Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

Memorial

A memorial is something that serves as a focus for remembering a past event or person who died. Monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and online legacies such as those found on www.legacy.com are examples.

Can a frame of mind be a memorial?

A Work in Progress

When I was a child, I thought people over 40 years of age were very old. I believed they were done growing up and knew everything one needs to know. Wrong.

Now over 50 years old, I often say, "I'm a work in progress." 

10 Rules for Good Medicine

I've been following a provocative blog, Musings of a Distractable Mind, hosted by primary care physician Dr. Rob Lamberts. His recent post entitled "10 Rules for Good Medicine." offers food for thought about modern healthcare. Here is a sampling, with my commentary added:

Life is Good

What would you say if you got a flat tire on your way to an interview for your dream job? Or if you (or your wife) began bleeding two weeks after in-vitro fertlization? Or if you learned you or a loved one needed more chemo?

Does "Life is good!" come to mind?

Too Many Lessons?

As soon as I learn something that might help someone else, I want to share it and spare as many people as I can from learning lessons the hard way. Can my advice be too much?

Placebos -- The Magic Cure

Your doctors evaluate your pain and conclude it is due to something benign (i.e., you don't have cancer, a broken bone or other health-threatening condition). Then they give you a prescription for a placebo. Should you sue these doctors? Or thank them?

PSA Conundrum

Imagine being diagnosed with cancer and having your doctor recommend you not undergo treatment and, instead, "Watch and wait."

What? Do nothing but watch and worry?

What's Your Mission?

Last week in Ithaca, as a member of the Presidents Council of Cornell Women I attended a networking lunch with a group of women undergrads. When it was my turn to offer a nugget of advice, I said:

Letting Go

A prolific blogger on survivorship has decided to pull back from her popular blog. She still has cancer. So why now?

Copying Off Your Privacy

The task sounds innocent enough: You copy your medical records on your personal home copier or an office copier, making sure nobody is looking over your shoulder and making sure to take all your originals and copies with you. Are you safe? Maybe not. 

Broken Heart

In Wiesel on Hope, I unintentionally omitted one insight offered by Elie Wiesel. He said, "No heart is as whole as a broken heart." What did he mean? And what does a broken heart have to do with Healthy Survivorship?

Elie Wiesel on Hope

On April 29, 2010 I had the opportunity to hear holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel speak at my alma mater, Cornell University. With apologies for any inaccuracies due to my scribbling notes on a scrap of paper, here are some of the highlights for me:

Rob Pardi Responds

My April 6th and April 11th posts focused on a  NYTimes story about Dr. Desiree Pardi, a palliative care physician who refused palliative care when dying.

Today let's look at her husband's view of the article. Robert Pardi's comments were posted on Pallimed to enrich -- or shall I say, to straighten out -- the discussion about his wife's decision. Although he doesn't use the term, he's telling us his wife was a Healthy Survivor. 

Do I Need a Specialist?

After being diagnosed with a disease, many Healthy Survivors ask, "Do I need to see a specialist to get good care?"

Where's Wendy

Just a quick post to let you know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth. The past three weeks have been my busiest in years (traveling for keynotes, etc.). I am at the tail end of a conference that has left little time for anything but sleeping at night. With a pad-ful of questions to explore and stories to share on this blog, I'm looking forward to getting home and resuming the conversation on Healthy Survivorship. Wtih hope, Wendy