Bob's Columns

Bob Riter is the retired Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center. His articles about living with cancer appeared regularly in the Ithaca Journal and on OncoLink. He can be reached at bobriter@gmail.com.

A collection of Bob’s columns, When Your Life is Touched by Cancer: Practical Advice and Insights for Patients, Professionals, and Those Who Care, is available in bookstores nationwide and through online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Your doctor can’t read your mind

In the cancer world, patients often differ on what they want to hear from their doctors. Here are some examples: Some patients want to know – in detail – the

One take on nontraditional cancer therapies

People often fall into two camps regarding the usefulness of nontraditional cancer therapies. Some people are irrationally exuberant in their support of these therapies: “This dandelion soup is going to

The opposite of positive thinking is not negative

I often write that friends shouldn’t tell cancer patients to “be positive.” It gives the patient one more thing to worry about. “I guess bad things will happen if I’m

No right way through cancer

I often say that there’s no single right way through cancer. What do I mean by that? Some people aggressively treat their cancers with surgery and chemotherapy long past the

Beginning a new relationship after cancer

It’s challenging to begin a new relationship after having had cancer. I’ve written about that as have many others. But what about the other partner in a new relationship –

Crossing the bridge from early to advanced cancer

When you’re first diagnosed with cancer, you cross a bridge that separates the “healthy” from those with cancer. You’re entering a scary place, but the focus is on curing the

Cancer-Related Fatigue

When people think about the side effects of cancer treatment, they usually think about hair loss (which is common with some types of chemotherapy), and nausea (which is not nearly

Making friends with your oncologist

An oncologist once remarked to me that her patients routinely told her about their personal lives – like they were trying to strike up friendships. I can understand this. It’s

Connecting cancer scientists and cancer patients

Most cancer research begins in laboratories where scientists seek to understand why normal cells mutate into cancer cells and then travel, wreaking havoc, elsewhere in the body. These basic scientists

Why do engineers study cancer?

You probably know that cancer research is routinely done by biologists, but you might be surprised to learn that engineers increasingly contribute to our understanding and treatment of this disease.

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