Millions of Americans live with diseases with no cure. Diabetes. Parkinsons. MS. Dementia. I imagine many of them experience nice people offering encouraging comments. such as, “I believe they’ll find a cure” or “A cure is just around the corner!” What could be wrong with that?
Read moreDealing with Regrets
The crisis is over, and you are now fine. Except you keep replaying in your mind a particular aspect of how you handled the crisis, wishing you’d said or done it differently (e.g., recognized a worrisome symptom sooner).
Rationally, you know you need to let it go and move on. It’s in the past. But your mind is fixated on it. What can you do?
Read moreOvercoming Obstacles to Hope
My post, Recognzing Obstacles to Hope, listed various factors that may impede the ability to feel hope. I brought up those issues to empower you. If hope feels elusive right now, understanding why opens opportunities to address potential obstacles to hope with your healthcare team and your support team.
Read moreRecognizing Obstacles to Hope
In Why Don’t I Feel Hope? I talk about hopelessness as a physical problem. If changes in the brain block the proper firing of brain cells needed to experience hope, willpower and/or spiritual faith may not be enough (just as a severed spinal cord makes it impossible to move the legs)—no matter how much patients want to feel hope.
Read moreA Practical, Comforting Primer for Newly Diagnosed Patients
Jen Singer is an accomplished medical writer who wrote a book you can judge by the cover. This remarkable 78-page primer guides people through the transition from “healthy” to “sick.”
Read moreGreat Advice for Relationships
An article touting “the best” advice for relationships includes a simple technique useful for Healthy Survivors dealing with a challenge of illness or injury.
Read moreBetter than "Better"
Friend: Are you better? Pateint: Yeah, I’m better. The friend now thinks everything is fine or back to normal when, maybe, the patient is still working through tough times.
Read moreWalking with Hope
My dream was for every patient to get free personalized exercise training and support. With hope of making a real difference now, I’d set the bar low: Write something that motivated patients to walk at least 10 minutes twice a day while in cancer treatment. The challenge was….
Read morePatients Don't Fail
The patient had done everything right. Yet the surgeon told her, “You failed out-patient antibioics. Now you need to be admitted to the hospital.”
Read moreClichés of Compassion
In your effort to comfort someone, you may unwittingly cause distress saying what seems like the right thing. Of the many possible scenarios, a common one is
Read moreNew Year's Resolution
While others are making (and breaking) New Year’s resolutions, I’m experimenting with a new tack:
Read moreHealthy Survivorship While Also Caring for a Loved One
My most recent diagnosis opened my eyes to the need for resources offering guidance and support for patients who are also caregivers. Shockingly, my Googling various combinations of search words yielded only one hit! A blog post. That prompted me to explore the topic and then write a piece for healthcare professionals that I excerpted and edited for brevity for this post.
Read moreDo you have a problem or a dilemma?
If a challenge upsets you, it may help to distinguish whether you have a problem or a dilemma.
Read moreIn Pursuit of a Normal Life--Part IV
Healing words and ideas can change your world for the better. If facing unwanted changes in your reality, the idea of creating a “new normal for now” can help you …
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