Growing Bolder Community

There have been many amazing cats in my life. When I was little -- Missy, the Siamese who let me rub my face in her fur. As I got older, sisters Mischief and Tallie -- Mischief would "talk" to me for hours, or just listen if I needed to vent. Now, Travers and Laila brighten bad days by greeting me as I walk in the door. But the most amazing cat to ever live may be Cinnamon, an Abyssinian...

It's hard to think that a year ago my mother was waiting to have her right lung removed. We found out in July of '06 that she had a tumor the size of a small orange growing in her lung. Mark and I had been to a Red Sox/D-Rays game the night before and woke up in St. Petersburg to a frantic phone call from my sister early Tuesday morning letting us know that my mother had been admitted to the...

One word seems to unify us all in dread: cancer. The disease doesn't discriminate based on race, gender, age, income, attitude or resume. It can strike at any time, and most often leaves the patient with physical, emotional and financial challenges.According to the Centers for Disease Control, breast cancer is the second-most common form of cancer in women. It's the number one cause of cancer...

Kidney disease is usually a slow disease, but its speed doesn’t mean that it isn’t dangerous. When a person is diagnosed with kidney disease, his kidneys will progressively shut down over a period of time. Reduced kidney function leads to excess water, waste and minerals in the body. You’ll need to work with your doctor to manage your disease; but if dietary measures and medications are...

The medical delivery system is under pressure to provide quality health care despite these dire trends: reduced access because of the closing of community hospitals and low-cost clinics staggering increases in the cost of drugs, medical treatment and insurance, an increasing reluctance of HMO’s to refer patients to specialists, and a dramatic increase in the number of uninsured, now...