Wendy Harpham on Healthy Survivorship tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1543126 2013-06-12T09:10:40-07:00 Dr. Wendy Harpham is a doctor of internal medicine, cancer survivor, and award-winning and best-selling author of books about cancer: Healthy Survivorship, recovery and late effects, and raising children when a parent has cancer. She is also a public speaker, patient advocate, and mother of three. TypePad Bibliotherapy for Healthy Survivors tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d19883301901d4def83970b 2013-06-12T09:10:40-07:00 2013-06-12T09:10:40-07:00 Reading guide books can help Healthy Survivors get good care and/or live as fully as possible. But what about memoirs and biographies? Memoirs by and biographies of patients with similar... Wendy Harpham A Cost of Cognitive Deficits tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d1988330192aaf652b3970d 2013-06-10T07:33:59-07:00 2013-06-10T07:41:28-07:00 Months ago someone emailed me a request to read his new cancer memoir. If someone trying to help others asks me for help, I usually say "yes." So a few... Wendy Harpham Uncertainty is Hard for Doctors tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d19883301901d12a009970b 2013-06-06T13:22:07-07:00 2013-06-06T13:26:54-07:00 I've blogged often about how Healthy Survivors adjust to medical uncertainty. Today I encourage you to read Dr. Danielle Ofri's essay about the angst of uncertainty on the other side... Wendy Harpham AFGOs tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d19883301901ce6c8f8970b 2013-06-02T11:54:22-07:00 2013-06-03T06:40:46-07:00 Language shapes our perception of reality. So I obtained permission to share with you a useful acronym for Healthy Survivors who are facing unwanted challenge, change or loss: AFGO. I... Wendy Harpham Toast to Dr. Jessica Harpham Voit tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833019102c71fae970c 2013-05-31T21:34:07-07:00 2013-05-31T21:35:38-07:00 Before I changed into my dress for tonight, I chopped 10 pounds of onions, hoping to empty my tear ducts. I expected to be emotional because, for me, this celebration... Wendy Harpham Letting Go Part VII tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d1988330192aa4cd8aa970d 2013-05-27T07:56:00-07:00 2013-05-25T07:57:36-07:00 Part VI of this series focused on the volitional aspect of "letting go." Healthy Survivors are empowered by the notion that "letting go" is a choice. But there's a problem... Wendy Harpham Letting Go Part VI tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d19883301901c8e2365970b 2013-05-25T07:19:00-07:00 2013-05-25T07:21:14-07:00 While working on this series on "letting go," I realized something about this verb phrase: It's active. Knowing this can make all the difference for Healthy Survivors. Imagine someone slips... Wendy Harpham Letting Go Part V tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d1988330191023d0d39970c 2013-05-17T06:58:33-07:00 2013-05-17T06:58:33-07:00 10 days ago, I promised to write about "letting go" and grief. Ironically, since then I've had to let go of blogging. While a trivial example, my situation illustrates a... Wendy Harpham Letting Go Part IV tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833019101dd1b38970c 2013-05-07T06:15:04-07:00 2013-05-07T06:24:24-07:00 We're talking about what it means to "let go." Because if patients run out of treatment options or they are nearing death, "letting go" plays a major role in Healthy... Wendy Harpham Letting Go Part III tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017eeac1f248970d 2013-05-02T07:01:02-07:00 2013-05-02T07:01:02-07:00 For cancer patients who run out of treatment options, how can "letting go" help in the pursuit of Healthy Survivorship? How can it hurt? "Letting go" is an idiom with... Wendy Harpham Poem in Coping Magazine tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d430d94bc970c 2013-04-26T11:21:00-07:00 2013-04-26T11:21:00-07:00 The current issue of Coping with Cancer contains my poem, "Variations on a Theme by Niebuhr." Writing it was one of those experiences where the poem practically wrote itself. I... Wendy Harpham Letting Go Part II tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d19883301901b7e78a6970b 2013-04-22T22:15:49-07:00 2013-04-22T22:15:49-07:00 I did not expect to blog about my husband's surgery. But a powerful interaction with the surgeon illustrates the healing power of letting go. 6:15 a.m. today my husband was... Wendy Harpham Letting Go tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d19883301901b751c9f970b 2013-04-21T11:36:53-07:00 2013-04-21T11:29:06-07:00 Oncologist Dr. Richard C. Frank shares his reflections on "Letting Go" in his most recent WebMD blog post. Let's take a closer look at this common end-of-life idiom in the... Wendy Harpham Reaction to Boston Bombing tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d42e3c210970c 2013-04-17T16:41:08-07:00 2013-04-17T21:32:03-07:00 I can feel afraid. But if I act afraid, the terrorists win. Wendy Harpham What is CancerLinQ? