Bonnie Rochman

Seattle

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Out now @FSGbooks! The Gene Machine: How Genetic Technologies Are Changing the Way We Have Kids...@PublishersWkly ✰ review. Health/parenting scribe. Mom.

Articles

A swollen lymph node leads to a diagnosis of throat cancer

1 week ago | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

In 2023, Jack David was on his family’s annual trip to Priest Lake, Idaho, when he woke up in the middle of that vacation and felt a swollen lymph node. He made a few jokes about what it could be, then saw his doctor when he returned home to Seattle, which led to a referral to an otolaryngologist. David, 49, was given a prescription for antibiotics, but the node didn’t subside. Results from a biopsy appeared normal, but the node still didn’t disappear.
Multiple myeloma is treatable, not curable. Is that set to change?

1 month ago | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

At age 89, Cal Crow plays water volleyball three days a week, then chases that with a 1,000-foot swim; on his off days, he logs at least a mile around his neighborhood — and that’s with a cancer diagnosis. In 2019, Crow was having trouble hearing and went to see a physician who misdiagnosed him. He sought a second opinion at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, where a full body scan revealed that Crow had multiple myeloma. “I didn’t know what that was,” said Crow.
Physician assistant cares for colon cancer patients - then she became one

1 month ago | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

FacebookLinkedInTwitterEmail The diagnosis came out of nowhere for 38-year-old Bekah Kooy was convinced she had food poisoning when she felt nauseated and experienced stomach pain following lunch one day in February 2023. By the next day, the pain had moved to the right side of her abdomen and she wondered if her gall bladder might be the culprit.
With respiratory infections rampant, experts urge masking and vaccination

2 months ago | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

During one of the most active flu seasons in recent memory, infectious disease experts at Fred Hutch Cancer Center say many of the public health lessons learned during the COVID-19 epidemic still apply: wear well-fitting masks in crowded indoor poorly ventilated spaces, practice good hand hygiene and get vaccinated. There are three vaccines available to protect against respiratory viruses: flu, COVID-19 and RSV. And no, it’s not too late to get vaccinated this season.
Fred Hutch deploys AI technology to help analyze colonoscopies

2 months ago | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

Endoscopists who perform colonoscopies are trained to zoom in on the nooks and crannies of the colon, the glossy pink five-foot-long tunnel that snakes through the abdomen. They are on the prowl for polyps, small clumps of cells that may turn cancerous if not removed. "Some polyps are quite large and we would never miss those," said David Hockenbery, MD, medical director of the procedure suite and head of gastroenterology and hepatology at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.
A charming model: new tool evaluates risk of transplant for older patients

Dec 6, 2024 | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

A new risk assessment model developed by investigators from the Blood & Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) will be presented by Fred Hutch Cancer Center transplant doctor Mohamed Sorror, MD, MSc, at the American Society of Hematology’s 2024 Annual Meeting in San Diego. The Composite Health Risk Assessment model, or CHARM, was designed to evaluate risks of mortality unrelated to relapse for older patients who may benefit from hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
Diagnosed with thyroid cancer, new mom counted the days until she could have another child

Nov 13, 2024 | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

In August 2022, Courtney Storti celebrated her son’s first birthday. She and her husband threw Aaron a party with a camping theme. They made pizzas and cut into a campfire cake. A week later, Storti went radioactive. Storti was 30 and nursing Aaron when she developed postpartum thyroiditis, an inflammation of the thyroid gland that can cause abnormal thyroid function and enlargement of the thyroid gland after delivery.
From Overlooked to Understood, A Black Woman’s Case Gets the Attention it Deserves

Oct 24, 2024 | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

In 2005 after Terri Rau found a lump under her arm while shaving, she was treated for Hodgkin lymphoma. Her oncologist at the time cautioned her that she’d need to be on guard once she reached her 40s for a potential secondary cancer, especially breast cancer due to the chest radiation that was a critical component of her lymphoma treatment. Turning 40 seemed like a long time off. Rau, 26 at the time, tucked that information away.
Mammogram vans remove barriers that people face accessing breast cancer screening

Oct 23, 2024 | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

For 12 years, Danielle Nevers delayed getting a mammogram. For starters, she was afraid it was going to hurt. And she had no idea how to access the screening, which is recommended for women beginning at age 40. But when Gabrielle Flowers, Breast Health Equity Program coordinator at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, personally reached out to encourage her to get screened and offered to arrange transportation to one of Fred Hutch’s two mobile mammography vans, Nevers agreed.
Fred Hutch expands its research capacity in South Lake Union

Oct 7, 2024 | fredhutch.org | Bonnie Rochman

Fred Hutch Cancer Center is expanding its research footprint in South Lake Union with three buildings on Eastlake Avenue East that will add more than 300,000 square feet devoted to labs and flexible spaces. Fred Hutch is purchasing 1165 Eastlake Ave. E. and assuming a 70% interest in both 1201 and 1208 Eastlake Ave.