LiveWorld Transcripts

iBreast presents

Drs. Weiss, Portenoy and Nail
Boosting Your Energy

March 15, 2001

Read the ibreast.org Third Thursday Night Chat for an enlightening and tip-filled discussion about the fatigue that haunts you during AND after breast cancer treatment. Three renowned experts who have worked with hundreds of cancer patients will tell you how to boost your energy naturally, and how to make your family and doctor understand just how tired you are.

Page 1 of 11

Ibreast: Welcome, everyone, to ibreast.org's(TM) Third Thursday Night Chat, held in collaboration with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, www.cansearch.org and the Fatigue Coalition, www.noah-health.org/english/illness/cancer/cancercare/patients/specfatigue/coalition.html We will only be taking questions that relate to our topic this evening - Easing Fatigue and Boosting Your Energy - so please hold other questions for future Third Thursday Chats at ibreast.org(TM). If you sign up for free e-mail Updates at www.ibreast.org/res news signup.html, you will receive advance notice of all live events as well as a valuable monthly newsletter. We'd also like to hear your ideas for future chats. Click here www.ibreast.org/contact.php3 to send us an email, or go to www.ibreast.org and click on the Tool Kit at the bottom of most pages, then click Contact. We have three distinguished guests this evening who will share with you the knowledge and tips they've gained from years of helping cancer patients cope with the devastating fatigue the illness brings. Lillian Nail, Ph.D., R.N., is the Dr. May Rawlinson Distinguished Professor and a senior scientist at the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing in Portland. She researches methods of coping with cancer treatment and managing treatment side effects. She is currently studying ways to help patients recover after radiation therapy and manage treatment-related fatigue. In addition to her professional work, Dr. Nail knows firsthand the fatigue of ca Russell Portenoy, M.D., is a neurologist and Chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. He is also President of the Fatigue Coalition, a multidisciplinary group of medical practitioners, researchers and patient advocates that works to promote greater understanding of cancer fatigue in the hope of improving the everyday life of cancer patients and their families. Dr. Marisa Weiss is a radiation oncologist specializing in breast cancer. She is also widely known as an author ("Living Beyond Breast Cancer," Random House), patient advocate, and founder of both the nonprofit education organization Living Beyond Breast Cancer(R) and the website ibreast.org(TM).

Dr. Weiss: Welcome everyone. The fatigue you feel during treatment and, potentially, for months after treatment, is very real. Yet because it's not visible, it's hard for other people to understand how you feel. Sometimes, even you may start to think it's all in your head. Don't. Tonight we're going to help you understand just why you're so exhausted, and discuss some ways you can recover some of that lost energy. We'll have more on this topic in our March newsletter, which will be posted at the end of the month at www.ibreast.org/ (If you want to know when it's available, sign up for our free email announcements at www.ibreast.org/ ). Dr. Nail and Dr. Portenoy, what do you hear from your patients about fatigue?

Dr. Nail: We hear that people are concerned when no one tells them that fatigue is an expected side effect of treatment and they want to know when the fatigue will end and why it's happening.

Dr. Portenoy: And we hear that fatigue is a major impediment to having a normal level of function even after treatment is over and that fatigue is often associated with mood disturbance and problems in the family.

Dr. Weiss: Sometimes it's confusing because you might not know what is causing the fatigue. Is it the cancer itself or is it the treatment for the cancer? You have to work with your doctor and nurse to help sort this one out.

Page 1 of 11