South Carolina Oncology Associates

The Jonathan Bankhead Memorial Smash Cancer tennis tournament and Vanessa Bankhead’s family were recognized by the South Carolina Tennis Association with its 2024 Cam Littlejohn Community Service Award. The award was presented at the USTA South Carolina Annual Meeting in November 2024. 

The event has contributed more than $113,000 to SCOA Cares Foundation and will be held at Rockbridge April 25-27,

When someone is undergoing chemotherapy, there are multiple side effects from hair loss to appetite changes, plus nausea and vomiting. Managing these and other side effects is plenty to deal with, however changes in the weather is not something you thought you would also need to contend with. Let’s learn about managing chemotherapy side effects and seasonal changes.

It’s all about timing. We’ve heard this over the years, and it applies to a multitude of situations. Should I ask my boss for a raise this week? Should I propose to my girlfriend this holiday? Is now the time to take a vacation? All these answers depend on timing and whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

Treatment tools for cancer can be highly successful and save lives, but they come with many negative side effects. Chemotherapy, in particular, has some rather unpleasant ones including fatigue, nausea, mouth ulcers, and constipation to name just a few. Many cancer survivors will tell you losing their hair was the worst one. For many, their hair defines who they are and losing some or all of it is truly heartbreaking and can crush their spirit.

We all at times feel exhausted. We tell others that we are so tired and have no energy. Luckily for most of us, these feelings of exhaustion are nothing compared to the energy draining fatigue of someone undergoing chemotherapy. No amount of rest relieves the persistent fatigue of cancer while going through chemo. That’s the difference between normal fatigue and cancer fatigue.

Eat this. Don’t eat that. Everything in moderation. We hear these mantras all the time as a way to keep us safe from cancer risk. The fact is we need more definitive information if we are serious about lowering our risk and our family’s risk of cancer. What exactly should we put into our bodies, and what should we refrain from eating (or doing)?

Medical myths abound on the internet. Remember years ago when you stopped eating something because you read “somewhere” it caused cancer? Or maybe it was the other way around, and that something would prevent cancer. Then, you discovered later that none of it was true. We are hopefully older and wiser today, and are more scrupulous about what we read or hear from unofficial sources.