A scan can knock the breath out of you. You start treatment, hold onto hope, then hear that a tumor looks bigger. How could that possibly be good news? When you experience pseudoprogression during immunotherapy, the first picture can look worse even when the treatment is beginning to succeed. This phenomenon is most frequently observed…
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The Road I Did Not Choose, and Why I Am Thankful I Stayed On It
I have multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. I do not think I should feel proud of that. I am not sure pride and cancer belong in the same sentence. Cancer came without warning. At first, I felt tired. Then I felt worn down. Before long, my body began to lose ground. A long time…
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First-Line vs Second-Line Cancer Treatment, in Plain English
Hearing the terms first-line vs second-line cancer treatment during an appointment can make your stomach drop. The numbers often sound like a ranking system, and your mind may jump straight to fear. However, these terms are not grades, and they are not a verdict on your future. They are simply a way doctors describe the…
Read moreMaintenance Therapy, Explained in Plain English
Sometimes the most confusing part of navigating cancer treatment comes after the hardest stretch. Your scans look better, your initial therapy worked, and then your doctor says you still need more treatment. Wait, what? If you have heard the phrase maintenance therapy and felt your heart sink, you are not alone. When you are living…
Read moreBiomarker Testing Cancer, in Plain English
What if one small clue inside a tumor could change the treatment plan? That’s the promise of precision medicine behind biomarker testing. The name sounds technical, but the idea is simple: doctors look for specific traits in your cancer so they can choose cancer treatments with a better chance of helping. When you’re facing cancer…
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