Beyond The Clinic: Living Well With Melanoma

Ever wondered how animals can make a huge difference in people's lives? 🐶🐱 In this podcast, we delve into the fascinating world of animal-assisted therapy and explore its incredible benefits for both physical and mental well-being. From calming anxiety to promoting social interaction, animals undeniably impact human happiness and healing. 🌟 Join us as we unveil heartwarming stories and scie...

Writing has been medicine for Nancy Slonim Aronie. At nine months old, her son Dan was diagnosed with diabetes. Then, at twenty-two, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. During the years she and her husband took care of Dan, and when he died at age thirty-eight, Aronie could not find the book she needed. So she wrote her memoir. In teaching memoir writing, Aronie has found that everyone has a...

Join us as we dive deep into the emotional path of survivorship. Dr. Liu sat down with Samantha Siegel, MD, a relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma patient, to discuss her walk as a physician, caregiver, cancer patient, mom, and wife. This powerful podcast episode explores the highs, lows, and everything in between. Dr. Sam shares her inspiring story of resilience, hope, and healing. This episode i...

In 2010, Mary Elizabeth Williams was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. The following year, she was offered the opportunity to participate in a Phase 1 immunotherapy clinical trial. She wrote about that experience in A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer . In this episode, Mary Elizabeth shares her story and insights into her journey as a clinical trial...

While being diagnosed with cancer alone can put a person under tremendous amounts of mental and emotional stress, the additional burden of outrageously expensive medical care only adds to the strain. Cancer treatment requires more than medicine — families need a roof over their heads and food on their tables to survive. The dramatic rise in the cost of cancer treatments has now given rise to what...

A growing discipline, palliative care medicine remains underutilized. Studies suggest that patients and providers commonly confuse palliative care with end-of-life care. In this episode, Dr. Liu is joined by Dr. Sunita Puri, Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center & Chan School of Medicine and author of That Good Nigh...

Last year, over 197,000 Americans were diagnosed with melanoma—and we know they won’t go through that experience alone because there will be a caregiver, usually a family member or close friend, at their side. Becoming a caregiver is often unexpected and life-changing. To talk about the benefits of caregiving, the types of support that are most effective, and essential communication skills for car...

Receiving a melanoma diagnosis can be an overwhelming and life-altering experience. The emotional rollercoaster that follows can be intense, as individuals navigate through fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Coping with these emotions is crucial for maintaining mental well-being during the treatment process. Fear and anxiety is often the first emotion that arises after a melanoma diagnosis. Fear of t...

The test results are back. You’ve talked to the doctor and learned you have melanoma. Whether it’s your first or fifth melanoma diagnosis, your reaction to a new melanoma diagnosis often comes down to a single question: What do I do now? To help you navigate your next steps after a new melanoma diagnosis, Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS, and AIM's Ask a Medical Expert sits down with Yana Najjar, MD...

People living with melanoma often benefit from practical help and advice from others who have lived through similar situations. Support groups bring people together and provide a safe forum for exchanging perspectives, sharing concerns, and gaining confidence to face the future. Of course, each of us has to find a way of dealing with a melanoma cancer diagnosis. None will take us back to where we...

“There is nothing wrong with you for dying,” hospice physician B.J. Miller and journalist and caregiver Shoshana Berger write in A Beginner’s Guide to the End . “Our ultimate purpose here isn’t so much to help you die as it is to free up as much life as possible until you do.” An honest, surprising, and detail-oriented guide to the most universal of all experiences, A Beginner’s Guide to the End i...

Guests Donna Thomson and Dr. Zachary White discuss their book The Unexpected Journey of Caring. Becoming a caregiver is one transformation that comes at us, requiring us to rethink everything we once knew. Everything changes—responsibilities, beliefs, hopes, expectations, and relationships. Caregiving is not just a role reserved for “saints”—eventually, everyone is drafted into the caregiver role....

