The Assertive Cancer Patient

Cancer Bloggers Reunion: Panel Discussion

I had a meeting with a couple of folks at Cancer Lifeline last week, and we've set the date for the one public event during the First Annual Cancer Bloggers Reunion in July.

It will be a panel discussion at Cancer Lifeline on Friday, July 25, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Those of you who are planning to come, watch for an e-mail from me asking for topics for discussion both at the public panel discussion and during our three days together. I'll also want some info about you, your cancer, and your blog, both to share among ourselves and for Cancer Lifeline.

For more about Cancer Lifeline

For more about the Cancer Bloggers Reunion

(Click on the link and scroll down.)

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

The Dog Has Died

Younger Son's Golden Retriever, GB, died Saturday.

I had to give YS the news yesterday, Mother's Day, when he got home from a weekend retreat sponsored by his school, Seattle University.

Older Son was home as well, but none of us felt like going out for dinner, so we postponed that until Wednesday.

We decided to have GB cremated, and we will take his ashes and scatter them at the beach next time we go. GB loved the beach more than any place else on earth.

The photo at the top is Younger Son, incognito, walking both dogs on Christmas Day. The lower photo is me at the beach with the dogs, two summers ago.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

More Stories on MedTrackAlert

I've been writing more stories for MedTrackAlert, and I'm really grateful for the work, especially now with my car repair bills (no, the Red Corvair isn't back home yet) and vet bills for poor GB (haven't seen a final bill yet--they are tactful about these things when a pet dies, but I'm guessing it's going to be up around $2,000).

Here are links to the latest three stories of mine that MedTrackAlert has published:

How to respond to hurtful comments

Get help with your bills from a specialist

Tips for sorting out medical bills

Here's the link to the first piece I wrote for them, back in April:

Story on MedTrackAlert: How to Talk to People With Cancer

MedTrackAlert
From their Web site:
MedTrackAlert is a consumer health information company dedicated to helping people better understand the benefits and risks of prescription medications.

We provide our members with important, time-sensitive news to keep them aware of new advances, adverse drug interactions, and potential dangers related to the medications they take. Our goal is to help you begin and maintain a fruitful collaboration with your doctors in the management of your health.

How It Works
We deliver news through our Web site and e-mail newsletters. Registration for our service is completely free and provides access to our full archive, health management and assessment tools, and free samples from drug manufacturers.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Seattle Times Quotes My Blog

In a follow-up to my posts on e-mailing doctors, The Seattle Times has quoted my blog (and your comments) in a recent story.

Read the story: Group Heath trolling cyberspace to learn what patients think

Read more on my blog: E-Mail Your Doctor?

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

GB Has Pneumonia

This photo is of GB, Younger Son's Golden Retriever, and a foster kitten. It was taken two summers ago at the beach.GB is half-asleep, letting the kitten crawl all over him. Yes, we took two large dogs and three tiny kittens with us to the beach.

And we had a wonderful time.

Now, GB is at the vet, and he may not survive.

I talked to one vet on the phone late yesterday, and he said he thought last night would be the turning point, one way or the other.

So I went in this morning, as early as they would let me, and GB was still hanging in there, but he wasn't getting enough oxygen (gums and tongue were purple/gray), so they had tried to rig up an oxygen mask for him (because he was too big for the oxygen cage that they have) but he had been fighting it.

When I was there, curled up on the floor next to him, he calmed down and we put the oxygen back on him. So that was good. And the staff said it helped him to have me there, so I stayed for more than half an hour, brushing GB with his own dog brush from home (which he loves), which also helped to calm him down.

I have a massage at noon (thank god), which will help with my stress. Then I'm going back to sit with GB for the last hour that the office is open today, and the staff said I can go in tomorrow morning, even though they are closed except for emergencies, because there will be a vet there, of course.

Meanwhile, Younger Son is off on a college retreat for the weekend. He also had midterms this past week, so he hasn't even been able to see his dog since GB swallowed the rocks last weekend, leading to the pneumonia he is fighting now.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

But WHY Do Dogs Eat Rocks?

All week, people have been telling me stories about the things their dogs have eaten, including a writer from the AARP who interviewed me this morning about cancer drug prices.

She said her Golden had swallowed a tennis ball (whole) and had to have surgery.

A copy of the April issue of BARk magazine was lying on the coffee table as I was calling the vet on Monday. One of the teases on the cover was for a story about dogs eating things they shouldn't: "When Dogs EAT Glue, Diapers, Coins & Toys: E.R. Tales."

