Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

Metavivor Healthy Survivors

What we call ourselves impacts how we see ourselves. So I was intrigued but not surprised when I heard a new word to add to my survivorship lexicon: metavivor.

The Cancer Card

When I was dealing with a hassle of ordinary life, someone asked me, "Why didn't you play the cancer card?"

Managing Communication

An interesting press release from the University of Texas supports my long-standing contention that it is better to ask a patient, "How are things?" than to ask "How are you?"

Abandonment of Treatment

At a recent meeting I met Michael P. Link, MD, the current President of ASCO (the American Society of Clinical Oncology) and a professor of Pediatric Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Our conversation nurtured my hope.

Managing Uncertainty Part I

Many patients struggle with uncertainty about what's happening now, what will happen in the future, and what they should do. Having dealt with illness-related uncertainty on both sides of the stethoscope, I've developed an approach that has helped me deal with my heightened sense of uncertainty in healing ways.

Oct 18th: Hope of Life

This is my annual October 18th post, set to go live right after midnight, so I can begin celebrating on time, even while I'm sleeping.

Easy to Forgive

I'd like to pass along some wise, low-tech advice for dealing with a family health crisis or family member's chronic illness: Be quick to forgive.

Your Medical Mind

My recent posts have discussed some of the difficulties of modern medical decision-making in the context of PSA testing for prostate cancer. A new book by Harvard oncologist Jerome Groopman and Harvard endocrinologist Pamela Hartzband offers help to Healthy Survivors: Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What is Right for You.

Does PSA Testing Save Lives or Not? - Part III

While the furor over PSA testing plays out in the media, my sympathies lie with men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer . At the end of the day, the patient has to decide what to do.

Does PSA Testing Save Lives or Not? - Part II

Yesterday's post highlighted the controversy about screening healthy men for prostate cancer using the PSA test. The media does the public a disservice by claiming such testing does not save lives. It does. The issue is: at what price?

Does PSA Testing Save Lives or Not?

A message about the value of PSA tests in healthy men creates problems that might have been avoided with a better choice of words.