Nick Power

In January, with the generous financial support of the Barbara Bradley Baekgaard Family Foundation, Northwest Medical Specialties became a CSC health care partner. With six locations in Washington State, Northwest Medical Specialties is committed to providing world-class, holistic care to everyone who walks through their doors.

The CSC Program Director at Northwest Medical Specialties is a social worker named Abra Kelson. We asked Abra a few questions about her experiences launching the CSC at Northwest Medical Specialties and how her programming will impact patients and caregivers in her community.

On May 31^st, I had the absolute pleasure of watching Marin Mazzie sing these words during “Broadway & Beyond,” a night of powerhouse musical performances by Mazzie and her husband Jason Danieley.

March is Colorectal Cancer and Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month.

One of the most exciting developing treatment options for cancer patients is immunotherapy. Because cancer cells are generated from our own cells, our immune system often has trouble discerning them from healthy cells. Immuno-oncology addresses this problem head-on, either by boosting the immune system generally to help it fight off cancer cells or by enabling the immune system to better distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells.

There are many factors which can cause cancer, not all of which are fully understood. Despite this uncertainty, we are aware of some ways to decrease the risk of developing certain types of cancer. This February, as we recognize National Cancer Prevention Month, we’d like to share this knowledge about how to decrease the number of people diagnosed with cancer each year.

As January comes to a close, we’d like to take this opportunity to highlight Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. While cervical cancer mortality rates have fallen drastically since the 1970s, when it was the leading cause of death for women, nearly 13,000 women are still diagnosed with cervical cancer every year. It’s essential that we recognize how far we’ve come and continue to make strides in reducing cervical cancer cases in the coming years.

Friday is Inauguration Day. Regardless of who you voted for, the beginning of a new administration is a great time to refocus our efforts to ensure that no one faces cancer alone. In addition, there are new elected officials in the Senate, House of Representatives, and in state houses across the country who are empowered to make change on a number of issues. Help us make sure that support for people affected by cancer is on that list.

On January 31^st, the open enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplace (commonly known as the Obamacare exchange) will come to a close. Between now and then, if you do not receive health insurance through your employer or some other method like Medicare and Medicaid, you should explore your state’s marketplace to see what plans make the most sense for you.

Here at the Cancer Support Community, we all want to wish a happy holiday season to you and your loved ones. With 2017 right around the corner, we also wanted to suggest a few possible New Year’s resolutions to everyone affected by cancer. Consider these just a few suggestions – which may not all apply to you given where you are in your cancer experience – to help yourself or to help us ensure that no one faces cancer alone.

At the Cancer Support Community, we interact with many people who are looking to get involved but don’t know how. Volunteering with our affiliates is a great option and our most common answer, but there are a multitude of ways to help. This week, we’re highlighting Cousins for Carol, an organization founded to help people in the Philadelphia area who are affected by cancer. We asked Maria, one of Cousins for Carol’s founders, to tell us their story.