The stress and strain of caregiving can lead to what’s called “stress crossover” (or crossover stress) whereby the people being cared for end up feeling stressed, too.
Read moreWhat's Your Word for 2026?
While others were making New Year’s resolutions, I was deciding on my phrase for the year that I’d use as a touchstone for self-improvement. The advantages of honing down possibilities to just one include:
Read moreTip for Being an Effective Patient
“Effective” patients get the most out of medical visits and optimize their health between visits. Being an effective patient can be hard work. Exhaustion, confusion or emotions (such as fear or desire for control) can get in the way of doing the right thing. Here’s a tip:
Read moreA Healthy Response to Role Strain
Challenges of patienthood include role strain. Dr. Virginia Adams O’Connell explains,
Read moreAre you allergic or intolerant?
When patients reported an “allergy” to a medicine, I asked questions to determine whether it was truly an allergy—and not an intolerance.
Read moreNew Resource for Parents Facing Cancer
The Hope Nook* feature on the website of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) offers a cozy new blog: Parents Facing Cancer: Resources to support kids and parents as they process and communicate about a parent's cancer diagnosis—together.
Read moreA Solution to Life's Unpredictability
While receiving and recovering from cancer treatment, a challenge to my Healthy Survivorship was dealing fluctuations in how I felt and functioned. At times, I suffered from an unexpected drop in my energy, thinking, or ability to handle stress that created problems for me and/or others.
Read moreFollowing National and Global News: Healthy or Unhealthy?
In your pursuit of Healthy Survivorship, should you follow national and global news?
Read moreThe Healing Power of Saying, "This is hard!"
While working through a challenge toward a goal, do you mention to friends about how hard it is? If you admire Rambo, probably not. Some thoughts on why, maybe, you should.
Read more“Doing Nothing" is Doing Something
When the tests are done and the therapies have been administered, people often worry that they need to do something to help the healing. Sometimes “doing nothing” is the safest and surest way to increase the chance of a good outcome.
Read moreTrue Confessions of an Ambivalent Caregiver
For anyone caring for a loved one, Cindy Eastman’s latest book offers effective bibliotherapy—literature used to help improve your life.
Read morePutting a Lid on Empathy
Throughout my survivorship, I’ve had times of pain or loss that caused unpleasant emotions. Especially early in my illness, my husband’s love for me caused him to experience unpleasant emotions, too, because he empathized. In a vicious cycle, my emotional pain caused his motional pain, which exacerbated mine. While grateful for his love and caring, I realized that I—we, really—needed him to put a check on the empathy.
Read moreYou are Invited
You are invited to a free conference on April 12, 2025. Open to all, in-person or virtually. Registration required.
Read moreHad to? The Power of One Word
A one-word substitution changed my mood and outlook so significantly that I had to post about it.
Read moreNobody is Too Young for Cancer
Fact: Nobody is too young for cancer. Alarmingly, America is experiencing a rise in rates of cancer diagnosed in young people. While researchers work to undertstand
Read moreWhen Patients Hide the Ugly Side - Part II
How do you support patients who don’t want to talk about their illness or accept support? To follow up on
Read moreWhen Patients Hide the Ugly Side
What should you do if an ill loved one won’t respond to emails or texts because they want to hide their pain, sadness, debility, weakness? Forcing yourself on them will exacerbate their sense of loss of control. Leaving them alone, well, leaves them alone in their pain, sadness, debility, and weakness—not a good thing.
I’ve been on both sides of this dilemma.
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