#LCSM Chat Topic 6/29: When Doctors Disagree

Increasingly, the care of lung cancer patients has become a multi-doctor, multi-disciplinary job.  Gone are the days (thankfully!) when a paternalistic doctor prescribed a treatment plan that was unquestioned by the patient.  The internet and ease of travel have allowed unprecedented access to information and to physicians.  As more treatment options and strategies become available for lung cancer patients, it is inevitable that they will be faced with differing opinions from their physicians with regard to how to personalize their care.  Examples are plentiful, such as decisions between surgery or radiation therapy… Read More

#LCSM Chat Topic 6/1: Community Grief: Dealing with our Cumulative Losses

There are many advantages to being an active participant in a cancer community: fellowship, access to information, advocacy and support, to name just a few. There is one major challenge, however, that comes along with this sense of community: some of our friends die. Whether in real life or online, strong connections are made with our fellow patients and caregivers. How do we cope with these seemingly unrelenting losses, and find the strength to go on? Please join us on Thursday, June 1, at 5 PM Pacific, 8 PM Eastern, as we… Read More

#LCSM Chat Topic 4/20: Online Cancer Education: What are the Best Tools & Current Limitations?

Like just about every other industry, medicine has been transformed by the still evolving trend of greater education and empowerment of patients and caregivers. The “democratization” of information, making information available to everyone that was previously only the province of self-limited professionals, makes it now possible for the general public to buy airline tickets, books, music, even houses from new sources. In some ways, cancer is an ideal setting for patients and caregivers in which to seek online information – the stakes for doing better are extremely high, and there is usually… Read More