Our lives are filled with ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, and success and stress. The question is not whether we will experience difficulty, challenge, or trauma; it is what we will do in response to such events and experiences.  In this episode, Dr. Richard Tedeschi joins us to discuss how people can grow in the aftermath of trauma and live great lives — filled with Posttraumatic Grow...

In this episode, we welcome Dione Detraz, RD, integrative dietitian nutritionist and author of The Cancer Diet Cookbook: Comforting Recipes for Treatment and Recovery, to talk about cancer nutrition for cancer survivors. A healthy, strong, and balanced immune system is critical in preventing infection and in chronic diseases such as cancer. In this episode, you will learn how to use your diet and...

Our guest Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor is a renowned grief expert, author, neuroscientist, and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss, and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, which investigates the effects of grief on the brain and the body. In this episode, she discusses groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, pr...

Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS from UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, and Vernon Sondak, MD, Chair, Department of Cutaneous Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, join host Raymond Liu, MD, for a discussion about the future of melanoma in 2023 and beyond.  Treatments combining immunotherapies with targeted therapies, which disable the carcinogenic products of mutated...

In this episode, Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS, AIM's "Ask a Medical Expert" and host of the webinar series, "From the Clinic to the Living Room," joins our podcast as our guest host and welcomes Stage IV Melanoma Survivor, Stephanie Bowen to the program. Stephanie shared her personal journey with melanoma from receiving the diagnosis and going through treatment to her feelings on the other side as a...

While it may be an uncomfortable topic to bring up, sharing your sexual orientation and gender identity with your cancer team can help improve your overall care. As we’ve discussed many times on this program, communication is key to improving your experience and ensuring you’re receiving the best and most tailored, care for you. Chastity Burrows Walters will discuss the challenges individuals face...

When faced with a cancer diagnosis, some patients rely on their spirituality to cope and find meaning behind the experience. For some, spirituality is a belief in a higher power. For others, it’s simply a recognition that there is something greater than oneself. In this conversation, Michael Eselun discusses how patients, caregivers, and others facing challenges, rely on or call into question thei...

When going through difficulty, many people turn to friends and family for support. But what happens when those people dismiss your feelings and tell you to “look on the bright side?” While it may be said with the best of intentions, this is an example of toxic positivity. In this episode, Whitney Goodman, author of the book Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy, wi...

Many skin cancer survivors develop high anxiety regarding sun exposure and being outside, especially during summer. How can active coping strategies and behavioral changes help patients address these concerns? In this conversation, we’ll discuss the psychological impacts of UV exposure on patients and how you can continue to live life to the fullest while protecting yourself and those you love fro...

Cancer Survivorship begins the moment you learn of your diagnosis and continues long after treatment. And thanks to medical advances, more people are surviving cancer than ever before. Survivorship care is changing quickly to address the complex needs of patients and their families for the duration of their cancer experience. What does it mean to live life to the fullest after a diagnosis? During...

In today's busy medical practices, you need to be involved in your own care (or that of a loved one) to assure the best care. In this episode of Beyond the Clinic: Living Well With Melanoma, Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS, and AIM's "Ask a Medical Expert," and Dr. Raymond Liu, Director of Cancer Survivorship for Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, discuss steps to help you to become your own best advocat...

Music can play a powerful role in helping patients find strength and comfort both during and after treatment. During this engaging episode, Dr. Kauffman will demonstrate several methods for using music to train concentration, reduce reactivity, and induce a relaxation response. Mary Adelyn Kauffman, conductor, vocal coach, and pianist, studied at the University of Miami, earning master’s and docto...

Living with hereditary cancer risk can be extremely stressful for all cancer patients. In this episode, Dr. Karen Hurley shares insights on managing and coping with anxieties surrounding risk and uncertainty. Karen Hurley, PhD, joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2016, bringing with her almost 20 years of experience as a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in hereditary cancer risk and psycho-o...