› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Interesting Article in Popular Mechanics June 2017 ISSUE
- This topic has 5 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 10 months ago by
AliCat61.
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- June 4, 2017 at 2:08 pm
Disrupting Cancer. This article is interesting reading and I found it to be very hopeful. It touches on the advances in cancer treatment, including targeted drugs, and briefly mentions some that are not yet available. Those of us in the trenches are probably familiar with most of the information in the article, but it might be very enlightening to those unfortunate souls who are new to our ranks, and might prove educational for friends and family. Just thought I'd share…
Note: If you are a reader and have a library card, please ask your library if they subscribe to Zinio for libraries, You may find that you can read the article (actually the entire magazine and other magazines too), on your computer, iPad, tablet, or e-reader without even having to leave the house, just by using your library card,
Another side note: My husband, who has stage IV melanoma, and who is not very active these days due to feeling generally icky from the treatments, has discovered a love of reading. At the age of 70, his cataracts make it difficult, and of course, no one wants to treat his cataracts while his melanoma is being treated. So…I bought him a Kindle Paperwhite, which has a glare free screen. He can enlarge the font as much as he wants to make it easy for him to read the screen. This has brought him much pleasure and has helped him pass the time while waiting in doctors office and hospitals, and even helps get his mind off things at home when he is anxious. We got him a library card and he checks out books online o his heart's content, at his convenience, even when it's 2 in the morning and he can't sleep.
Seeing what a comfort this has been to him, and being a bit if a techie ( a semi-retired IT person), I have been considering starting a charity project, and asking companies and individuals to donate their unused or possible non-functional Kindles so I can refurbish them and offer them free of charge to cancer patients and their caregivers to help with the waiting. I would of course also provide free tech support to help them learn to use it and to check out books with a library card, etc. I know it probably sounds a bit frivolous in light of all their(our) more serious needs, but I find reading to be a comfort to both me and my husband as we wait…wait…and then wait some more. I'd be interested in hearing what you all think about this.
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- June 4, 2017 at 3:06 pm
That sounds like a good idea. I think the cost to refurbish a Kindle would be prohibitive.
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- June 4, 2017 at 3:51 pm
Alison,
that is a great idea… especially for slightly older people, who are not as used to technology as younger people are…
I bought my dad an ipad ( all his life he was strongly against all tech related stuff) so he didn't care for it at first, but once he got familiar with it he now can't put it down… He reads all sorts of stuff on it, he watches documentaries, he plays chess (that is his favorite since he doesn't need a 'live' opponent hehe), so it has really been a welcome distraction for him…
I also introduced him to sudoku a couple of years ago, he takes it with him to the doctors, even to get his keytruda.. He used to dread it and would keep his eyes shut for LOOONG thirty minutes, but now he says time flies by and he is always surprised when nurse says he's done :-)))
Bottom line, great what you are trying to do, anything that helps them get their minds of the disease is priceless!
Take care,
Patrisa
p.s I can donate an old ipad, it works but is kinda slow when online…
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- June 9, 2017 at 1:14 am
Patrisa, thank you so much for the encouragement. An older ipad would work just fine with the Kindle reading app, as long as the patient or caregiver doesn't have vision problems. I personally use an older ipad for my Kindle reading. The only downside is that you can't enlarge the font nearly as much as you can on a Kindle, which is why I gave hubs my Kindle and started using the ipad. The speed isn't important if it is being used as an e-reader since the books and magazines once downloaded, reside on the device.
I'm so glad that your Dad had you to help him get it setup, and that iti is helping the time spent waiting to pass a little more quickly . Maybe you can help me with another issue….how to find the people who would benefit most. .Since many people aren't technically inclined, I thought I might just work with local people in need, since I may have to take them to the library to get a library card and tach them how to use it, but….I could also help people who aren't local to me if they already have a library card, or have a family member who can take them to get one. Just brainstorming, I'm open to all suggestions. I do have the capability to offer techincal support remotely, so if they already have a card or can get one I can help with setup. and support even if they're far away, Would you mind contacting me privately, so we don't clog up the board while brainstorming? I'll make sure that my contact info is in my profile. Thank you again for the encouragement.. This is such a cruel disease for the patients and for family members. If I can do anything, however small to make someones else's journey a bit brighter, I want to do it. I need to do it.. I have to do something no matter how small. I really need to pull something positive from this experience..
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Tagged: caregiver, cutaneous melanoma
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