Cancer Support Community's Blog

Brain cancer is a life-changing and often lethal illness that warrants our increased attention and resources. Knowledge of the brain tumor experience by a wider portion of the population is an important first step to fighting this disease.

Each month, the Cancer Policy Insitute will be profiling advocates who have been engaged in advocacy in their home state, their community, with elected officials, and more. Read on to learn more about our featured advocate for the month of May and her years in advocacy on Capitol Hill and with her own consulting practice. If you are interested in learning more about policy, advocacy, and ways to get involved, sign up to be a part of the Grassroots Network!

Last week, two staff members of the Cancer Support Community (CSC) traveled to Tuba City, Arizona, the largest community on the Navajo Nation and home to more than 8,600 people. There, they met with Navajo and Hopi leaders to learn about the unique challenges facing Native-Americans and their access to cancer care. The following is a Q-and-A with programs and services manager Katie Dimond about her experience in Arizona. It is a first in a series of new CSC programs working with Navajo Nation leaders, medical leaders, and other advocates to create a ground-breaking movement for cancer support and treatment on the largest American Indian Reservation.

A new type of policy has been introduced that has the potential to put cancer patients at serious financial risk. You may not have heard of copay accumulators or accumulator adjustment programs before, so this blog will provide an overview of these policies to help prepare you in case you might be at risk of facing this barrier to affordable cancer care.

Each month, the Cancer Policy Insitute will be profiling advocates who have been engaged in advocacy in their home state, their community, with elected officials, and more. Read on to learn more about our featured advocate for the month of April and his passion for promoting patient-centered, heart-driven compassionate care. If you are interested in learning more about policy, advocacy, and ways to get involved, sign up to be a part of the Grassroots Network!

In this blog from our Pasadena affiliate, our guest blogger shares the story of Olivia Gaines, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when she was in college. Her powerful story represents the experience of many adolescents and young adults who face cancer.

Whether you are familiar with the phrase distress screening or are seeing it for the first time, the results we are sharing will show how important this tool is for patients diagnosed with cancer.

"Having a personal connection to an issue is part of what will make the work that you do resonate with so many people. It will drive your passion to do more research, learn about the issue, and look for ways in which you can contribute and help people." Read more from Miranda about discovering the importance of being an advocate and sharing your story.

"By becoming an advocate, at any level, we are able to unify our organization throughout the nation and become one voice for Cancer Support Community/Gilda’s Club, advocating for all cancer patients and survivors." Read more from Bev about her own experience in advocacy, and her advice for those wanting to get more involved.

Chef Hans Rueffert, a stomach cancer survivor who has appeared on The Food Network, has recorded a new 90-second video about the Cancer Experience Registry. The Registry is free, confidential and open to anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer or provides care to someone with cancer.