Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship

Lessons Learned from the Death of Dave Goldberg

After a tragedy, looking for life-enhancing lessons and making positive life changes give meaning to a seemingly senseless event. So what can we learn from the accidental death of Dave Goldberg, who suffered fatal head trauma and hemorrhaging while exercising on a treadmill?

Now It's Funny

Cancer is not one bit funny. So don't be misled by a book title suggesting otherwise: Now It's Funny. How I Survived Cancer, Divorce, and Other Looming Disasters.

Diane Rose, Model Healthy Survivor

A picture is worth a thousand words. But what if you can't see the picture? It didn't stop Diane Rose.

Sharing Laughter

Theresa Brown is a nurse who appreciates the healing power of patients' humor. In a December 1, 2010 article for the NYTimes' Well blog, Brown shares a few anecdotes that illustrate how she is often amused by patients' stories that others might consider offensive.

105-Year-Old Healthy Survivor

Esther Mauzy can teach us all a thing or two about how to become a Healthy Survivor.

Vacation From Late Stage Cancer

When a parent has late-stage cancer with limited life expectancy, everyone wants to rewrite the expected ending. The doctors and nurses, the parent with cancer, the family's loved ones and especially the children want to make it "all better."

Last Acts

"Imagine you know you have only a few months to live. What would you do with your remaining time?"

The Love Story of a Man Without a Heart

The title is not a trick. Mr. Charles Okeke had been tethered to an artifical pump in a hospital for over two years before a new portable artificial heart made it possible for him to go home to his wife and two young children.

I'm sharing his dramatic story for two reasons:

Redeeming Help

How do you help patients who hate to ask for help?

Fun Theory

The primary purpose of this blog is to encourage discussions about Healthy Survivorship and to help modern patients (1) get good care and (2) live as fully as possible. I can't address Healthy Survivors' pursuit of happiness without talking about the pursuit of fun.

The Art of Survivorship

Last evening I was interviewed by Betsy de Parry on Lymphomation Live, a weekly webcast sponsored by Patients Against Lymphoma. In this show entitled "The Art of Survivorship," we discuss how knowledge, hope and action help people become Healthy Survivors. The information and advice are addressed to patients dealing with any medical challenge (not just cancer) who want to get good care and live as fully as possible.

The hour-long interview is available online by clicking here.  I hope it helps.  With hope, Wendy

A Halloween Lesson

Last night a man named "B" greeted his first trick-or-treater. B wore blue scrubs, a face mask and a stethoscope. His mom sat in a wheelchair, a blood pressure cuff on her arm and oxygen tubing connecting her to an oxygen tank.

Randy Pausch, A Model Healthy Survivor

If you haven't seen the video, "The Last Lecture" by Professor Randy Pausch, try to carve out 75 minutes from your schedule to hear what this model Healthy Survivor has to say about life.