So after we took GB to the vet, I sat down to read the story, hoping to get an answer to the why question: Why should a dog who has a happy home and is fed twice a day, rain or shine, feel the need to swallow large stones?

The story was written by Nick Trout, who is on the surgical specialist team at Angell Animal Medical Center-Boston, which is run by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. If anyone should have an answer, he should.

Here is Dr. Trout's conclusion: My favorite theory, and one I believe I can safely share with the majority of Laborador owners, is that "It was there, so I ate it."

Argh.

Whe GB comes home, he won't be going out into the back yard (the source of the very expensive rocks) without a muzzle.

See also:

Rocky Monday ...

Now It's Rocky Friday ...

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Now It's Rocky Friday ...

Thank you to everyone who wrote expressing concern about poor GB, who swallowed two large rocks last weekend and had emergency surgery on Monday to remove the larger one. (He threw up the 2-inch rock on my bedroom floor Sunday night.)

GB developed pneumonia from aspirating fluid into his lungs, and his esophagus is also damaged by the rocks and the attempts to get rid of them, so he is still at the vet. His doctor has treated him with cortisone and also antibiotics.

At first, we thought he would be home in a day or two, so when the vet said, "You can visit him," I said no, because I thought GB would think I was there to take him home and it would be tougher for him to have to stay.

But after three days of phone reports, I couldn't stand it, so I stopped by to see him yesterday.

They had him in a run, with blankets on the floor, and an IV in his right front leg for fluids. He hadn't been eating, but they gave him 2 tablespoons of food yesterday and he kept that down. I think that was the first food he'd had since this whole drama began on Sunday.

So I went into his run with him and sat down on the floor to cuddle him, and the pooch, all 70 pounds of him, crawled on my lap. He needed a hug. So I sat there stroking him as he wheezed and heaved, just kind of spasms at this point.

Talked to his vet, and asked the Big Question, "So, he will get better, right?" To be told, "Well, pneumonia is pretty serious."

Came home and hung out with Constant (Connie), my dog, for the rest of the day. Connie is not quite sure what is going on, he seems to be missing GB, and I can't explain it to him, obviously.

Here's a link to a post that a reader sent. It falls into several categories: humor, skin cancer, and also "dogs who eat things they shouldn't":

Her tombstone will read WAS SOLD TO BUTCHER

See also:

Rocky Monday ...

But WHY Do Dogs Eat Rocks?

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Mother's Day: Minority and Mixed-Race Donors--Step Right Up!

I've asked Older Son, who is Japanese, to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program as a Mother's Day gift for me.

I know from my own writing and from people I've known that it can be extra difficult for a person who is mixed race or a minority to find a good match for a transplant.

So I e-mailed Susan Hamre at the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) again, to get the latest info on this issue. Here's what she said:

Regarding the need for mixed race and minority people to register, the NMDP has made great strides, and the likelihood of finding a match has increased dramatically for patients from all racial and ethnic groups.

Nevertheless, because these traits are inherited, a patient's most successful match is with someone of the same heritage. The groups of individuals underrepresented on the Registry are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and there is still a great need for donors of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

More Cats in Sinks

After seeing my photo of one of the four foster kittens taking a bath, Helen, a blog reader from England, sent me this link:

Cats in Sinks

I think the site is advertising sinks, but who cares?

I'm trying very hard to get the four little mites, now about four and a half weeks old, to drink their special kitten formula from a dish, but they are resisting, to the point of going hungry.

So I need to pop in there and bottle feed them, yet again: Round Three: to the kittens!

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Having a Friend With Cancer Is Good for Your Health?

Younger Son sent me the link to this story on The Onion, hoping to cheer me up. He wrote:

Hello-- I'm not sure black humor would be the best, but here's something that might lighten the mood.

Actually, he knows me pretty well. I think it's really funny, but--a warning: you may not.

The piece says, tongue in cheek, that 85 percent of people who know someone with cancer take up marathon running and other sports ... "The U.S. Surgeon General is now recommending that all Americans get close to a cancer patient," the voice-over says.

Watch it: The Onion: A Friend's Cancer, Good for Your Health?

That's a video piece. I also loved the print story The Onion did about the Race for the Cure.

6,000 Runners Fail To Discover Cure For Breast Cancer

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.