Monday, June 18, 2007

Who am I and why am I here?

My name is David Loeb, and I’m a pediatric oncologist.

Whenever I say that, I’m reminded of how people introduce themselves at AA meetings. Unlike being an alcoholic, being a pediatric oncologist is not a problem, really. You might think so from the looks I get when I meet someone and tell them what I do for a living. “You do what?” “That must be so hard!” “How can you do that every day?”

I’ll tell you… I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life. I have a fabulous job. I have a lab, where we study cancer at the molecular level and are trying to understand how good cells go bad and do bad things to kids. I see patients, too, and they provide me with the inspiration to go back and work harder in the lab to find new ways to treat them.

I love kids. They tolerate so much while we treat them. And yet, no matter how miserable we make them, all they want to do is be kids – to run and jump and play. It energizes me to walk into clinic and feel the joy emanating from the kids.

How did I get to where I am? Well, I studied biology in college and then went to medical school at Columbia University in New York. I earned my PhD at the same time, and after graduation I moved to Baltimore to do a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins. I haven’t left. After all, how can you leave America's #1 hospital?

This is my 7th year on the faculty as a pediatric oncologist. Last October I was appointed the Director of the Johns Hopkins Sarcoma Center. Sarcomas are rare tumors of the bone, muscle, fat, and other connective tissue (connective tissue is what holds our bodies together). Because they are rare, they are not mentioned often in the newspaper, there is not enough research funded for sarcomas, and because of this much less is known about how best to treat these awful diseases. Patients and their families often feel alone when they get a cancer diagnosis, and it’s even worse when it’s a kind of cancer they’ve never even heard of.

Why, at this point, am I starting a blog? My goal with this blog is to provide support and information for patients with cancer and their loved ones. I’ll tell stories about my patients… mostly good, but not always. I’ll highlight news related to cancer research, including reports of new drugs and new treatments. I’ll discuss new clinical trials. And most importantly, I hope get to know the the people who are reading my blog - and that we will learn from each other.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Doctor David,

Just found your blog, and wanted to say, I'm glad you are here! I'll look forward to keeping up with your blog.

I'm the mother of a 21 year old with a low grade brain tumor. He had surgery at Hopkins 4 years ago.

He's doing great!

I'm so grateful for doctors who care like you,

Susan

Elizabeth Munroz said...

About Newspapers not publishing much about Sarcomas: If there is a patient being interviewed, or the family of a deceased patient, it is up to them to press for the name of the sarcoma to be included in the article. I wish we could get that word out. Newspapers will often just call it cancer rather than take the time to call it Sarcoma and add a little bit about it. Ewing's sarcoma seems to be the one written about the most. Among our attempts for Sarcoma Awareness this is one area that can help make it more public.

Anonymous said...

Hi Doctor David,
I am a sixteen year old grade ten student. For a careers project, we had to research a job that intrested us and put together a pamphlet on it. I have alwasy wanted to be a doctor, and i find cancer fascinating. I also love kids and want to work with them, so i chose to do my project a paediatric oncologist.
I just wanted to let you know that I found your blogs really intresting, and they have let me see exactly what your job is like. I now know that I would love to follow your career path.
Thank you so much for taking the time to post these blogs, they have taught me alot and I have enjoyed reading them!
-Emily

Anonymous said...

Hi Doctor David,
I'm Catherine, 20 years old, from Indonesia. Now, I'm a medical student. In my opinion, oncologists are the difficult projects in medical sciences. So, maybe you can give me the solutions how to study oncologists easily.
I'm glad and very appreciated you visit my blog and add my blog in your blogroll.Please give me feedbacks in my blog.Thank you.I'm sorry I can't write English well.

NYC Foodie said...

Thanks for your kind generosity - sharing your knowledge with all of us

Warm regards,
Charmaine Chen

Arps said...

hi doctor david..
i've been a visitor to your blog for the past few days. I love the stories you put up there.
the reason i'm leaving a note here is coz i recently had an encounter with a AML patient who cannot afford medications! This is a 13y/o boy with poor prognosis AML & parents who cannot pay for the medications!!
the boy is my dad's patient (who's a hematoncologist) & since i found out his story, i haven't been at ease with myself. I've this feeling of guilt where i feel that while i'm living a content life, there are pple who cannot buy the medications they need!!

Being in a position where u face such situations everyday, how do u deal with it??
yes, there's the happiness of saving lives, but how do u deal with situations where u are helpless, & have to see a patient progress to further stages??

Thanks for providin a platform to let out steam.
Even Just writing here helped.

Arpita

Amanda Davis said...

I'd like to thank you for focusing on sarcoma. My son was only 3 years old when diagnosed with metastatic Ewing's Sarcoma. Unfortunately, he relapsed nine months after he was declared in remission. We sure do need more research on this cancer. The statistics given to us parents just seem so unacceptable!

Unknown said...

Hi Doctor David,
I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to thank you for the wonderful work you're doing. It's nice to see doctors out there that are passionate about their patients and what they do.

On a side note, while doing some web surfing I came upon a pretty cool site that sells organic cotton children's wear. One of their designs is a stethoscope around the neck. If you get a chance check it out: www.funnyhunnybunny.com

Thanks again for everything you do!

Tiffany said...

I just found your blog and have to say it's doctors like you that make my life possible:-)I am an 11 year suvivor of Osteosarcoma. It was a hard road but I am lucky to be still here!I developed a close relationship with all my care givers while going through treamtemt and they make such a difference in the lives of all childhood cancer patients. Hats off to you! Keep up the good work! If you want to check out my blog its about my journey through living with cancer and beyond!
http://ialwayswantedtoshavemyhead.blogspot.com/

Rochelle Lea said...

Your blog is such an adventure to read. I am a Certified Child Life Specialist and Licensed Professional Counselor- I work in a Cancer resource center in Chicago and am the Program Coordinator for the children and family programs. It's wonderful to read these stories from the physicians prospective. Keep up the great work!

Dakota said...

Hello Dr. David,
Like pretty much everyone else here, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to post such inspirational stories and useful information. Your blog has been one of the factors that has inspired me to become a pediatric oncologist. I just wanted to know--how hard and expensive was it to get to where you are (referring to your studies)? I realize that this career is academically demanding, so I was just curious about that. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Such a wonderful blog! Thank you!

M said...

I seem a little late to the discussion. However, I am impacted. I'm a biology major, planning on taking my MCAT come January! And while I know this field is the one I want, it's nice to read about someone else having the same thoughts for it as I do. So thank you!