When the family is gathered on Thanksgiving or during the upcoming holidays, have a difficult — but critical — talk together.

You can save anguish and conflict when a family member is close to death by knowing what their wishes are.  You can help your family know what you want, as well.  The Engage with Grace slide helps to start the conversation

You can  download one slide from Engage with Grace to start your family’s discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

When I finally got on the big bus yesterday from my hotel to the Orange County Convention Center where the ASCO meeting is being held, I realized how excited I was, how much this annual event is looked forward to by doctors and patients alike.

Will there be a blockbuster new drug this year for colorectal cancer?  A big biomarker like KRAS was last year?  New directions in surgery? Radiation? Read the rest of this entry »

Colorado Capitol

Yesterday was lump in the throat day!

I was at the Colorado capitol  watching when a resolution was passed in both the Senate and House of Representatives declaring March Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.  While March is recognized nationally by the United State Congress, watching it happen in one of the many states who also help raise awareness touched me and brought a few tears thinking of how far we have come in the ten years since March was first declared Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month — and how far we have to go. Read the rest of this entry »

In a new report Maximizing Our Nation’s Investment in Cancer:Three Crucial Actions for America’s Health the President’s Cancer Panel makes three recommendations to the President that they feel are critical to the battle against cancer in the United States.

• Make reducing the cancer burden a national priority.
• Ensure that all Americans have timely access to needed health care and disease prevention measures.
• End the scourge of tobacco in the United States. Read the rest of this entry »

Celebrate today!

Wherever you are in this tough journey that is cancer, I hope you can take some time out to watch fireworks or listen to bands or eat a hot dog and just have fun.

July is a special month of celebration for me, and it is even more so this year.  Twenty-five years ago I was first diagnosed with colon cancer.  Those were the days of surgery and not much else.  5FU could add some time, but mostly we had to depend on the surgeon’s skill and hope the tumor hadn’t spread too far. Read the rest of this entry »