Kelly Kinard has been through it all. She has experienced symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) since 1992, supported her former husband when he was diagnosed with MS in 2003 and has been battling melanoma since 2010. Here she shares her experience with the…
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Jane Gardner never wanted to become a full-fledged member of “the cancer frequent flier’s club.” Nobody does. Since she was first diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago, Gardner has survived breast cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer. And just when she thought…
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We asked the Health Stories Project community about their personal experiences with cancer — particularly the hardest parts — and they didn’t sugarcoat it. It’s challenging sometimes in ways they couldn’t anticipate.
As skin cancers go, melanoma is the least common and the most concerning. It can spread from the skin to organs and bones and is most often triggered by UV exposure, especially in those who have a genetic predisposition to this type of…
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Catching melanoma early can save your life, but diagnosis is often a tricky process. After initial discovery of a suspicious mole there is a biopsy (which involves skin tissue being removed and viewed under a microscope). Followed by a check of the lymph…
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Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyous time of anticipation. Baby showers, nurseries, and nesting all add to the fun and excitement. Even when morning sickness gets extreme, and doctors’ visits get old, it’s hard to imagine anything truly ruining that special time…
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“It’s nothing, I’m fine.” Sound familiar? Some people just don’t like the doctor. Whether it’s fear, busy-ness, shame, discomfort, or something else, many choose to stay away. In fact, psychologists even have a name for this phenomenon: health information avoidance. But when…
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You would think that having all the answers, or at least some of them, would be a relief. That the old adage, “knowledge is power,” rings true regardless of the situation. However, when former operating room nurse, Christine Hanson, discovered she had stage…
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Looking back, Debbie finds her reaction to being diagnosed with melanoma pretty hard to believe. Only 28 years old at the time, she noticed a suspicious-looking mole on her right calf (it was asymmetrical). Her instincts told her that she should get it…
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Health Stories Project was created to give people opportunities to share their personal health experiences and to learn from the experiences of others.