Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

Cutting for Stone

If you want to visit an exotic land and be swept up in a world of love, faith, family, power and medicine, let me make a recommendation: Pick up a copy of Abraham Varghese's first novel, Cutting for Stone.

This Woman's Work

Without uttering a single word, two contestants on a popular reality show highlighted the emotional struggle of cancer survivorship, bringing judges and audiences to tears. 

Nauseatingly nauseous

Every time someone says "I am nauseous" I want to throw up. So I thought a blog post might help.

The Doctor is Within

The 14th Dalai Lama offers many valuable lessons to Healthy Survivors. For example, according to a recent NYTimes article, when the Dalai Lama came into exile his first words were, "Now we are free." And his first instinct was to look for that which he could now do better.

They Didn't Lose

Over and over, I read and hear stories about various celebrities who "lost their battle" with cancer. Most times I let it go when I hear this phrase. Okay, yeah, I drop it only after ranting for a few moments aloud or in my head. 

Green Bananas

A few days ago, my husband and I were strolling along the quiet streets of Stirling Ontario. In one of the shops, I found a commemorative plate and bought it, despite my husband 's initial response that doing so would be ridiculous.

The Healing Power of Art

Healthy Survivors use all their senses to help them get good care and live as fully as possible. Maybe it helps in the healing, too.

Forty Years War

Do we really need another article covering the war on cancer screening? I think we do, because screeing is expensive, invasive, risky and controversial. 

Letting Patients Call the Shots

In a recent column, Dr. Pauline Chen discusses a fundamental element of Healthy Survivorship: patient-centered care 

I Understand

In my last post, I described the technique I used to write Only 10 Seconds to Care. As a teaching tool, I used the literary equivalent of an optical illusion. To illustrate this effect, let's talk about the phrase, "I understand."

Two Books in One

"These stories can help me? But I'm a patient, not a doctor."

It can help, because I broke a cardinal rule for writers when I wrote Only 10 Seconds to Care: Write to your audience.

You're Wrong and Making Me Crazy!

Healthy Survivors often bump up against people who say things about their illness that are undeniably wrong. Sometimes respectful attempts to correct the errors lead to arguments or an email inbox filled with missives chock full of misconceptions and junk science. What's a Healthy Survivor to do?

Miscues

Early in my survivorship, I learned about a side effect of illness that is not discussed in textbooks but can affect patients' quality of life dramatically: fatigue-related facial miscues.

It Freed Me

“‘The cancer freed me. It freed me,’ wrote Paul Tsongas about his lymphoma in a May 1992 New York Times editorial. Political pundits questioned this, two months after the senator’s withdrawal from the presidential race. I took him at his word....Wow. Beyond terror. The notion was music to my ears.” (from Star Power)

Faith in Science

Let's try to get something straight: It makes no sense to say, "I have -- or, I don't have -- faith in science."  Why?