Prostate Cancer Symptoms Tips What is prostate cancer symptoms? We have tips about prostate cancer symptoms

Colleen Bronstein is a melanoma and breast cancer survivor, mother, artist, entrepreneur and a contributor to the Focus On Cancer blog. After her melanoma diagnosis in 1999, Colleen started her own business, Sun Threadz, which promotes skin cancer awareness and protection with clothing designed to protect skin from the sun’s harmful rays.


I will always remember the day I found out I had melanoma. I was exhibiting at the American Craft Council in Baltimore in July 1999 with my 14-year-old-daughter. My husband was home and received the call that I had to contact my dermatologist immediately.

We arrived home on an artists’ high - the collectors were buying, the galleries and museums were ordering, and I was so excited to be part of the creative event in Baltimore that a diagnosis of melanoma was pushed aside. I didn’t even know what melanoma was at that time - it may as well have been malaria for all it meant to me.

If I was told I had cancer, that would have gotten my attention, like when I was told of my breast cancer diagnosis. Somehow without the word “cancer” after “melanoma” it felt less threatening.

Good Day, Sunshine

For me, paradise had always been sitting on the beach in a comfortable beach chair with a good book and nothing but the sounds of the ocean to relax me.

As a child, I spent summers in Cape May – a tradition I continued throughout my life.
The Bahamas are only a couple hours away so every spring, we were on the beach soaking up the rays and just so we were sure we had every sun angle covered, we had a pool put in our backyard. Unfortunately, I was unaware that my favorite pastimes could cause cancer.

Vitamin D anyone?

After my melanoma diagnosis, I had nightmares that I could never swim in the ocean again. The thought that I would have to spend summers indoors was devastating. I knew I could never go out in the sun unprotected, and sunscreen just did not feel like it would provide enough protection so I started searching for clothing to wear.

Clothing made me feel very protected and comfortable. I ordered a couple of pieces but was not comfortable with the design or style and would never wear the clothing so I did what every artist/designer would do; designed my own pieces. These were a few key pieces that I knew I would need to continue to do all the summer things I love. I opened my online store in May 2008 since I knew there were other women who felt the say way I did.

Today, I continue to spend time at the shore, and do my laps in my backyard pool after work. I protect myself with sunscreen, and wear sun protection clothing during every activity I do outdoors. I am also very conscious of the critical hours between 10 am and 4 pm, when the sun is at its strongest.

Join me on this blog as I write about melanoma, being a cancer survivor, and give tips on protecting yourself from the sun and skin cancer.

Learn about Colleen’s sun safety clothing line, Sun Threadz.

Learn about the Abramson Cancer Center’s Melanoma Program.

Attend Focus On Melanoma – A Free Patient Education Conference.

Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) was invented and developed by the pioneering team of Bert W. O'Malley, Jr., MD and Gregory S. Weinstein, MD at Penn Medicine

TORS uses the state-of-the-art da Vinci® Surgical System, which allows surgeons better access to the areas of the throat for the removal of cancers and benign lesions via a minimally invasive robotic approach.

Surgeons benefit by having improved access to the tight confines of the throat and patients benefit in the short term with a faster and easier recovery and, in the long term, by outstanding cancer results and improved swallowing results compared to alternative treatments.

Benefits of TORS can include:

• Quicker return to normal activity
• Shorter hospitalization
• Reduced risk of long-term swallowing problems (most commonly seen with chemoradiation or traditional open surgery)
• Fewer complications compared to traditional open surgery
• Less scarring than traditional open surgery
• Less risk of infection
• Less risk of blood transfusion when compared to open surgery
• No routine use of tracheostomy during surgery

In this video, Drs. O'Malley and Weinstein explain the TORS procedure, and how Penn Medicine is revolutionizing care for patients with head and neck cancer.

TORS patient, Cynthia Miller along with other Penn patients discuss how the TORS procedure changed their lives.

When Frank McKee was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he wanted to find the best possible treatment to fight his disease. Frank did extensive research about prostate cancer treatments and learned about proton therapy for prostate cancer, the world’s most advanced form of radiation therapy.

"For me, I wanted to treat the cancer. I wanted to be done with it," Frank said. "And, I wanted to be done with it in a way that had a minimum amount of side effects and affect my life the least."

"That’s why I picked proton therapy."

In this video, Frank discusses his diagnosis, and why he chose proton therapy at Penn Medicine.














Learn more about proton therapy at Penn Medicine

• Watch a patient talk about his experience with proton therapy for prostate cancer at Penn Medicine. 
• Learn more about proton therapy for prostate cancer.
• Watch a webcast about proton therapy for prostate cancer.

Cassandra Hogue (left) with her sister Caroline at a LIVESTRONG event

Cassandra Hogue is a new contributor to the Focus On Cancer blog.

Cassandra’s sister is a cancer survivor who was treated at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. Through her sister’s surgery, several rounds of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and most recently, proton therapy, Cassandra has been a solid source of support and comfort for her sister.

Cassandra recalls Caroline’s observation about their roles as patient and family member:

“Being a family member is equally as hard as being a patient, just in a different way.”

