Archived Web Chat with Dr. Susan Love

Tish Krieg/NASA: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:01AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [2 ]
Hi Dr.Love - We're here and ready. There filming for T.V as well right now so it' a little hectic! Thanks so much.

sinead : . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:01AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [3 ]
hi doctor im 6 and whn i grow up I want to be a doctor

Tish Krieg/NASA: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:02AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [4 ]
Dr. Susan Love is online and ready. Let's begin.

Melody Rancho: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:04AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [5 ]
What is your favorite food?

Claire: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:05AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [6 ]
Did you always know you wanted to become a doctor?

Mellissa: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:05AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [7 ]
Do you have to still study now?

sinead : . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:06AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [8 ]
hi doctor im 6 and whn i grow up I want to be a doctor

Brittany, Hacienda: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:06AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [9 ]
How much free time do you have?

Julia at Palo Verde: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:06AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [10 ]
How did you get interested in cancer research?

sinead : . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:07AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [11 ]
what school did you goto

Emily: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:08AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [12 ]
Do you think there will ever be a cure for breast cancer?

Amanda,Elcarmelo: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:10AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [13 ]
What is your favorite movie?

Julia at Palo Verde: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:11AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [14 ]
How did you get interested in cancer research?

cameron, Ida Price middle school: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:12AM PDT (- 0700 GMT). . . [15 ]
what hobbies do you have?

Julia at Palo Verde: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:12AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [16 ]
How did you get interested in cancer research?

sinead: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:12AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [17 ]
i want to be a cancer doctor too

: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:13AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [18 ]
Good morning. Sorry I didn't realize you were all there. I still have to study alot to make sure that I do the right things for my patients and keep up with the most recent studies.

: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:13AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [19 ]
I went to medical school in Brooklyn New York, back in the days when they didn't let many women become doctors.

Catherine,: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:13AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [20 ]
Have you ever had to work with a family member with cancer?

Tish Krieg/NASA: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:14AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [21 ]
Dr. Love - Don't forget to put your name in the box below so we can see you responses are you from you.

Jennifer Barnett/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:15AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [22 ]
How long does it take to do a blood transfusion, if you've ever done one?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:15AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [23 ]
I am glad to see that many of you want to be doctors. It is hard work but very rewarding. I do think that we will find a cure for cancer and especially breast cancer in my lifetime. There is alot of exciting research going on .

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:16AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [24 ]
I haave taken care of cousins of mine with breast cancer , but it is usually not a good idea to operate on anyone too close to you becasue it is hard to be objective and your feelings might keep you from doing the right thing.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:17AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [25 ]
Blood transfusions don't take very long , they are usually done by nurses or technicians. the blood is dripped into the persons vein through an IV. How fast it drips in depends how fast the person needs the blood.

Danae Tames/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:17AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [26 ]
How many years of college and medical school did you have to go through?

Catherine,: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:17AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [27 ]
Is it true that certain foods can help prevent & cure cancer?

Amanda,Elcarmelo: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:18AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [28 ]
What is your favorie T.V. show?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:18AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [29 ]
You have to go for four years of college and then four years of medical school. then you spend another seven years training to become a surgeon. Other specialities like medicine or pediatrics take less time. t

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:21AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [30 ]
I don't actually watch TV very much . there are foods that can help prevent cancer. Especially fruits and vegetables (brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli) and tofu and soy protein as well as carrots. The best way to prevent cancer is to exercise, eat a good diet and never smoke.

Melody, Rancho: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:21AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [31 ]
What do you like to do?

Alex, Strath Haven MS, 14: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:21AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [32 ]
What got you interested in the medical field?

: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:22AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [33 ]
How much do genetics play in cancer?

Christina Woolf/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:22AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [34 ]
Have you ever made a mistake on a patient and ended up costing them a life or leg? What did you tell them?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:22AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [35 ]
I got interested in cancer research because I was operating on a lot of women with breast cancer. It seemed crazy that we were cutting women's breasts off and I figured there must be a better way to treat this disease. I am trying to invent a new approach where we could put a tiny catheter through the nipple into the breast and squirt something down the duct and just wash the cancer away. It will be great if it works.

andy at jls: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:23AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [36 ]
is a lump ectomy as safe as a mas ectomy

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:23AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [37 ]
I love to play with my nine year old daughter katie.

Jennifer Barnett/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:23AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [38 ]
Have you ever had an "ER" situation that calls for immediate action?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:24AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [39 ]
Genetics do play a big role in cancer. All cancer is screwed up genes. Sometimes you inherit the screwed up gene from your mother or father and sometimes you inherit normal genes and something comes along in the environment and screws up the genes. But in the end it is all screwed up genes so that the cells don't grow right.

Catherine,: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:25AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [40 ]
Is it true that girls starting oral birth control are more likely to develop brest cancer?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:26AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [41 ]
I have had a few times when I made a mistake in diagnosis or surgery and the patient died or had a complication. It is very hard. But we are not perfect. the best way to deal with it is to tell the patinet the truth. Luckily it doesn't happen very often (maybe twice). It is much easier to give people good news.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:27AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [42 ]
Birth control pills do not increase breast cancer as best we can tell. I have had many ER situations i my career. Now that I do only breast surgery I don't have as many there are few emergency breast lumps.

andy at jls: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:28AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [43 ]
where dose the cancer go when its washed away

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:28AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [44 ]
Lumpectomy is just as good as mastectomy both at keeping cancer from coming back and curing it. Hopefully we will come to a time when we will find the cancer when it is so small that we won't have to do surgery at all.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:29AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [45 ]
I got into medicine because i loved science and I loved people. I started in college working for the Red Cross in Latin america

Danae Tames/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:30AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [46 ]
What are your work hours?

