A look at how one cancer survivor has witnessed life-changing medical advancements over the years.
BY Ryan Hamner
PUBLISHED July 03, 2018
Ryan Hamner is a four-time survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma, a musician and a writer. In 2011, he wrote and recorded, "Where Hope Lives" for the American Cancer Society and the song for survivors, "Survivors Survive" used in 2015 for #WorldCancerDay. Currently, he operates his website for those affected by cancer, 2surviveonline.com and drinks a ridiculous amount of coffee per day.
"Can you tell I'm wearing this thing? It's just too big," I told my mom. "It just looks like your Walkman. You're worrying too much. Nobody will even notice, Ryan," she said.
I knew she had to be telling a bit of a fib. At the time, I was a kid and had to wear a big and bulky heart monitor for some study of my heart. I can't really remember why I was wearing it at that time. It may have been to get a baseline of my heart before chemo or some sort of other study trying to pinpoint a specific issue. I do, however, remember the box (monitor), sticky pads and the red, black and white wires.
With heart monitors, there's really not much to them. They simply record your heart rate, rhythm and allow you to mark symptoms for your doctors. The worst-case scenario with wearing a heart monitor: you spook a few people if you lift your shirt and expose all of the wires that trail down to the little box on the side of your hip. Well, that was with the earlier heart monitors anyway. (They're definitely not airport friendly.)
I knew she had to be telling a bit of a fib. At the time, I was a kid and had to wear a big and bulky heart monitor for some study of my heart. I can't really remember why I was wearing it at that time. It may have been to get a baseline of my heart before chemo or some sort of other study trying to pinpoint a specific issue. I do, however, remember the box (monitor), sticky pads and the red, black and white wires.
With heart monitors, there's really not much to them. They simply record your heart rate, rhythm and allow you to mark symptoms for your doctors. The worst-case scenario with wearing a heart monitor: you spook a few people if you lift your shirt and expose all of the wires that trail down to the little box on the side of your hip. Well, that was with the earlier heart monitors anyway. (They're definitely not airport friendly.)
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