Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

Hopeful Hug

Click Here to take a 3 1/2-minute microvacation from the seriousness of Healthy Survivorship. In particular, pay attention to...

Benefits of Physicians' Recommendations

In an interesting article in the Archives of Internal Medicine (5/13/2002), general internist Peter. A. Ubel, M.D. explores "Some Psychologic Benefits of Physician Recommendations."

Geared to clinicians, this article offers takeaways useful to Healthy Survivors who want to help their physicians provide useful recommendations and want to respond to recommendations in healthy ways.

The Gift of Nothing

"The Gift of Nothing" is a sweet book that takes less than five minutes to read. As you engage in end-of-year reflections and resolutions, check out this gift book to help you look to 2013 with renewed hope. 

False Hope

In my December 25th Oncology Times column I discuss false hope. Here's a brief excerpt, with paragraphs rearranged for clarity:

Jack and Jill on CBS

On Sunday December 23rd, watch CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood to learn about the Jack and Jill Foundation Late Stage Cancer Foundation (JAJF).

JAJF sends each family on a tailor-made all-expense-paid trip to provide a place where...

• The whole family can escape the drudgery, pain and sadness of a parent's terminal illness
• The dying parent can focus on enjoying and loving the children
• The children can create joy-filled family memories to last a lifetime after their parent dies

These trips that are priceless to the families are expensive for the Foundation. As founder Jon Albert says, "Thank you for helping JAJF be the only organization in the country: Treating the families; not the cancer®."

You have lots of choices regarding your end-of-year donations. A donation to JAJF is a huge gift that promotes healing where the best available treatments fail.  To view video, click here. To donate, click here.

 

 

Newtown Massacre and Healthy Survivorship

What does a Healthy Survivor do about the constant news coverage of the Connecticut massacre? 

Altered Immune Cells Beat Leukemia - Part II

Here are more reflections on the December 11th  NYTimes article about the 11th-hour rescue of a dying 6-year-old girl with an investigational treatment. I hope you find them useful in the pursuit of Healthy Survivorship.

Altered Immune Cells Beat Leukemia

Yesterday's NYTimes article about the 11th-hour rescue of a dying 6-year-old girl with an investigational treatment created a lot of buzz. Here are a few reflections on the story that might be useful to Healthy Survivors.

Kids Cope With Parent's Hair Loss

Parents going through chemo often struggle to explain their alopecia (hair loss) to their young children. The rhyming verse in Nowhere Hair  offers a healing conversation-starter that is both whimsical and profound.

Doctors vs Computers

A front-page story in today's Science Times poses a provocative question in the rapidly changing world of medical diagnostics: Can computer software ever replace physicians to ensure timely, correct diagnoses?

How We Die: Love and Dementia

Writers choose words and phrases with care. In all my years of writing, only once or twice have I repeated a sentence word-for-word in a single essay. So when surgeon Nuland did so in How We Die, I took notice.