Suleika Jaouad is talking about The Art of Survival I’ve followed her story since reading her 2012 New York Times column, Life Interrupted, documenting life as a young leukemia patient.
Read moreUnmerited Suffering
Patients who are suffering may find inspiration in an idea shared by Martin Luther King. The civil rights icon suffered much pain and loss, including arrests and jail time, the bombing of his house, and death threats.
Much of King’s suffering could have been avoided had he chosen less-risky paths. Unlike King, patients don’t choose to get the illness causing them to suffer. Yet, King’s message may speak to patients because of what they have in common:
Read moreIf You Want Something, Don't Want It
If achieving a specific outcome matters to you, here’s some advice: Don’t want that outcome. Instead, hope for it. That suggestion is not semantic wordplay. Hoping instead of wanting can mean the difference between achievement and disappointment. Here’s why:
Read moreStepping Away from a Good Cause
When patients involved in advocacy are ready to step away, doing so may be more complicated than just saying, No more.
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 moreNew Year's Blues
Talking about two R’s of the New Year’s holiday led me to helpful tips for managing unpleasant emotions.
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 moreWhy Don't I Feel Hope?
A patient knew there is hope—a real possibility of a good outcome. That patient wanted to feel hope but didn’t. What could he do?
Read moreAnyone Else Feel Stressed by Texts?
Am I the only person who sometimes feels stressed by text messages that are not time sensitive? At the risk of presenting myself as a carmudgeon, I’m sharing my struggle to highlight a challenge of self-care.
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 moreWhat I Wish I Knew
I feel honored that Katie Couric’s video montage of advice for the newly diagnosed concludes with my message about hope.
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 moreLessons from Surviving Coma
Two women remembered their experiences from months in a coma. Once recovered, they had something to say.
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 moreIt's Okay--Nightbirde's Message of Healthy Survivorship
A striking young woman singing “It’s Okay” on America’s Got Talent in 2021 offered a timeless lesson on Healthy Survivorship.
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 morePlease Don't Tell Me You Could Die, Too
When I was ill, sometimes friends tried calming my fears about my uncertain future by saying, Life is uncertain for all of us. I could get hit by a Mack truck. Offered from a place of caring, that comment may have helped other patients but only made me feel more alone.
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