At AnCan, we love any reason to celebrate, and this is a GREAT reason!
Our Active Surveillance Prostate Cancer Moderator Howard Wolinsky and his wife Judi celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 29th. Surely this picture of them on their wedding day will make your heart melt!
All of us want to give a huge THANK YOU to Howard for all he does for AnCan and the AS community. We are so grateful for Howard providing thoughtful discussion topics, insightful speakers, and bringing important subjects to the AS community to the forefront.
Judi is also beloved in the community, as the way Howard highly speaks of her would make anyone a fan as well.
Happy Anniversary, Judi and Howard! Here’s to 50 years of being great together, and may there be many, many more.
AnCan and The Marsh (well renown, long-established theater company with a large following in the Bay Area and venues in San Francisco and Oakland) collaborateevery 4th Wednesday of the month for Solo Arts Heal!
On June 23rd, we had the pleasure of having Stephanie Weisman!
Stephanie is Artistic Director and Founder of The Marsh, and has been personally touched by her own and loved ones’ cancer experiences.
June’s Solo Arts Heal was the grand premiere of “Stephanie’s Tidbits on Living While Maybe Dying“. This solo performance short is focused on Cancer Victim/Survivor PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). It explores what recovery means when the outlook is unpredictable, And how one copes, both at survival and creative levels, with the stress of cancer, its treatment and moving beyond.
Watch this incredible performance here:
To SIGN UP for any of our AnCan Virtual Support group reminders, visit our Contact Us page.
AnCan and The Marsh (well renown, long-established theater company with a large following in the Bay Area and venues in San Francisco and Oakland) collaborateevery 4th Wednesday of the month for Solo Arts Heal!
On April 28th, we had the pleasure of having Elizabeth McLachlan!
Elizabeth shared excerpts of how she uses creative pursuits like tap dancing and singing to express herself, undeterred by the challenges that multiple sclerosis (MS) has brought into her life. MS is a debilitating disease that attacks the brain and central nervous system.
Afterwards, Rick Davis and Elizabeth discussed how important creative expression is. We’re certain you’ll fall in love with Elizabeth too.
Watch this incredible performance here:
To SIGN UP for any of our AnCan Virtual Support group reminders, visit our Contact Us page.
Peter Kafka, our Board Chair and Lead Moderator for several of our video-chat virtual support groups, poignantly reflects this week on the meaning of 7 years living with his prostate cancer. (rd)
One subject that comes up fairly often in our prostate cancer support calls is “fatigue”. Usually in the context of dealing with physical fatigue as a side effect of various treatment drugs. But I am thinking today about a different level of fatigue that affects us mentally and emotionally. We hear a lot about this in regards to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. A year or so into it and people are crying out, “Enough already!”. But I would guess that many of you feel the same sentiment regarding your ongoing experience with a prostate cancer diagnosis.
I have reached my 7-year anniversary since my official diagnosis of prostate cancer. What is it about the number seven? Yes, it has some kind of man-made spiritual significance. The seven colors of the rainbow, the seven days of the week, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and of course the Seven-year Itch. But as I (celebrate?) this seven-year anniversary of dealing with my prostate cancer I hear myself crying out, “Enough Already!”. Fatigue is setting in.
I have done my best to look at this disease from a wide variety of angles. The friendships I have made with many of you. The increased understanding of the dynamics of prostate cancer among an ever-increasing body of men and women. The empowerment of taking on the job of being one’s own best advocate. But in honesty, prostate cancer and all the accompanying side effects of the variety of treatment modalities that I have, and continue to experience, bring on a good deal of mental and emotional fatigue.
I don’t believe that medical science graphs this fatigue factor. We read a lot about “overall survival – OS” or “progression free survival – PFS”. I guess the category of “Quality of Life” might come closest to what I am talking about, but it doesn’t quite capture the essence. I suspect that any of you who have been on this journey for any length of time know what I am talking about. I don’t have an answer, and I am certainly not selling any kind of snake oil for treatment. I know in my heart and mind that this bump in the road will pass and I will move forward. I always do.
Michele was profiled by our friends at Patient Power for all the incredible work she has done, and is doing for the entire blood cancer community. We love her work on raising awareness for clinical trials.
One of the most important things to Michele was helping people understand how clinical trials work, like the phase II trial she participated in, emphasizing that patients “are getting tomorrow’s treatment today,” she said. Clinical trials are at the forefront of treatment options these days, offering state-of-the-art treatments. In cancer care, it is not placebo versus real treatment. Michele’s trial was a drug combination trial of two different treatment protocols simultaneously
Learn why Wonder Woman inspires her, advocating from the treatment chair, and so much more by clicking here to read the full article.