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017c38a45a61970b 2013-04-15T17:46:18-07:00 2013-04-15T17:47:58-07:00 The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has launched a prototype of a computer system that promises to bring the power of numbers to each and every cancer patient. It's... Wendy Harpham How Not to Say the Wrong Thing tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017eea1823e4970d 2013-04-09T17:10:00-07:00 2013-04-08T17:13:54-07:00 An op-ed piece in yesterday's Los Angeles Times by Susan Silk and Barry Goldman presents a simple and provocative tool that "works in all kinds of crises – medical, legal,... Wendy Harpham Can You Help? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017c3874b8e8970b 2013-04-08T16:42:00-07:00 2013-04-08T16:43:24-07:00 Can you help? 20 years ago I was treated in a clinical trial of a drug that saved my life and is now the most commonly prescribed drug for lymphoma.... Wendy Harpham Computers and Compassion IX tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017eea0dfcf6970d 2013-04-07T07:08:29-07:00 2013-04-08T04:49:43-07:00 Imagine that compassionate patient navigators accompany each patient to every doctor visit, test and treatment. Why would compassion continue to be an essential element of high-quality care? Because, as discussed... Wendy Harpham Computers and Compassion VIII tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee9ec75d7970d 2013-04-02T06:31:49-07:00 2013-04-02T06:34:00-07:00 A physician's encouraging word or hand squeeze can mean the world to a patient, buoying the patient's courage and fortitude. But in today's complex world of high-tech medicine, what patients... Wendy Harpham Computers and Compassion VII tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee9c7a351970d 2013-03-27T06:14:01-07:00 2013-03-27T06:14:01-07:00 What obstacles to high-quality care can be overcome only with the help of physicians' compassion? Physicians’ medical compassion—their controlled, informed sympathy for their patients and desire to help relieve their... Wendy Harpham Computers and Compassion VI tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017c38033917970b 2013-03-22T07:18:02-07:00 2013-03-22T07:18:02-07:00 How exactly does compassion help patients get good care? Doctors, like all people, can get tired, distracted and frustrated, especially if pulled by competing demands. No matter how noble your... Wendy Harpham Dr. Harpham Talks about Compassion tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee992ee8d970d 2013-03-19T19:47:31-07:00 2013-03-22T07:18:30-07:00 "Preserving Compassion in Modern Medicine: The Promise of Healthy Survivorship." Those of you who live in the DFW metroplex might be interested in my public lecture on compassion. The event... Wendy Harpham Computers and Compassion V tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d41d46875970c 2013-03-13T16:30:42-07:00 2013-03-13T16:31:10-07:00 In addition to the relationship in which compassion arises, the culture, too, affects what compassion looks like. Let’s rewind 150 years to a time when few medical therapies reliably and... Wendy Harpham Compassion and Computers IV tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d41792e1e970c 2013-03-04T05:50:04-08:00 2013-03-05T05:16:25-08:00 What compassion looks like is shaped by the relationship in which it arises. So let's look at the defining features of the doctor-patient relationship. We see … • high stakes... Wendy Harpham In Loving Memory tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee8d5b39b970d 2013-03-01T05:58:14-08:00 2013-03-01T14:32:32-08:00 Since my beloved mother-in-law Jean died on Monday, the years of her illness have been fading from my memory, leaving me with a menagerie of enduring mental images of her.... Wendy Harpham Compassion and Computers III tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee8afe2b3970d 2013-02-23T07:18:58-08:00 2013-02-23T07:18:58-08:00 