Monthly cancer talk by Dr Ren Stonecutter

'The good, the bad, and the downright ugly - tests to detect cancers'. That's the title of Dr Ren Stonecutter's talk today, in the American Cancer Society in Second Life Auditorium.

One in three of us will get cancer in our lifetime. And those of us who have been diagnosed with one cancer still have a chance of being diagnosed with a second 'primary cancer'.

So this talk is relevant to us all.

Join us at 1.30pm SL time in the auditorium to learn more.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/203/174/40

ACS unfolds plans to expand its support programs in SL

Stingray9798 Raymaker (the American Cancer Society representative in SL) is the first to acknowledge that he is a "noob", who once managed to delete an entire building. (You're not the only one, Sting. I managed to delete my house!) But his vision of how ACS will evolve in the future is far from rudimentary.



Speaking at Nonprofit Week last Thursday, Sting used the opportunity to unfold ACS plans to expand its support group program in SL to match its RL programs, as well as offering help and advice to other nonprofits.

He first outlined the current programs on the American Cancer Society sim, including The Hope Haven which he described as "the cornerstone of how the ACS provides much needed support for cancer survivors who live in Second Life", the "Makeover Magic" program which is scheduled to happen twice in 2009, and a breast cancer education and awareness program based on the real life Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program.

New projects include the Media Library, where avatars can browse resources of information, and a new series of lectures on cancer information organized by Ren Stonecutter, a RL physician who is already a popular speaker on the island.

Forthcoming plans include a support group (Man to Man) for men only, and another program, Reach to Recovery, for breast cancer survivors to “mentor” newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

Another, more aggressive plan involves access to the ACS's National Cancer Information Center. The NCIC consists of cancer specialists who currently answer all phone calls (24/7) to the ACS toll free hotline…1-800-ACS-2345. Emphasizing that this is still in the very early stages of development, Sting continued: "If this project is rolled out, we would be able to provide immediate information and resources to cancer patients and loved ones in-world just the same as we do when they call on the phone in RL. I do not mean to create an expectation that this will become available in the near future - but it is one of my pet projects that I will work diligently on because the need is so great."

In closing, Sting offered the following thoughts to nonprofits and also mentioned that ACS will in future be offering its meeting spaces to nonprofits who do not own their own sim:

"Since entering Second Life, the American Cancer Society has existed on the support of one staff person and countless volunteers. Our budget allocation is minimal, at best, and we exist primarily because of generous volunteers who donate their time and talent.

"The key to our success has always been the organization’s willingness to support and legitimize our volunteers’ efforts. It shouldn’t take a lot of money to exist in SL, if you stay true to the mission of your organization."

Orange Island and the Nonprofit Commons teamed up to present Nonprofit Week which was held from Monday, January 26th to Thursday, January 29th.

Men can get breast cancer too!

Although it is 100 times more common in women, there are 1990 new male breast cancers diagnosed in the USA alone each year and male breast cancer accounts for approximately 450 deaths per year in the USA - said Dr Ren Stonecutter, speaking at the American Cancer Society in Second Life today. Male breast cancer is on the increase and has grown by around 26% in the past 25 years, he said. And unfortunately it is often only detected after it has reached an advanced stage.

There are a number of factors which put men at increased risk, said Dr Stonecutter, including Jewish ancestry, previous (benign) breast disease, gynecomastia (enlarged breasts), hormonal imbalances, alcohol, celibacy, and a history of liver or testicular disease. He recommended that men protect their 'family jewels' when playing sports or other dangerous activities as injury is another risk factor. And he pointed out that genetic factors are also important - men with a positive family history of breast cancer have an increased risk of 15-20%.

He recommended that men at increased risk should check their breasts regularly or have their significant others do it for them, just like their sisters and mothers, and that men diagnosed with male breast cancer should have genetic testing and counseling for their family members. But all men who find a lump should take note, he said, as the majority of men who are diagnosed have no identifiable risk factors.

Male breast cancer usually presents itself as a small, painless mass just under the areola (the brown area around the nipple), he said. The first step on finding a lump is to get a mammogram. And "when in doubt, TAKE IT OUT!". Male breast cancer is so rare that many local community oncologists will see only one or two cases in their entire careers, so he recommended that men with advanced breast cancer should go for treatment to the big cancer centers or universities, such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, or the National Cancer Institute.

Dr Stonecutter is a regular speaker in Second Life and a real life family physician.

Less Pain, More Life

On Sunday, November 4, Dr Ren Stonecutter came to give us a talk on The Management of Chronic Pain - or "Less Pain, More Life" - in the American Cancer Society's Auditorium on ACS Island.



Ren has been treating chronic pain in his Real Life family practice now for four years and has taken several advanced courses in its management. His talk focussed on the nature of chronic pain, why traditional pain medications frequently don't work, some of the newer medications and non-pharmacological methods of alleviating chronic pain. He also focussed on helping both patients and caregivers accept the realities of chronic pain and set realistic goals for themselves to achieve maximum health even in the presence of pain.



My favorite part was when he quoted General George S. Patton, Jr, who saw thousands of soldiers who had been wounded in combat. He once stated that Pain is like an enemy.

"You keep moving around and the enemy cannot hit you. Same way with pain. The quicker you break away from the pain, the quicker you will drive the pain out of your system. You sit too long and you will not be able to move."

Well, Ren's talk certainly helped me think differently about pain. And judging by the discussion afterwards I think it helped others in the audience. Thanks, Ren. IM me or Ren if you would like a transcript or copies of the slides.

At the end of his session, Ren referred to a booklet called American Cancer Society's Guide to Pain Control, and we put the wrong URL up on the slide. Here is the correct one:

https://www.cancer.org/docroot/PUB/PUB_0.asp?productCode=F9637.00