Debra Sherman

Certain foods long have been known to help ward off cancer. Nutrients found in broccoli, cabbage and blueberries, for example, have the capability to sweep away cancer cells floating around a healthy body. But can they help someone who already has cancer, like me?

Canine therapy, in which patients socialize with dogs to promote healing and well-being, is a well-accepted practice in medicine today. It has been shown to help people suffering from heart failure, post-traumatic stress disorder and — for those like me — cancer.

Dr. Julie Park, a plastic surgeon specializing in breast reconstruction following cancer surgery, worries too many women rashly decide to remove both breasts. This trend now includes women, like actress Angelina Jolie, who haven't even been diagnosed, but are genetically predisposed to the disease.

If you decided to travel for your cancer treatment, there are resources that can help lighten the financial load.

When faced with cancer, here are some tips to decide if it is best to rely on local medical care or consider traveling to a big-name medical center given the hassle and expense.

I can put up with all the inconveniences and expenses of cancer treatment. What got me was having to tell my children — Alex, who’s 14, and Stella, just 11 — that I have a particularly dangerous form of cancer. It was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

I recently spoke with Dr. Leonard Lichtenfeld, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the ACS. I told him how I wished I had undergone screening earlier, thinking my cancer would have been caught before it could spread to my bones and my brain. “I would not have screened you,” he said bluntly.

The genetic tree answers a lot of questions for the patient, as well as for family who must mix their care for the stricken with an understandable concern about where the cancer came from–and who might be next.

A study of more than 300 patients suffering advanced cancer found that people who received spiritual support from religious communities tended to want aggressive end-of-life care.

As a Reuters journalist I have been writing about medical technology and health care for more than a decade. I wrote those stories objectively and never imagined any would ever apply to me. Now, I have Stage 4 lung cancer.