a unique way of doing so.

Every weekend in the spring and fall, she and her volunteers — who include college students, senior citizens and suburban moms, all wearing matching T-shirts — fan out across low-income communities in southern Florida, educating women about breast health.

Click HERE to read more from JBBC’s blog.

The Gastric Cancer Fund

Many people who look at cancer in the face become like the proverbial phoenix rising  – reborn anew to live! JP Gallagher is one of those individuals who did not sit by and let cancer dictate his life.

In October of 2007 JP was diagnosed with gastric (stomach) cancer. It is a cancer rarely seen in younger people. At 37 JP was facing the battle of his life. Community is a big term for a cancer patient since countless survivors tend to come together to combat their various forms of the disease. However, for JP, there was not a large community of  gastric cancer patients. Unfortunately, gastric cancer is relatively obscure and treatment plans, survival rates, success stories and support networks were not readily available for him.

Almost a year after his diagnosis, realizing a major gap in the community and an opportunity to make a positive change, JP teamed up with  Dr. James Ford (his oncologist at Stanford University) and created the Gastric Cancer Fund. Through education, support, research and advocacy, the fund is dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by gastric cancer and working with leading researchers to find a cure to this disease. They have also  joined with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, creating a powerful relationship for both organizations to achieve their common goal of fighting cancer.

Visit the Gastric Cancer Fund and learn more about JP and his story, help spread the word, and perhaps share your own story.

Sidenote: JP is married to a childhood friend of mine, Cindy Grogan Gallagher. They have two beautiful children!

Kaiser Permanente Breast Cancer Prevention Study Dramatically Increases Mammography Rates

Largest Study to Examine Electronic Health Records-assisted
Mammogram Reminder Program

PORTLAND, Ore. – A reminder program aimed at screening for breast cancer when it is most treatable boosted mammography rates by more than 17 percentage points, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The program used electronic health records to identify women who would soon be due for a mammogram and reached out to them via postcards, automated voice messages and personal phone calls.

The study of 35,000 Kaiser Permanente members is the largest to test a reminder program involving this three-pronged approach. By the second year of the program in 2008, mammography rates jumped from 63 to more than 80 percent among women aged 50-69.

“We know mammograms are effective, but too many women put them off, even when they have health insurance,” said lead author Adrianne Feldstein, MD, MS, an investigator at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore., and a practicing physician. “This study is the first to show that these reminder programs can be effective in such a large group of women. If we could improve the country’s mammography rate by the same amount, we could detect as many as 25,000 additional cases of breast cancer each year.”

“Our study shows that a reminder program can spark a big improvement in a short amount of time,” said study co-author Nancy Perrin, Ph.D., senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research. “Automated reminder programs make it more convenient for people to focus on staying healthy by getting the screenings they need.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, with one in eight developing breast cancer and 46,000 dying from it annually. Although regular mammograms can reduce breast cancer deaths by more than 30 percent and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screenings every 1-2 years for women over age 40, current screening rates fall short of these guidelines.

The study is part of Kaiser Permanente’s ongoing effort to encourage preventive health through diligent cancer screenings. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente has an array of services designed to ensure screening for breast cancer, ranging from mobile screening vans, breast health fairs, to built-in prompts in its electronic health records system, KP HealthConnect® – the world’s largest civilian electronic health record.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute, this study involved employees using Kaiser Permanente’s robust electronic health records database to identify women (aged 50-69) who hadn’t had a mammogram for 20 months. Starting in January 2006, these women were sent a postcard telling them that they soon would be due for another mammogram. If they didn’t make an appointment within a month, they received their first automated reminder call. A month later, they received a second automated call, and one month after that, if they still had not made an appointment, they received a call from a clerk in the radiology department. Within 10 months of their first reminder, more than 75 percent of these women had completed their mammograms—compared to only 63.4 percent before the program started. After the second year of the reminder program, 80.6 percent of women had completed their mammograms.

While previous trials have examined the effectiveness of mammogram reminder programs, few have addressed implementation and maintenance of these programs. This trial is noteworthy because of its size – most previous trials involved fewer than 1,000 women – and because it incorporated automated calls; most of the previous research had focused only on mail and live telephone counseling reminders.

The study was not a randomized controlled trial, and women in the comparison groups were not the same age as those in the target group. However, screening rates in the comparison groups did not improve, which leads the authors to believe that improvements in the target group were indeed a result of the reminder program.

Study authors include: Adrianne Feldstein, MD, MS; Nancy Perrin, Ph.D.; A. Gabriela Rosales, MS; Jennifer Schneider, MPH; and Mary M. Rix, RN, all with the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore.; Stephanie Schoap, MBA, and Kara Keels of Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Ore.; and Russell E. Glasgow, Ph.D., of the Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Penrose, Colo.

About the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (http://www.kpchr.org)
Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research, founded in 1964, is a nonprofit research institution dedicated to advancing knowledge to improve health. It has research sites in Portland, Ore., Honolulu, and Atlanta.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

Drew Olanoff

Another amazing person in the fight against cancer – Drew Olanoff. Drew has a great voice. Make sure you check him out. What will you blame on Drew’s cancer? Blame Drew’s Cancer.