Awesome Interview!! Inspiration for DCIS 411 — Informed Choices and Healthy Living Over Fear Fear Fear!
Cynthia Toussant and I discuss how we KNEW IN OUR GUT something wasn’t right with the immediate rush to surgically remove DCIS!
Mis-Diagnosed with DCIS at Age 26 and 38 Weeks Pregnant: How Intuition, Non-stop Research and a 2nd Pathology Opinion Changed My Life
My gut and intuition told me to research my head off and to understand what’s going on. I learned very fast that just because you have a “low grade” “stage zero” breast cancer that doesn’t mean the treatment is less than any other INVASIVE breast cancer.
DCIS Over-Diagnosis & Over-Treatment: New Facebook Group
Patients, researchers, advocates, journalists and organizations need to work together to understand and communicate better about this serious women’s health issue! Please join a new Facebook Group: DCIS Over-diagnosis and Over-treatment A forum for information, discussion, support, research, education, awareness and advocacy focused on DCIS over-diagnosis and over-treatment.
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 30 — NO “Survival” Benefit of Aggressive Treatments for DCIS — Women Not Informed
Did you know… Women diagnosed with DCIS, also known as “stage ZERO” breast cancer, are often rushed into extremely aggressive treatments (surgery, radiation and drugs) that actually have no survival benefit… yet this information is often not told to them. Instead women are given confusing “risk reduction” statistics with each of the “standard of care” […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 27 — Grade “F” in DCIS Communication
Did you know… Some health-care providers get an “F” in communication. Celebrity chef Sandra Lee said her doctors told her DCIS was a “ticking time bomb.” In January, 2010, when I brought an article, Take Carcinoma Out of DCIS and Ease Off Treatment, to show a breast surgeon about my preference for “active surveillance” of […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 25 — Unbiased 2nd PATHOLOGY opinion is a MUST
Did you know… Aggressive treatments for DCIS are based on pathology — and 25% may be wrong. This happened to me. I had several opinions and 3 different pathology reports. My gut told me something was not right and I needed to keep investigating. Luckily I was referred to expert pathologist, Dr. Michael Lagios. He […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 24 — The Word “Cancer” is Scary & Misleading for DCIS
Did you know… Several breast cancer experts over the last 10+ years have questioned whether the word “carcinoma” should be removed from DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in Situ). “Because of the noninvasive nature of DCIS, coupled with its favorable prognosis, strong consideration should be given to remove the anxiety-producing term “carcinoma” from the description of DCIS.” […]
31 Days of “Little Known” FACTS — For Breast Cancer Awareness Month — Day 6 — Pinkwashing 101
Did you know… The definition of Pinkwasher: A company or organization that claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time produces, manufactures and/or sells products that are linked to the disease. Breast Cancer Action, coined the term pinkwashing and created a Think Before You Pink® campaign. […]
DCIS Support — Find Your Tribe on Facebook!
There are five distinctly different “DCIS support groups” on Facebook. Some have strict rules. Differing viewpoints have led to heated debates and frustrations. Hopefully everyone can find a support tribe they most align with. Some may feel they benefit from joining more than one group. Below are perspectives and descriptions of differing DCIS Facebook “support […]
Thankful for PCORI & Patient-Centered Research
I recently had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of PCORI — Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Three days of presentations and panel discussions all focused on one recurring theme: Patient voices, preferences, values, experiences, and outcomes matter. I felt like I was in patient advocate heaven. Suzannah Fox, former Chief Technology Officer of the […]
What is “Low-risk” DCIS & Why is The COMET Study Urgently Needed?
The COMET Study is the nation’s first prospective, randomized clinical trial aimed at resolving an ongoing debate about the best way to manage “low-risk” DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ), also known as “stage zero” breast cancer. “This is a trial whose time has come. Many of us have felt for two decades that this study […]
A New Bio-marker Test for DCIS = Peace of Mind for Thousands of Women
If you are one of the 60,000 + women diagnosed with DCIS this year, you now have a way to gain more peace of mind about what to think and do about it. A company called PreludeDx has scientifically validated a bio-marker test which evaluates a woman’s breast tissue sample and provides a “personalized” risk […]