You may remember that a few weeks ago we looked at a couple of personal leukemia blogs. This week I thought I’d take a look at lymphoma in the blogosphere.

I just went to Google Blog Search and typed in “lymphoma” – results are well over one million (1,165,066 at the moment) for all time. I then clicked on “last day” in the left column and 190 results were pulled up. A lot of people are talking about lymphoma – and their experiences are very diverse.

Bill, a.k.a. Billy Bird on his blog, recently started to write Lymph Notes. He was diagnosed with lymphoma on December 24, 2007. Recently someone asked him what having cancer has taught him, and he provided his answer on his blog:

I hope that the biggest lesson I have learned is to continue to think positively. Without doubt, I have created a new future committed to allowing myself to love and to accept love, or at least to work on developing such an outcome. That pledge, combined with an ability to think positively, will be the lesson I hope I never forget.

Another blog, A Pastor's Cancer Diary, is written by Carl. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2005. His posts are filled with anecdotes and spiritual advice for every day life. Earlier this month Carl reflected on the challenges of cancer:

I realize that, in the cancer world, there are far more serious pains, far more grueling challenges than those I’ve had to undergo. Each fresh obstacle presents its own level of difficulty. Yet, I’m coming to realize this same principle holds true, at every level. God is right there with us. The sound of sheer silence speaks. Together we travel, one step at a time.

Do you write a blog? If so, we’d love to take a look!

Learn more about the lymphomas:

• Read more on our Lymphoma section on lls.org.
• Download the free The Lymphomas booklet (.pdf).
• Listen to past audio teleconferences accessible via our Lymphoma Education Series section on www.LLS.org.

*From Wikipedia.org: Blogosphere is a collective term encompassing all blogs and their interconnections. It is the perception that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social network.

We sponsor a lot of very interesting teleconferences, but they usually take place on a weekday in the middle of a day. This means that many people who are at work or busy doing something else are not able to listen to these live events. Luckily we have our telephone education programs archived on our website, and additionally we have several podcast feeds.

Up until just a few days ago we had three podcast feeds:

• Blood CancerCAST – all of our teleconferences
• CML LinksCAST – Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia teleconferences
• Lymphoma LinksCAST – Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma teleconferences

We just added seven more podcast feeds to make it easier for people to listen to the teleconferences they are interested in. Here’s a list of our new feeds:

• AML PathwaysCAST – Acute Myelogenous Leukemia teleconferences
• Childhood CancersCAST – teleconferences related to the childhood cancers
• CLL LinksCAST – Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia teleconferences
• MDS CAST – Myelodysplastic Syndrome teleconferences
• Myeloma OutlookCAST – Myeloma teleconferences
• Non-Hodgkin LymphomaCAST – Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma teleconferences
• SurvivorshipCAST – teleconferences related to practical information for those living with the blood cancers

Okay – so a lot of people may not know what RSS or podcasts are. I’ll try to explain.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) has been around for quite a while (since about 1999), but it hasn’t really taken off until the last few years. Personally, I didn’t really start to utilize it myself until a couple of years ago, but now I am taking advantage of it on almost a daily basis.

RSS allows you to read content from all of your favorite websites in one place. Do you find that you don’t have time to visit all of those websites on a daily basis, but you still want to read their content? The solution is to create an account with an aggregation service like Google Reader or Newsgator, then add your favorite website’s feed to the aggregator. At this point those websites syndicate their information to you.

A podcast feed acts the same way, except instead of text-based content, websites (like ours) can syndicate their digital media files (like teleconferences) to you. With our podcast feeds you’ll always stay up to date when there is a new teleconference, making it so you have less of a chance to miss that important and informative information.

Learn more about our new feeds and RSS on our LLS News Feeds and Podcasts page.

Currently, many adults do not participate in clinical trials because insurance companies refuse to cover routine care expenses for patients who choose to enroll in a clinical trial. Increasing participation in clinical trials is one of the best ways to speed new cures to the doctor’s office, the hospital bedside, and the infusion room. Fortunately, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce has introduced a measure, H.R. 2676, which would require insurance companies to cover routine care expenses for patients enrolled in clinical trials. However, Congresswoman Pryce’s measure needs your help. Please contact your member of Congress to urge them to cosponsor H.R. 2676.