Breast cancer search leads to YouTube

A change in the planned treatment of my daughter's stage three breast cancer led to a recent midnight research search to try to understand why. The second surprise of the day is that YouTube just joined on my list of "good" resources for medical research.

We had celebrated being half way through chemo and the success of the treatment so far - you can't feel the lumps anymore. We were surprised by the recommendation for weekly treatments for 12 weeks instead of four biweekly sessions.


We had been warned to be flexible, especially when getting treated at an institution known for its treatment. (The University of Michigan Breast Care Center is one of 21 institutions that make up the National Comprehensive Cancer Network).

And every medical person I've met has cautioned against researching medical conditions on the Internet. But I have a list of sources and, with 30 plus years in the news business, the skills to evaluate information.

But medical videos on YouTube were a first. It was inspiring to watch a video of the chemotherapy drug taxol killing breast cancer cells. Check it out.

Meanwhile, I'm checking out articles like this one in US News and World Report on weekly doses of Taxol Early research says the new routine increases a patient's long term survival.

Oh, and the other good news? Once we get through chemo and surgery, my daughter will be able to get the radiation treatments closer to home ... that's the daily radiation for six weeks - under the current plan.

OK, enough of an update as I need to get back to this week's post treatment distraction: Sex and the City. I'll post more later on my daughter's effort to update me on the 1998-2004 series that aired during my workaholic years.