Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

HON

Patients wanting to learn about their illness used to search high and low for a few drops of patient-centered information. The dilemma for modern patients has become how to sort through the flood of information available on the Internet.

HON certification can help.

Mesotheli-what?

A friend from my early survivorship days -- another physician and lymphoma survivor -- is dealing with a new problem: mesothelioma. Mesotheli-what?

A friend from my early survivorship days -- another physician and lymphoma survivor -- is dealing with a new problem: mesothelioma. Mesotheli-what?

Mesothelioma

The post entitled "Mesothelioma" was under construction. The final post was published as "Mesothelio-what?"

Caveat Emptor re: Genetic Testing

Great progress has been made in linking disease to mutations in certain genes. So why the sudden brouhaha at the FDA about companies selling gene-testing kits directly to consumers?

Microvacation of Teamwork

It's been a long time since I've invited you to join me for a micro-vacation from the serious side of Healthy Survivorship. So today's post offers a link to an online video that illustrates the power, beauty and joy of teamwork.

Emotions After Cancer

When I was first diagnosed, my medical background made me more prepared than most for the physical and emotional challenges of cancer treatment. What blindsided me were the medical and emotional issues that arose after completion of treatment.

The Problem of Specialists

When in training, I had to rotate through each specialty before I could become board certified in internal medicine. I remember telling my new husband how much I loved learning about (fill in whatever my current rotation).

"So are you thinking of specializing?" he'd ask.

Money Against Compassion

Today let's talk about money and compassion.

A Problem with the Electronic Health Record (EHR)

In the newsletter of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Steve Urban shares an important concern about Electronic Health Records (EHR).

Cancer Legal Resource Center

Healthy Survivors make wise choices in all spheres of life. This includes the legal side of things. What do you do if your insurer declines your legitimate claims? If your employer demotes or fires you without cause? What about estate planning?

Game Wasn't Perfect

Even if you don't care about baseball, I encourage you to save the link to the story entitled "The Game Wasn't Perfect But the Gentlemen Were," Then, when you have two minutes, you can read this dramatic true story of a baseball umpire and a star pitcher that contains a nice lesson for Healthy Survivors.

"Right" or "Best" Revisited

On June 14th I discussed the difference between "right" and "best" decisions for Healthy Survivors. After I published it, I found a better example than the "treasure chest and keys" of my post.

Motivated by Risk

It sounds crazy, but sometimes risks due to cancer treatment can lead to overall decreased risk of certain medical problems. How?

Not Waiting for Answers - Part II

It's easy to justify health-promoting measures when they carry benefit and no risk. But what about pursuing measures that are costly, such as taking blood pressure or cholesterol medications for life? Going for screening ultrasounds of the carotids? Undergoing surgical bypass of asymptomatic narrowing of carotid arteries?

Not Waiting for Answers

How can Healthy Survivors get good care -- the first criterion of Healthy Survivorship -- if the data needed to make sound choices in their particular situation is not yet available?

Doing My Best Post-Irradiation, Part II

For people like me who received radiation to the neck and are getting older (yay!), what should we do while researchers explore how much our risk is increased and what measures are proven to help?

Doing My Best Post-Radiation

Recent posts (June 22, 23, 25 and July 4) have dealt with the risk of carotid artery disease following irradiation of the neck for cancer. I made suggestions without explaining the back story that led to my conclusions. Let's look at how I came to my conclusions.

Late Effect of Radiation - Qualified

We need to revisit a prior post, so I can qualify what I said. On my June 22nd post, I mentioned the high incidence of changes in the carotid arteries in patients who received radiation years earlier. But I didn't provide any details.