The Liz Army:
A blog
Patient. Patient advocate. Researcher. Student.
There are more than 500 posts here. Use this search to look for something specific. Good luck!
A note about my oldest posts: I began blogging about brain cancer in 2008, at age 29. I had no background or knowledge about healthcare when I started. Please excuse typos and other misconceptions. What you read here is me in real time, like a time capsule.
MRI one-year post Temodar chemotherapy
Since I am psychic, and have answered a million questions about brain scans, I am going to answer all the questions I know you have.
Surprisingly, no pre-scan jitters this time
Dr. L., asked if I would be OK having one of those super long MRIs... the kind that last for over an hour... Since I am a big fan of scans and medical procedures I said, "Hell yeah!" He already thinks I am crazy. Big long scan. New doctor to scrutinize my medical history. Should be interesting.
Brain surgery: the inside story (pun slightly intended)
I tell people brain surgery is easier than they think. The doctors put you to sleep and then you wake up X-amount of hours later and you never know what happened because you were asleep! You hurt, and you have to take it easy for a long time, and you can't go on any roller coasters for a while, but other than that it is all good.
Creating a positive cancer environment: Stupid Cancer rocks the house
Probably the most amazing moment of all was on the first night I was there. There was a kickoff event in a nightclub for all the young adult cancer survivors and halfway through a beautiful young woman walked up to me and said my name. It took me about five seconds to realize I was looking at Emily, a young brain cancer survivor I met 10 months ago via my blog.
The young adult cancer movement is going to Vegas
Then I explain that I am not going to see any shows. I don't drink or gamble. And I am there to attend a summit for young adults with cancer. I tend to bum people out a bit.
Screw "watch and wait"... keep fighting
It sounds pessimistic, but let's be real: even when you are moving on with your life and enjoying survivorship or remission, you still worry about cancer from time to time.
Pets and cancer
I no longer worry about getting cancer (HA!), however, I do want to improve my overall health--and maybe a cure lies within a lovable ball of fur.
The birth of the brain tumor hashtag on Twitter (and how it was inspired by the breast cancer community) #btsm
The birth of the brain tumor social media hashtag on Twitter, in all its glory.
To have a slow-growing brain tumor
"But really, aren't there cases when grade twos just stay a grade two forever?" I implied that with my youth, health and intelligence, someone as awesome as I must be spared from this injustice.