# Ask the cancer patient(s) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cancer-patient-s/456753 "2008-07-16T21:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cancer-patient-s/456753/101 "2009-05-29T19:48:21Z")
> [@Agonist](#): > > I was lucky enough not to have to deal with that too much. I had a lot of heartburn, so I avoided spicy stuff, and I couldn’t stand alcohol during that period (not a drinker, anyway, so no loss). I do remember asking people if what we were eating tasted particularly bland to them, and getting a negative response. Mostly, though, I just waited it out. > > There was a Cafe Society thread on Miracle Fruit once - you may want to try it out to see if it will make currently weird-tasting stuff taste good again. I have some miracle fruit pills if you want to give it a go, Ill send you a couple so you don’t have to shell out any cash, PM me =) Who knows, I might just need them myselfdepending on what they find when they finally can gut me and this way Ill know! =) ---
**Author:** ![frankly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/91b2a8/32.png) [@frankly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frankly)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cancer-patient-s/456753/102 "2010-06-24T08:15:02Z")
Cancer survivor and cancer victim TERMS also do not sit well with me. I am simply a person with cancer. Cancer patient is okay but I do think an alternative term for people in remission would be helpful. Personally, I believe cancer is not completely removed but floats around and sometimes never causes problems so as to be discovered again during the lifetime of a particular person. Hence, I do not donate blood anymore. LATE radiation effects are being given more attention in part because more of us are surviving longer. I had radiation (lumpectomy with no chemo, etc. and 2 sentinel nodes = benign) to my left breast in 2003. Because my skin is very sensitive to so many things, the fact that I experienced minimal side effects was a pleasant shock. However, around May of 2009, my breast began to break out in bullous blisters (big, sometimes very big liquid filled blisters). About the only thing doctors can agree on at this point is that this condition, which now includes sores, is related to the radiation. Wound care is becoming more of a problem. Only now do I better understand that the effects of radiation continue even if unseen. Personally, in my case, I think my annual mammogram of 2009 had something to do with putting me over the edge in terms of cummulative radiation. Not wanting to scare anyone just sharing some straight dope. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cancer-patient-s/456753/103 "2010-06-24T13:38:02Z")
**frankly** , welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board. We discourage bumping threads as old as the two you have revived. If you’d like to continue to converse on these topics, I suggest you open a new discussion and link back to the old ones if you feel that pertinent information is contained within them. I’m closing this thread and the other “zombie” you resurrected. **Ellen Cherry MPSIMS Moderator** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cancer-patient-s/456753.md?page=5)