Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

1/13 of the Way to My Goal

On March 15th, I launched Wendy's Eagles (WE). With 26 days yet to go before the Dallas Lymphomathon, my team is 1/13 of the way there. Now I have to ramp up my efforts.

To Talk or Not To Talk

Kairol asked on her blog if she should delete "Spaz" as a friend after he wrote on her Facebook wall: "Is medical stuff and malignant masses really all you are into now? … It’s like people are born again and only talk about Jesus. If this is annoying or rude, delete me as a friend and I’ll understand."

A Good Death

Chapter 2 of Jane Brody's Guide the the Great Beyond is entitled, "A Good Death: There's More Than One Right Way to Die." She highlights three messages that reflect the philosophy of Healthy Survivorship:

Tax Day Debut

This coming April 15th is more than "tax day." It is also the official pub date of my next book:

Only 10 Seconds to Care. Help and Hope for Busy Clinicians.

Bittersweet Bye

Yesterday my phone rang. My internist's telephone number was on caller-ID. After she said hello, her tone turned serious. I was totally unprepared for what she had to say.

A Road Less Traveled

Layng Martine Jr.'s piece, In a Charmed Life, a Road Less Traveled, offers testimony to Healthy Survivorship and the notion of Happiness in a Storm. Layng explains, "Anyone who is in love is living a charmed life, especially if you've been in love for many years, through good times and bad."

Denied Closure

Scott's Denial, an essay by Tara B. Gibson, revolves around the question, "What are a caregiver's obligations to a dying patient who wants to stay in denial to the end?"

Calling all Wendy's Eagles

As captain of Wendy's Eagles, I personally invite you to become a Wendy's Eagle for the 2009 Dallas Lymphomathon. My team is a motley crew of friends and kids and kids' friends. Whether in person or in spirit only, you can join Wendy's Eagles.

Intro to Jane Brody's Guide to the Great Beyond

On my Feb 18th post I told you about a new book by Jane Brody, subtitled "A Practical Primer to Help You and Your Loved Ones Prepare Medically, Legally, and Emotionally for the End of Life. My copy finally arrived in the mail. Upon opening it and quickly thumbing through the pages, I got a surprise:

Time is a Trickster

Time is important to Healthy Survivors, because how we choose to use our time determines if we are living as fully as possible.

Compared to What?

Stock tip: Buy Kimberly-Clark, makers of Kleenex. How'd I get the inside scoop? This morning I attended the funeral of a girlfriend's husband, a great guy who adored his family and kept his sense of humor until the very end. I must have lost ten pounds in tears.

In Danger of Losing the World

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin wrote an important editorial about the unintended consequence of an economy-driven, shrinking pool of foreign correspondents. "Okay," you say. "And what in the world does this have to do with Healthy Survivorship?"

The Pain of Previvorship

Patients who have suffered or are suffering from breast cancer may have trouble understanding the reluctance of previvors to undergo prophylactic mastectomy (removal of healthy breasts) or oophorectomy (removal of healthy ovaries).

Introducing the Previvors

Meet a new group of people: the Previvors. They are not a dance troup or acapella choir. Previvors are members of a select club they never asked to join: surVIVORS with a PREdisposition to cancer. 

Hello, Dear Reader

For 18 years I've been talking to invisible people. No, I haven't gone off the deep end into psychosis. Sitting at my computer every day, I write to the people I'm imagining in my head. But yesterday I spent the day with some of my readers.