Cancer Perspective with Sarah, DNP

February is Cancer Prevention Awareness month. We take this opportunity to reinforce common themes that lead to wellness: Education/awareness, screening recommendations, taking control of your health.

February is Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancer Awareness Month. Learn about the rare cancers in the bile system and learn more terminology along the way.

In the spirit of the new year where resolutions and freshly renewed personal goals often center around weight, exercise and diet, we address a major elephant in the room regarding cancer. Obesity as a significant cancer risk is undeniable. While this is simply known amongst oncology professionals, we discuss why this is a very complex relationship with much still not well understood.

Treatment for cancer is not supposed to be worse than the disease. There have been a lot of advanced in side effect prevention and management that should allow for a good quality of life at home. This episode answers some questions about what should be expected and how you can manage at home. If you find issues too severe, then its time to get more help.

On our final introduction to one's options for treating cancer, we discuss systemic therapies using traditional chemotherapy, cancer immunotherapy, and targeted molecular therapies. Many people tend to associate cancer treatment with this option group, most notably chemo. However, we quickly delve into just how broad these options have become through significant advances over the years, emphasizing just how personalized such treatments are to the individual.

Cancer awareness for the month of January belongs to cervical cancer. Here we take a broad look at this specific cancer, touching on general statistics, common causes, prevention, treatment, and more.

Our next episode on cancer treatment options centers around both surgery and radiation. We discuss when surgery is or isn't an option, side effects and lack thereof when undergoing radiation, when these two options take place along the process, and more.

In our first conversation on cancer treatment options, we discuss the most commonly overlooked decision: No Treatment. While this is often a personal choice, it may actually be the option your oncology team recommends for a variety of situations.

You have a team of health care providers that hope you are doing well at home between office visits. When questions come up or problems arise it may be hard to know if the concern is important enough to discuss with your team. And which one? This episode touches on when and who to call and, of course, when it is considered an emergency.

We discuss the most current understandings of what triggers cancer development as well as what does not.