Anne Katz, RN, PhD

I run a dilator program for women with rectal or anal cancer where I educate patients about the need for and correct use of vaginal dilators to mitigate the effects of radiation on the vaginal wall. Many women don’t understand the need for dilators after radiation for this cancer, so I always start with a description of the anatomy and ...

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When is an advocate not an advocate? When should a spouse step back and let the husband make a treatment decision? When should an adult child of a man with prostate cancer let their father decide what is best for him? These are questions that, fortunately, I don’t have to ask all that often. Most men I see for prostate cancer ...

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We have all seen patients whose distress is off the charts, or off the Distress Thermometer (NCCN). They sit in our offices, dazed and seemingly so depressed that we ask the mandatory question: “Are you thinking of hurting yourself?” Some patients just shake their head, not making eye contact, and even though they say they aren’t going to hurt ...

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I have written about the support that a partner/spouse provides to someone living with cancer -- with prostate cancer and for young adults with cancer -- and I always include the partner in discussions about treatment choice or sexual difficulties. But a number of my older patients are single, and their experiences ...

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My patient mix comes in waves -- some months it is mostly women with breast cancer struggling with adjuvant endocrine therapy or men in the aftermath of surgery for prostate cancer. These past two months, it has been young adults, and my heart has taken a beating. There is something quite different from my perspective between talking to a ...

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We all have our fair share of so-called “difficult” patients. And, I would suggest that how we define “difficult” is as diverse as we are as health care providers and as individuals. Some patients come to us with that reputation -- perhaps, a vague descriptor in a referral letter or ...

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The patient was a young looking 74-year-old woman, accompanied by her husband. She was not exactly sure why she was seeing me and nodded as I explained that I see all women with anal or rectal cancer who are being treated with radiation therapy. I explained that we recommend that these patients use vaginal dilators to improve elasticity after ...

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I recently attended the David Stroud Adolescent and Young Adult [AYA] Symposium at Keck Medicine of University of Southern California. It was a very interesting symposium with experts in adolescent and young adult cancer presenting on many different topics important for this population. There was also a panel of young adult ...

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A friend of mine died after outliving her prognosis for more than a year. I was with her at almost all her appointments with various oncologists. She had asked me to be the note taker for these appointments so that she could focus on the discussion as it happened and then have the notes to review afterwards. Her treatment course was ...

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