Cassandra has a special interest in quality of life issues and emotional/psychological support for both cancer survivors and their families. She knows first hand how a cancer diagnosis affects the entire family and can present difficult challenges for them.

In 2008, Cassandra joined the Penn Medicine LIVESTRONG ™ Challenge team and currently supports the LIVESTRONG ™ partnership as a grassroots leader for the southeastern Pennsylvania/ Delaware region.

As a contributor to the Focus On Cancer blog, Cassandra brings the perspective of a caregiver, cheerleader and (sometimes) travel planner for a family member with cancer.

Learn more about the LIVESTRONG ™ Cancer Survivorship Center at the Abramson Cancer Center.

Join the 2012 Penn Medicine/ CHOP LIVESTRONG ™ Challenge Team.

John Turino was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1996. A South Jersey resident, John is married with an 18-year-old son and is chairperson of the tri-state chapter of the Colon Cancer Alliance.

My story begins on May 15, 1996. I was experiencing extreme pain on my left side. I was sent to a radiologist for a barium enema, and X-ray to look at my colon, but the liquid was unable to pass through. A tumor had blocked off the descending colon and broken the membrane. The CT scan confirmed that I had colon cancer.

I was devastated.

After trying for 10 years to have a child, my barely 3-year-old son was facing the possibility of being fatherless. For the first time in my life, at the age of 41, I was scared and alone.

You see, back in the 90s, the word "cancer" meant “death.” It was considered an elderly disease. No one ever talked about cancer. In fact, some people avoided me like the plague, thinking they could catch it from me. There was no support group I could join. There was no one to talk to about my experience, because no one knew what to expect. My wife, I'm sure, was experiencing this as well. She had no caregiver training and did not know how to deal with my cancer diagnosis.

The day of my surgery, I drove to the hospital with my wife. We grabbed each other's hands and silently cried as we looked together, ahead.

The surgery went very well. I stayed in intensive care for nine horrible days. When I got home, I had to heal for a couple of weeks before I started my weekly rounds of chemotherapy. I was relieved that I did not need radiation therapy.

I drove myself to and from the oncologist's office every Tuesday for a year. I was determined not to let my son grow up without a dad, and he came with me every trip. We'd go into the office and the first thing that hit me was this horrible odor. Every time I walked into the office for my treatment, I could never get past this odor. And every week, as they drew my blood for a white blood cell count, I was hoping mine was low, so that I did not have to have chemo that week. Each week, coming out of the office, I would get halfway to the car, vomit into the parking lot, close the door and drive off. I became very sick, but as soon as I started to recover, it was time for my next treatment.

Today, it has been almost 16 years that I have survived this disease. I still get a colonoscopy every five years to keep it in check, and the fear of cancer returning never goes away, no matter how many years go by or how strong I become.

Giving Back

About 150,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with colon cancer annually, making it one of the most common forms of cancer. Yet few people know much about it or are comfortable discussing it.

It starts as a growth, or polyp, in the colon or rectum. Some polyps can develop into cancer, but if detected in the early stages, colon cancer is 90 percent curable.

Most people are encouraged to begin screening by the age of 50. Besides colonoscopy, screening options include virtual colonoscopy, and flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Today, I have found a major way to give back and educate others about this disease.

I strive to create awareness of colon cancer through myriad programs, noting it remains the number-two cancer killer, behind lung cancer, even though colonoscopies and other screenings make it one of the most preventable types of cancer.

I am currently the chairperson of the tri-state chapter of the Colon Cancer Alliance, which encompasses New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. My goal in life is to help spread the word about colon cancer through the Colon Cancer Alliance and to reach as many people as I can.

Based in Washington, D.C., the Colon Cancer Alliance is a national patient advocacy group that strives to end the suffering caused by colorectal cancer through support, education and research.

The Colon Cancer Alliance’s signature programs include:

• “Buddy” program: Designed to provide experienced listeners who have “been there” to support newly diagnosed patients
• Regional seminars: Providing up-to-date information from top healthcare professionals; designed for new patients, advanced disease patients, survivors, caregivers, nurses and others
• Connections online: Features include blogs, videos, personal pages, message boards and chat; opportunities to seek advice or provide data, updates to loved ones
• Tributes page: Web pages can be created to memorialize or otherwise honor a friend, family member or loved one
• Toll-free helpline: A chance to learn more about screening and treatment options and receive advice on treatment effects
• Voices Volunteer program: An opportunity to allow advocates to use their voices to help the alliance succeed in its mission
• “Undy” 5k run/walk: An untypical race highlighted by entrants in boxers and bloomers spreading the word about colorectal cancer.

The Philadelphia “Undy” is scheduled for Sept. 8, 2012. Registration for participants and teams is now open on the website, www.undy5000.org

This is the beginning of my journey to help those in need.

Eventually the spot became larger and as a result I underwent surgery. Doctors removed one of the lobes of my lung, and determined that I did have lung cancer. The very fortunate thing was how early in the process my cancer was detected by the physicians at Penn Medicine.