Patients' Perspectives

In this series, we are putting together information which responds to some of our group's most frequently asked questions.  We have gathered that information from the perspective of one or more patients who have experienced the particular procedure, test, or event and to bring the current essays up-to-date as new research is reported.  If you notice something that's out-of-date, please let us know about it.

Rather than putting these into a single long document, we have attempted to make each topic manageable by putting each different essay into a separate document.  We attempt to add about three topics each month.  A list of available topics as well as those we're working on right now appears in the list at the end of this page.

Regardless of whether you find what you're looking for during this visit, we'd appreciate your filling out our very short survey.  This will help us continue adding topics to the list of available subjects.

Contents

For the most part, each essay contains three sections.  First is a short description of the procedure, test, or event.  Next, we provide one or more patient perspectives on the particular topic.  Finally, we provide pointers to other web sites and resources which may prove helpful to you.  In some instances, the last section will also contain books that members of our group have found helpful in the course of dealing with their disease.

Please note that the reference to specific providers or other resources does not reflect an endorsement of the services they may render either by You Are Not Alone or by any of the authors of documents on this website.

Thank you and welcome.

• What Patient Advocates Think
• Common abbreviations encountered in cancer treatment UPDATED
• What ARE those blood tests?
• Sample reference ranges for blood tests
• Cell culture drug-resistance assay testing
• What are clinical trials?
• Complementary and alternative therapies
• Critical thinking about Internet resources
• Doubling Time for Cancer Cells
• Emergency care for yourself
• Emergency care for kids or parents
• Getting your gut back
• Interactions between Herceptin and Chemotherapeutic Agents NEW
• Seminal articles on high-dose chemotherapy UPDATED
• Hospice: Care at the End of Life
• How we decided what was best (pros and cons from patients)
• Inflammatory breast cancer
• What happens when the insurance  won't pay?
• Getting started on the Internet
• Making medical decisions
• Organizing your medical records
• Medication equivalents, common and generic equivalents used in treating cancer and its side-effects
• Monoclonal antibodies
• Virginia's nutrition plan
• What about that Pathology Report
• Recuperating at home after HDC/SCR
• Stressbusters:  things we do to help cope
• Tamoxifen and Femara
• What happens when you survive?
• Telangiectasias
• Testing for breast cancer staging
• Dealing with work issues
• Wallwalkers or, getting your reach back!

or, answer our very short survey