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Dr. Michael Wong is professor of medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He also sits on the advisory board of CancerCare’s Patient Values Initiative, a program of work designed to make sure that patients’ values and priorities are incorporated into treatment decision-making. Here he shares his thoughts on how we can ensure patient preferences are built into treatment programs and what care teams can be doing right now to make a difference.

Amy Berman is a senior program officer with The John A. Hartford Foundation, a private philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults, as well as an author, blogger and patient advocate living with Stage IV breast cancer. She is a member of CancerCare’s Patient Values Initiatives advisory board, helping to make sure that patients’ values and priorities are incorporated intro treatment decision-making. Here Amy reveals why she chose palliative care over curative treatments and discusses the challenges to integrating patient preferences into cancer treatment planning.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Today’s guest blog post comes from CancerCare Social Worker Maryrose Mongelli. Maryrose shares her experience providing emotional support for individuals coping with mental health disorders and cancer.

Today’s guest blog post comes from CancerCare Social Worker, Lauren Chatalian, LMSW. As a member of CancerCare for Kids Team, Lauren shares her experience helping families care for a child with cancer.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Today’s guest blog post comes from CancerCare Social Worker Maryrose Mongelli. Maryrose shares her experience providing emotional support for individuals coping with cancer.

November is National Family Caregivers Month! CancerCare’s Caregiver Program Coordinator, Carly O'Brien, OSW-C, LCSW, shares her thoughts on the important role of caregivers.

Stacy Lewis discusses the unique challenges of a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, offers tips for finding support and describes how CancerCare’s services can help.

The following blog post was written by Stefanie Dinneen, a dedicated supporter of CancerCare, and was republished here with her permission.

Dixie shares: “One of the many beneficial things I learned from my time at CancerCare was the importance of self-care. Early on, I identified an important self-care activity as riding my bicycle. My Dad and I often rode together, and it was something that, long into his own treatment, served as a crucial self-care activity for him. It felt like I’d landed on the perfect fit when I discovered CancerCare was a represented charity for the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour, and I was honored to have the opportunity to raise money for an organization that had done so much for me.”

I found myself leaving sessions hopeful and revitalized, emotions I hadn’t felt in a long time. I was able to be a better caregiver for my Dad because I was finally taking care of myself - a gift from CancerCare that I will be forever grateful for.