It is important to question your physician about the prescriptions you are given. Most doctors will talk to you about the medication prescribed, but it is still important that you know what you're taking and ask appropriate questions.

• Know the name of the drug. This will enable you to look up information about the drug on your own. It will also enable you to discuss the drug with your doctor or another doctor for a second opinion.
• What is the purpose of the drug? This information will help you to know and understand what this drug is supposed to do and will let you know if the treatment is actually working.
• What are the side effects? It is helpful to be aware of the most common side effects. All drugs have some side effects. Information about side effects can be obtained by asking your doctor or pharmacist or consulting a reliable reference.

Chemobrain is a known side effect of cancer therapy -- it doesn't affect every cancer patient, but in those who it does tough, it causes a sort of fog to settle over the brain, causing problem in understanding, comprehnsion and memory. But there's good new: A so-called genius drug called Provigil has been shown to improve memory, attention and cognition in chemobrain sufferers. The drug was designed to promote wakefulness in people with sleep disorders.

Sounds promising, don't you think?

Cigna Corp. is offering a free video game for teens called Re-Mission. The video game lets teens and young adults blast cancer while learning how to improve the odds of beating the disease.

The creator of the game is Hopelab, a non-profit organization seeking to improve the health of young people with a mix of good science and fun technology. Re-Mission is a teen-rated shooting game featuring a nanobot named Roxxi who roams inside the bodies of fictional cancer patients, destroying cancer cells, battling bacteria infections and managing side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatments.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) -- a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering all women affected by breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life -- recently began offering a new resource for breast cancer survivors, for both the newly diagnosed and those with metastatic disease.

"The first few weeks after diagnosis can be extremely difficult emotionally, and women with advanced disease often do not get the support and resources they need," said Jean Sachs, LBBC executive director. "We want to give them an understanding of their choices to help them make informed decisions regarding their physical and emotional health."

This understanding comes in the form of a 28-page brochure -- What to expect . . . today, tomorrow and beyond: Steps for coping with the medical, emotional and practical concerns of breast cancer -- available free on the Internet or by request. This guide, a road map, addresses topics such as coping with the news of a new diagnosis, telling family and friends, understanding pathology reports, choosing a medical team, asking for help, and finding support.

LBBC offers multiple addidtional resources -- including specialized navigation tools on its website that lead to a wealth of information. Visitors can Learn More about LBBC. They can Stay Informed through news, message boards, and other resources. They can Participate in events and programs. And they can Support LBBC through volunteer efforts and financial donations.

LBBC was founded in 1991 by a radiation oncologist who focused exclusively on meeting the needs of women post-treatment. She ran the organization out of the third floor of her home using volunteers. Few resources existed for women affected by breast cancer at the time, and so she tried to fill the void. In 1986, an executive director came on board, increased the LBBC budget from $100,000 to $1.8 million per year, expanded all programs and services, and worked to secure LBBC as a solid, dependable resource for all women, of all stages of breast cancer and in all phases of treatment and recovery. And now, in 2006, that is exactly what it is.

If you have been diagnosed with cancer it is important to understand what a clinical trial is and also where you can find out information on how to get into one. Clinical trials must be done before a new treatment is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There are different types or phases of clinical trials. Each phase is designed to find out different information. Each new phase of a clinical trial depends on and builds on information from an earlier phase.

• Phase I clinical trials are to find out the best way to give a new treatment and how much of it can be given safely. Researchers will closely monitor the patient's side effects and adjust the dosage as needed. This phase is usually only tested on a small amount of participants. Phase I trials can have significant risks associated with them for the patient because the drug or new treatment regimen has been studied in the lab but not on humans. The research in the lab cannot identify all the side effects that might occur. Phase I trials are usually only offered to those who's cancer cannot be helped by other known treatments available.
• Phase II clinical trials attempt to determine a patient's response to treatments. Patients are closely monitored to see if the new treatment controls the cancer or shrinks it. Side effects are also assessed at this phase because the trial involves more people so they can see a larger group and how they react to the new treatment.
• Phase III clinical trials look for longer life, better quality of life, fewer side effects and fewer cases of the cancer returning. These trials enroll a large number of patients (sometimes thousands). The patients are usually divided into two groups. One group will receive the standard therapy available for their type of cancer and the other group will get the new treatment. Patients are usually assigned by chance for the two separate groups being studied.

Cancer patients do not have to just count on trial information from their physicians. The patient can directly investigate their own eligibility for a clinical trial by calling the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER. Another valuable resource for patients to find out about clinical trials is the website www.clinicaltrial.gov.

Caregivers are affected by cancer in their own unique and special ways. And those of us who have never been cancer caregivers and those of us who are patients receiving the care will never really know how it feels to walk in caregiver shoes -- until we do it ourselves.

Dr. Mitchell Luftig has done it himself. And after traveling a dark and unwanted journey of caring for his wife with breast cancer, he realized that he had learned a thing or two -- and he learned that he could share a thing or two. So he wrote a book, Be a Hero To The Woman You Love When She Gets Sick, and he speaks openly about his role as caregiver -- and his role at the time as father of twin high school daughters and husband of 20 years and clinical psychologist too. The whole ordeal turned his world upside down and he hopes that his story helps others -- primarily men -- who find themselves in a lonely place with the daunting job of caring for the people they love. As a psychologist, Luftig has good insight. And he wishes to help minimize the psychological barriers that prevent men from effectively caring for loved ones during times of serious illness.

Luftig shares in his book his realization that while he cannot repair and fix all hard times, he does have some important tools. And his power tools are love, support, and understanding. He has learned to sew joy out of rough cloth. He understands that he cannot shelter his family members from bad times, but he can shoulder their burden. And he now appreciates that all things are not so bad when measured against the yardstick of a life-threatening disease like cancer. Luftig's whole collection of wisdom and lessons and advice fill his book -- and bits and pieces also appear in periodic articles in Coping magazine. It's worth the read -- and the journey starts here.