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I had seen cancer at a more cellular level as a researcher. The first time I entered the cancer ward, my first instinct was to withdraw from what was going on - the complexity, the death. It was a very bleak time.

This particular nurse said, Cancer cells are those which have forgotten how to die. I was so struck by this statement.

Nurses serve their patients in the most important capacities. We know that they serve as our first lines of communication when something goes wrong or when we are concerned about health.

I'm sure it really is hard to be an oncologist, and actually, more and more people are surviving cancer.

Cancer is a disease where the patient can contribute a great deal of help himself if he or she can retain their morale and their hopes.

My mother has had breast cancer twice. And my mother has always been this very positive human being: a glass-half-full type. Like, when she was in treatment and feeling really bad, she would always talk about some nurse that was particularly nice to her.

I started realizing I could be an example for women to not just be aware of breast cancer but to act on it, to make an appointment, to give themselves an exam.

With breast cancer, it's all about detection. You have to educate young women and encourage them to do everything they have to do.

There are lots of dimensions to being a cancer patient. The overwhelming one is that it takes over your life.