By Karen Oslund On a summer day in the mid-1970s I spent a glorious afternoon bobbing around Blue Lakes in an inner tube, my arms dangling over the sides; hatless and without sunglasses, SPF 0. That was surely the worst sunburn of my life, and the pain alone should have taught me a lesson. It did not. Flash forward 40 years to 2017 and I am reclined in the dermatologist’s office, having a basal cell [...]
By Karen Oslund Last Friday I drove to Gualala from Ukiah, over the Mountain View Road. My past experience with Mountain View Road told me that I needed a plan. 1. Start with a full tank of gas. 2. Make sure there is both water and food in the car. 3. Bring comfortable shoes and a raincoat in case of need to walk out. 4. Add 30 minutes to estimated drive time. It might sound [...]
By Karen Oslund My son Joseph is 27 now, but he was just two or three when he toppled out of the shopping cart in the Willits Safeway. I’ll never forget the sound. I abandoned my cart full of groceries right there in front of the tortillas, scooped him up and dashed to the car. When we burst through the door at Baechtel Creek Medical Clinic, which is just a mad dash from Safeway, we [...]
I want you to think of a number. The number I want you to think of is the number of people you know who are alive today because an organ transplant was available when they needed one. For me, that number is five, and I am entirely grateful that each of these five people, whether friend, colleague, or acquaintance, is still here with us, enjoying their family and contributing to the work of making the [...]
The year is still young and we could all use some good news. Fortunately, there is some! A report released recently by the American Cancer Society tells us that cancer deaths in the US have declined 27% over the past 25 years. The details can be found on the American Cancer Society website, cancer.org. Look for “Facts and Figures, 2019. Let’s examine the story behind this promising statistic. Part of the drop in US cancer [...]
By Jack Bush, Patient Navigator When I was a diagnosed with cancer in 2008, I never heard about immunotherapy or targeted therapy. I saw them mentioned while I was training to become a patient navigator in 2017 and thought, “what are those and why wasn’t I offered them?” This started my interest in these therapies, which has continued to grow. I soon found out the reason why they weren’t offered to me. According to the [...]
I have been on both sides of the Great Veggie Stand-Off. I have been the strong- willed child still sitting at the dinner table at 10 p.m., staring down a serving of cauliflower. I have also been the mom, urging my sons to “just try it,” when “it” was some vegetable they did not find appealing. (But never cauliflower, which I still do not care for.) Eating more vegetables and fruits is straight-forward health advice [...]
By Nicole Hocker Glentzer In February of 2009, I was a 35-year-old high school principal with two small children of my own. I loved working. I enjoyed spending time with students and staff, going to games and chaperoning dances. Like many educators, I was not in the practice of taking the time to get regular health check-ups, but when I found a lump in my breast, I knew I’d better get it checked out. I [...]
By Executive Director Karen Oslund “Write what you know,” is an adage I have taken to heart, perhaps to a fault. I have written about women-specific cancers three times in the past year but not once about men’s cancer. This is an unfortunate oversight I intend to correct. September is prostate cancer awareness month and since I am writing about what I don’t know, I called an old friend of the Cancer Resource Centers of [...]
The prospect of sitting in an icy, air-conditioned movie theater on a hot summer day makes me reach for my cable knit cardigan. This happens to be the perfect attire for seeing “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” a new documentary about beloved children’s television personality Fred Rogers. Before summer is over, I recommend you grab your sweater and go see it, too, if you can find it playing in a theater near you. It is [...]