Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

Revoking FDA Approval: Right or Wrong?

Recently the FDA revoked approval of a best-selling drug, Avastin, for treatment of breast cancer. Ever since, arguments for and against the removal have been voiced in blogs and major media by a wide variety of people with different points of view. Let's look at some of the issues in the context of Healthy Survivorship.

Managing Uncertainty - Part II

Here at the 2011 Life Beyond Cancer Retreat in Austin, Texas, a recurring theme in workshops and during meals has been the challenge of living with a heightened sense of uncertainty.

Resource on Life After Treatment

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently published Cancer Survivorship: Next Steps for Patients and Their Families, a booklet intended to help patients adjust to life after completion of cancer treatment.

Searching for Hope - Part II

In a provocative 242-word essay -- Interruptions --  that prompted my November 13th post, Lucy Stanovick fishes for information about how hopeful her oncologist feels regarding her recovery. Is her doctor trying to cure or contain her cancer? Or just to keep her comfortable?

Searching for Hope

In a poignant and provocative essay published on the Metavivor website, Lucy Stanovick illustrates one of the challenges Healthy Survivors face when trying to find hope in the setting of unfavorable odds for survival.

Elephant in the room

I just read a gem of a book by breast cancer survivor Bob Riter, Executive Director of Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes: Elephant in the Room: Practical Advice When the Diagnosis is Cancer.

U.S.-style Abandonment of Care: Lost in Translation

Dr. Michael Link, current President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), used his September 26th blog post to promote "delivery of what we know" to the world's cancer patients. In his October 10th post, Link brings the story home to America, sharing "vignettes from the world of oncology [that] highlight the additional obstacles to delivery imposed by our deplorable system of medical care."

A Long Road Back to Normal

When After Cancer: A Guide to Your New Life was first published in 1995, the issues of life after cancer were not on many people's radar. Back then, mainstream survivorship was focused on helping patients deal in healthy ways with a diagnosis, evaluation and treatment.

Cancer Sensibility Foundation

Surgeon Melanie Bone founded a new resource for people with breast cancer: Cancer Sensibility Foundation.

Calming Fear of Recurrence Video

Thanks for letting me know the YouTube link on yesterday's post was broken. To view the video on the Dana Farber Cancer Institute's site, click here. As I said yesterday, this 6-minute video can help Healthy Survivors understand and calm the fear of recurrence.

Calming the Fear of Recurrence

Fear that cancer will return is a near-universal fear of patients whose cancer is in remission. This fear can interfere with getting good care and/or living fully. For Healthy Survivors striving to calm this fear, a 6-minute video may help.

Judging Steve Jobs

Millions of words, both written and spoken, have been devoted to the recent death of the charismatic co-founder of Apple. How is a Healthy Survivor supposed to respond to all the talk about Steve Jobs' treatment decisions?