Maura Gillison from the MD Anderson Cancer Centre who did many of the studies proving the link between throat cancer (OPC) and HPV. Where do I start? Maybe with how horrible it is to get cancer of any sort. It’s a creepy, sneaky, insidious disease with no single, overall cure, only a series of harsh […]
HPV Cancer Prevention Read More »
“I was prescribed medication but it wasn’t the right medication and I still felt like something wasn’t right. I spent a lot of my time over the past months or so walking alongside people, advocating them to advocate for themselves harder in the system. Don’t be afraid to keep questioning and pushing when you know
Being your own advocate Read More »
Nasotracheal intubation! As a repeat cancer patient I’ve spent 20 years toughening myself up for medical procedures. If you’re going to be nervous about needles and other brief but maybe painful assaults on your body, you’re going to have a difficult life. So I’ve found ways to cope, chanting, breathing, mantras, reciting poems, singing songs,
Awake intubation through nose Read More »
HNC patients suffer from unique challenges, as much of social functioning depends on the structural and functional integrity of the head and neck region. Wiley Online Library To put it simply, social isolation sucks and head and neck cancer patients are at risk. I’m an introvert and enjoy my own company but I need other
Last time I wrote about the radiotherapy experience in general as well as the dreaded mask. This time I want to describe the daily routine of the treatment to show respect to the people who go through head and neck cancer as WHNCD approaches. My radiation centre was in Auckland where the Regional Cancer and
Masking up. Part 2. Read More »
I don’t have any feelings about the radiation mask. To many it’s a symbol of the horror of HNC treatment. It looks like a death mask, it is bolted down over your head for about 20 minutes a day for 6 weeks and it’s a visual reminder of the ghastly side effects of radiotherapy. For
Masking up, Part 1 Read More »
Not nice to have a head and neck cancer of any sort but those who don’t fall into the neat categories of tongue cancers, HPV-related throat cancers and larynx cancers have a harder time finding peers. The three types of head and neck cancer mentioned above are common in my HNC support group, Head &
The loneliness of rare cancers Read More »
This is a plea for World Head and Neck Cancer Day. A mouth ulcer that lasts more than two weeks should be checked. You might want to insist on seeing an ENT specialist if it goes on even longer and then you might be well advised to insist on a biopsy. These ulcers often occur
An ulcer that doesn’t go away Read More »
We’re getting closer to WHNCD which is held on July 27. No stalls this year but an online awareness campaign. Last week I tried to raise awareness of HPV-related HNC and the vaccine against it. This week I thought I would talk about the impact for those of us disfigured or disabled by the disease.
Accept the scarred and disabled Read More »
With World Head and Neck Cancer Day coming up on July 27th and no stalls this year I am going to start talking about prevention and early detection on my social media platforms. I was talking to someone yesterday about the gruelling treatment for HPV-related cancer which is curable at a late stage but knocks
Save lives with the HPV vac Read More »