Danae Tames/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:30AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [47 ]
What are your work hours?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:32AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [48 ]
We could either wash the cancer cells out of the duct before they were able to invade the tissues or maybe we could dissolve them. Breast cancer starts in the milk ducts so if we had a good way to get into them we could do all sorts of things. Unfortunately no one has ever figured out how many ducts there are or how many holes there are in the nipple. I am trying to map this out so that we will know where to explore. There are many many things in medicine that we don't know and lots of room for curious people like yourselves to discover .

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:33AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [49 ]
I work from 7 am until about 6 or 7 pm. I operate, see patients, teach medical students, and do research. I also write books and articles and travel around the country to lecture. It keeps me very busy.

Peto/Pasco High: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:33AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [50 ]
Do you have an idea of an interesting service learning class that could be taught that would prepare students for a career in women's health issues?

Julie Darling/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:35AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [51 ]
How long have you been in the medical field?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:36AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [52 ]
I am not sure what you mean by a service learning class. I think that the best way to prepare for a career in women's health is to read all you can and ask questions. Many of the things we say in medicine that sound like the truth have not yet been proven or are based on bad studies. It is important to learn to question everything. You can also volunteer in a health clinic as an orderly or helper as you get older.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:36AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [53 ]
I finished Medical School in 1974. I have been taking care of patients for over 20 years.

Claire: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:38AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [54 ]
Do you think the Red Cross is a good experience for beginning a carrer in the medical field.

LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:38AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [55 ]
How helpful is math in your medical profession?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:39AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [56 ]
It was a great experience for me. I went to El Salvador and then to Mexico and taught first aid and mother and baby care and got a good idea of how important good medicine and health care really was.

Melissa: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:39AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [57 ]
Did you always know you wanted to become a doctor?

Susan: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:40AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [58 ]
When my mom had cancer she read your book and decided to choose lumpectomy, Thanks for your help in her cure!

: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:40AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [59 ]
Did you experience any discrimination because you were a woman?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:41AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [60 ]
Math is very important in life in general. although we now have computers to calculate the dosage of drugs. You still have to figure out how much sodium and potassioum a person has in their body when they are sick and how much you need to replace. You also need to understand statistics to be able to read and interpret research reports. You can never know enough math in my opinion

Jennifer Barnett/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:41AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [61 ]
I have heard that Advil and other headache medications can prevent Alzheimers Disease. Is it true?

Peto/Pasco High: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:41AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [62 ]
Peto/Pasco High-Never mind about the Service Learning Part. Would really like to put together a class that would look questions in "medicine that sound like the truth" and have students work on those to become interested and analyzers. Need some experts that would help students put projects together. Think you or your associates could be part of that?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:41AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [63 ]
I always wanted to be a doctor since about eighth grade.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:42AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [64 ]
I am glad I was able to help your mom. One of the reasons that I wrote my book was to give women the information they needed to be able to make decisions. Unfortunately doctors don't always do that.

Peto/Pasco High: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:43AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [65 ]
Adam/Pasco High - Did you do any work with United Nations Organizations? (I noticed you mentioned El Salvador and they did get a lot of help from the UN. Am interested in your perception of the UN organization??

Jennifer Barnett/LamarMS: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:43AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [66 ]
Do you know what causes Parkinsens Disease?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:44AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [67 ]
I did experience a lot of discrimination as a woman. I was only the second women in my hospital to be a resident in surgery and the first woman on the staff. When I started they did not like women surgeons very much and treated us badly. They didn't even have a room where we could take a shower if we spent the night in the hospital. Thank goodness it is better now.

Peto/Pasco High: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:45AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [68 ]
Adam, Emily/Pasco High - Do you ever do anything fun? like golf?

Tish Krieg/NASA: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:46AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [69 ]
Our time with Dr.Love is just about over. Her chat will be archived and linked from her bio.and the schedule so you can go back and read it.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:46AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [70 ]
There is a study about Advil and Alzheimer's . It is interesting but it doesn't mean that for sure it works. Observation studies such as these sometimes get it wrong. It is as if you did a study and said that everyone with a ciagarette lighter in their pocket had a higher level of lung cancer. You would be missing the fact that they all smoked.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:47AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [71 ]
I would love to help girls and boy s learn how to be critical in medical information. I do not know what causes Parkinson's although it may be a slow virus. I did not work with the UN.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:48AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [72 ]
I love to run, fish , ride my bike and play with my kid.

Peto/Pasco High: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:49AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [73 ]
Pasco High, Thanks so much for your time. Ms. Peto (our teacher brought her granddaughter, 7 years old) to work with her today.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:50AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [74 ]
You are welcome. My daughter is downstairs waiting to go to school. She wants me to say hello to all of you.

Tish Krieg/NASA: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:51AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [75 ]
Okay, I think that's it for our chat. Thank you so much Dr.Love for your time. You were wonderful!

Claire: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:52AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [76 ]
Is your daughter going to work with you today?

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:52AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [77 ]
Anytime. I can talk faster than I can type, but it was fun.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:53AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [78 ]
No, she has been before and decided school would be more fun.

Susan Love: . . . . Thu, Apr 24, 7:54AM PDT (-0700 GMT). . . [79 ]
Thanks again , I am off.

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