Tag: treatment

When my husband and I turned to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) for conception help, we were very hopeful. Because of our health history, we’d been told that it was nearly impossible to conceive naturally, so reproductive assistance gave us options that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

We embarked on a journey we thought would be relatively manageable, but the process quickly took over our lives, both physically and emotionally. Then, after an egg retrieval procedure led to severe internal bleeding, I learned first-hand about the IVF risks that many doctors don’t disclose.

Anyone who has been given a cancer diagnosis makes an immediate recalibration of every previously held ambition. Friends and loved ones often don't understand how priorities held for a lifetime can change overnight when someone learns he or she has cancer. Reactions to a cancer diagnosis, regardless of the prognosis, will vary according to personality, but each person will experience an onslaught of fear, worry and uncertainty.

"Our two greatest challenges are figuring out better treatments for the 40,000 women who die of breast cancer every year, and at same time, figure out who, on the other end of the spectrum, is getting exposed to needless toxicity." ~ Dr. Eric Winer

The human breast is a beautiful adaptation, which is singular in the animal world. While other mammals only have enlarged breasts during nursing, humans have breasts that are large throughout life; they have become increasingly larger at increasingly younger ages.

"My dear family, after four long years of battling this illness, I just can’t take it any more…" So begins the note I left for my family before attempting suicide on July 24, 2004. In my fight against depression, I had tried 23 different medications, electroconvulsive (shock) therapy on 20 occasions, transcranial magnetic stimulation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and many other conventional programs related to the treatment of clinical depressions. I also had tried alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, kinesiology, and self-improvement courses. But on that day in July 2004, I had completely lost hope that I could recover.

Many women being treated for breast cancer suffer from severe treatment side effects even when they don’t receive chemotherapy, a recent study suggests.

For the study, researchers surveyed 1,945 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer about the severity of seven treatment side effects: nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, pain, arm swelling, shortness of breath and breast skin irritation.

Overall, 45 percent of participants reported severe or very severe forms of at least one of these side effects. When women got chemotherapy, the odds of severe side effects were twice as high, though the side effects were just 30 percent more likely when chemo was paired with radiation.

If only I was Tyrian Lannister of Game of Thrones—knowing things about who was going to win the war for the iron throne instead of this taboo topic of infertility. If someone five years ago would have told me, a marine and total man-child, everything I know now about infertility, I would’ve laughed in their face.

When you think about infertility you usually think about the perspective of the woman. There is a lot more going on in the uterus than there is in the testicles. The human woman's reproductive organ is a mystery even today.