Cancer patients going through chemotherapy often experience difficulty with memory and focus. It’s a phenomenon common enough that it has earned a nickname: chemo brain.

Although chemo brain fog is common, it shouldn’t be ignored, according to Erin Mclaughlin, an oncology nurse navigator at OSF HealthCare. You should definitely let your oncologist know if you are experiencing any chemo brain symptoms.

“It’s not just one issue, it’s an umbrella of things that can go wrong,” Erin said. “It needs to be addressed because it impacts your quality of life. Your body is very delicately balanced, so we have to know about everything.”

Chemo brain causes

Chemo brain got its name because it’s often believed to be caused by chemotherapy, but that’s only one of the possible causes for the brain fog a patient experiences.

“Chemo itself is toxic poison we use to kill cancer,” Erin said. “Cancer is strong and

Exercise is known to reduce stress and release good endorphins in the body that restore cells and help you feel good. Physical activity is great for both your body and mind.

So what about exercise and cancer? You may be wondering, “Can I exercise during my ongoing treatment? Will it help my recovery?”

The simplified answer is yes, according to Erin Mclaughlin, an oncology nurse navigator at OSF HealthCare.

“Physical activity is wonderful. It’s a plus,” Erin said.

The benefits of exercise for cancer patients

Cancer treatment – whether it’s radiation therapy, chemotherapy or surgery – can take a toll on your body. These treatments use extreme measures to fight cancer, and the effects can wear you down physically and mentally.

Combined with sedentary lifestyle effects, the side effects of cancer treatment can be more severe and harder to recover from.

Physical activity can help with regaining strength. It can

Chemotherapy – the use of toxic chemicals to kill cancer cells – is one of the most common cancer treatments. And while chemotherapy has a long history of proven success, it can take a physical and mental toll on patients.

Chemo can make you feel awful, and patients often want to know, “Can we have a normal life after a cancer treatment?”

It can be hard to imagine getting back to normal life.

“Sometimes the treatment can be as rough as the disease,” said Erin Mclaughlin, an oncology nurse navigator at OSF HealthCare. “It’s important to remind patients that treatment will pass, and they will regain normalcy.

“When you’re going through chemo, it’s easier to push through mentally when there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

What to expect after chemo

Patricia Ramirez is an oncology nurse navigator at OSF HealthCare who specializes in breast cancer, for

It’s easy to tell when you get good sleep. You feel rested, alert and ready to tackle the day. 

But good sleep quality isn’t always easy to achieve. For some people, they breathe through their mouth, which might lead to trouble sleeping. 

Mouth breathing can be a nuisance. It can cause a dry or scratchy throat, bad breath and snoring. Some people who have trouble breathing through their noses while sleeping turn to a practice called mouth taping. 

People tape their mouths shut while sleeping in order to force themselves to breathe through their noses. And while over-the-counter mouth tape for sleep product is sold, it begs the question – is it a safe and effective practice?

Is mouth tape dangerous?

Mouth taping not only doesn’t help you to breathe through your nose, it’s also highly dangerous. It can cause obstructed breathing and create other more serious sleep disorders like

Rising to the blaring of the clock early in the morning, some of us like to follow those annoying wake-up calls with a dose of natural breeze by walking a mile or until sunrise. Walking offers great health benefits to all age groups. However, there is walking, and then there is walking with the right form. This is especially important for those walking on a daily basis. You could be doing it wrong without ever realizing it. This blog should help make you a better walker with our pointers on fixing your common walking mistakes.

1. Map Your Steps – Become An Explorer!

Walking outdoors is interesting; however, taking a different route every day could stave off the boredom and keep you interested in your daily step count. Get your map out – mark the spots that you would like to cover this week. Your curiosity to explore new places

Have trouble sleeping? Do you snore?

If so, your doctor may suggest undergoing a sleep study to help diagnose whether you have a sleep disorder such as obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, parasomnias or insomnia.

How does a sleep study work?

These are tests that record specific body functions during sleep, according to John Sand, DO, an OSF HealthCare sleep specialist.

It takes place overnight in a sleep lab, although there are situations where a home test can be conducted. As you sleep, instruments measure things like heart rate, breathing rate and airflow, brain wave activity, eye movement, blood oxygen level and muscle movement.

“They wire you up like an astronaut – there are things on your fingers to measure your pulse and blood oxygen level, electrodes on your head – you think right off the bat that you’re not going to be able to sleep, but you do,” Dr.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, OSF Innovation and OSF OnCall Digital Health rapidly set up a virtual program to treat sick people at home while also reducing stress on hospital capacity and medical providers. The idea grew out of a Trailblazer Challenge, a competition that helps Mission Partners bring their ideas to life.

In just three months, OSF HealthCare was among a few health systems in the country successfully leveraging technology to care for more than 100 patients at their own homes across Illinois. As a result, OSF became one of three health care systems in the state granted a waiver to provide hospital-level, inpatient care at peoples’ homes. The next step was to determine what this concept would look like for the Ministry.

“We needed to pause what we were doing and really think about how to design and build a program that ensures patients are offered

With all life’s stress, the hustle-bustle, and melancholy, we often forget to honor and shower love and affection on our skin. Skin, the largest organ of our body, does need some TLC from time to time. November marks national skin health month, and you could begin your skincare journey if you still have not. How could you do so? Curious? Keep reading…

1. Do Not Wrinkle; Make SPF Your BFF!

If you are one of those who ditch their sunscreens once the summer is over, then you are up for some serious gamble. For happy skin, you must be loyal to your sunscreen. Even if you huddle up like a sushi roll under multiple layers during the winter, the sun still touches your skin all year long, so it is crucial to remain vigilant year-round. Long-term excessive sun exposure can hasten your skin’s aging process and make you susceptible to

There are many similar symptoms of COVID-19, flu, RSV, the common cold and allergies.

Sometimes, it may be difficult to determine what ailment you or a family member may be experiencing. So how can you know what you’re dealing with?

The biggest difference is the shortness of breath associated with COVID-19. RSV also has quick onset of rapid breathing or wheezing. The flu, cold and allergies do not cause shortness of breath unless it progresses to pneumonia.

COVID-19 symptoms and prevention

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Symptoms of COVID-19 include:

• Fever or chills
• Dry cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

How to protect yourself from COVID-19

• Get vaccinated or if you’re already vaccinated, get your booster.
• Wear a face mask when you go out in public as required by CDC guidelines

That time of the year is rolling around again for those celebrating the festival, which gives you an excuse to not buy gifts. Instead, all you are required to do is be thankful. And also gorge on turkey. It is interesting how all considerations of personal beliefs and ancestry are lost when a simple celebration of Thanksgiving becomes a tie that binds, which is to say that food and gratefulness bring people together. But if you are looking for tips on how to build your own special Thanksgiving memory, this is where you come for pointers.

1. Long, Long Ago

And so the story goes… Because you do not start a whole research project without the background info. History is the whole reason why Thanksgiving is even a thing, so learn we shall. It all harks back to when the Pilgrims (the survivors who traveled to America on the Mayflower)