Can your annual visit to your gynecologist save your life?

Every year more than 70,000 women are diagnosed with colorectal cancer.   Many of those women see a gynecologist for an annual check-up.  In fact, the gynecologist may be their primary health care provider with a unique opportunity to help women decide on colorectal cancer screening.

A new Committee Opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that while colonoscopy is the preferred method for screening, women should also hear about other options.  The Committee Opinion stresses:

Women should be screened using the method that they are most comfortable with and most likely to complete.

Read the rest of this entry »

Guest blogger: Idelle Davidson

In researching and co-authoring Your Brain After Chemo: A Practical Guide to Lifting the Fog and Getting Back Your Focus, Idelle Davidson interviewed countless survivors who reported often debilitating cognitive issues following treatment for cancer.  She wanted to know if there were any legal protections available to them in the workplace, or at home if they could no longer work. She spoke with Joanna Morales, an attorney and the director of the Cancer Legal Resource Center. Both Idelle and Joanna graciously agreed to let Fight Colorectal Cancer re-post the interview.

Q and A With Joanna Morales

ID) What is the legal standard to qualify for a disability?

JM) To have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) definition of disability, you have to have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities, have a history of an impairment, or be regarded as having an impairment.

Major life activities have traditionally been things like walking, talking, eating, breathing and working. But when the ADA amendments passed in 2008, they specifically delineated some additional major life activities that made it easier for someone with cancer to actually use the ADA’s protections.

And those activities include sleeping, concentrating, thinking, communicating and operation of major bodily functions. Read the rest of this entry »

Leading colorectal cancer advocacy organizations Colon Cancer Alliance and Fight Colorectal Cancer announced that they are teaming up on an initiative to encourage patients with colorectal cancer to take charge of their diagnosis and learn about clinical trials.

The Colorectal Cancer Clinical Trial Call to Action campaign matches colorectal cancer patients with currently recruiting clinical trials based on their individual medical situation. The easy-to-use resources, powered by EmergingMed, help patients discuss with their doctor clinical trials that may be appropriate for them.  The personalized service is free, confidential, and available to patients, loved ones and healthcare professionals.

“Patients who participate in clinical trials also help further colorectal cancer research,” said Carlea Bauman, President of Fight Colorectal Cancer. “Today’s clinical trial could be tomorrow’s standard treatment. Unfortunately the process of finding an appropriate trial can be mind-boggling to patients, which is why Fight Colorectal Cancer is pleased to join with EmergingMed and the Colon Cancer Alliance on this vital program.”

Read the entire press release from EmergingMed, Fight Colorectal Cancer and the Colon Cancer Alliance.

Nancy Roach, Fight Colorectal Cancer Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors, was interviewed by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) at this year’s 102nd Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL.

Nancy discussed her commitment to fighting colorectal cancer, the goals of Fight Colorectal Cancer, the various meanings of “advocacy,” and the value of her participation in the AACR’s Scientist↔Survivor Program.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .

It has been an amazing day here in Orlando at the AACR Annual Meeting.

The cancer research that is going on is breaking new and very important ground. We are unraveling the secrets of cancer from deep within the cell, even to the tiny telomeres that cap the ends of chromosomes.

Thousands of researchers are sharing what they are doing in their labs in talks and posters and there is no doubt that we are on the brink of startling innovation in our understanding of cancer that presents very opportunity for conquering it — for preventing it, treating it, curing it.

As AACR President, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn says, “We are making it happen.”

Yet, it is the worst of times . . . with severe cutbacks in funding threatened.

There are cuts in the budget for this year being discussed right now, and more cuts for next year.

Young researchers are facing very small chances that their studies will be funded by the NCI — and they are doing the work of the future.

Our members of Congress need to hear from us that Cancer Research Saves Lives, and we want it paid for!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it ws the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…