To discuss why compassion matters in modern medicine, let's begin with a definition: "Compassion" is derived from the Latin: cum (together with) and patior (suffer) and is defined as a... Wendy Harpham Compassion and Computers II tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d41232f4c970c 2013-02-18T07:23:34-08:00 2013-02-19T06:38:03-08:00 What could be wrong with IBM's supercomputer "Watson" helping physicians care for patients? Before I share my concern, let me be clear: I welcome the addition of computer-generated analytics to... Wendy Harpham Compassion and Computers tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d4119115b970c 2013-02-16T07:46:47-08:00 2013-02-16T07:51:09-08:00 Recent news that IBM's supercomputer "Watson" has teamed up with Memorial Sloan Kettering in patient care provides a nice introduction to a blog series on compassion and computers. Watson is... Wendy Harpham Stress of Mothers' BRCA Testing tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017c36c10bf7970b 2013-02-10T13:47:13-08:00 2013-02-10T13:50:04-08:00 A mother describes her distress over her daughters getting tested for a genetic mutation (BRCA) that may predispose them to the same cancer for which she was treated successfully. She... Wendy Harpham Knowing You Carry a Cancer Gene -- Part III tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d40d21420970c 2013-02-06T06:36:17-08:00 2013-02-06T06:36:06-08:00 How do Healthy Survivors deal with the anxieties prompted by knowing their risks of future problems? Different approaches and tricks work well for different people in the same situation, as... Wendy Harpham Back in the (Blogging) Saddle tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee8384298970d 2013-02-04T11:55:29-08:00 2013-02-04T11:55:29-08:00 Thanks for the support while I took a brief break from blogging to devote my good hours to writing a first draft of an upcoming new keynote. The writing went... Wendy Harpham Break from Blogging tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee7f3f901970d 2013-01-27T14:47:56-08:00 2013-01-27T14:58:02-08:00 Dear fellow bloggers and Healthy Survivors, For the next 2-3 weeks, I'll be taking a break from blogging. Given my limited energy, I need to devote my writing time to... Wendy Harpham Knowing You Carry a Cancer Gene -- Part II tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d404756f6970c 2013-01-21T07:22:39-08:00 2013-02-06T06:06:42-08:00 In my last post, I responded to an article in the NYTimes Well Blog by Emma Pierson, who shares how learning she carries a cancer gene has transformed her life.... Wendy Harpham Knowing You Carry a Cancer Gene tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee6e27bea970d 2013-01-14T06:57:14-08:00 2013-01-14T06:58:25-08:00 On the NYTimes Well Blog, 21-year-old Emma Pierson eloquently shares the impact of having learned she carries the BRCA1 mutation, a finding associated with a 98% chance of developing cancer... Wendy Harpham Orphan Drugs and Healthy Survivors tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d3fca1f9c970c 2013-01-11T12:34:56-08:00 2013-01-11T12:36:30-08:00 Thanks for bearing with the dry, didactic nature of my last post. That skeletal history of orphan drugs set the stage for today's post on "Entering the Age of the... Wendy Harpham Rare and Orphan Diseases and Drugs tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017ee70ad5ae970d 2013-01-07T10:08:11-08:00 2013-01-08T07:24:03-08:00 What are "rare" diseases? How are they related to "orphan" diseases? According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, a rare disease affects fewer than 200,000 people in... Wendy Harpham Words Matter tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017c350ec1b4970b 2013-01-04T11:58:00-08:00 2013-01-04T11:58:00-08:00 Maybe it is because I'm a writer, but a story that appeared in the NYTimes sports section is now laminated and in my personal file of most inspiring stories. I... Wendy Harpham Tips for Adult Children of Newly Diagnosed Patients tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d3f3d2a0c970c 2013-01-02T08:28:00-08:00 2013-01-02T08:28:00-08:00 Here are a few insights and tips for adult children who want to help a parent become a Healthy Survivor: Your parent has the cancer, but the illness affects the... Wendy Harpham Hopeful Hug tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017d3f5a7e38970c 2012-12-31T09:01:08-08:00 2012-12-31T09:04:38-08:00 Click Here to take a 3 1/2-minute microvacation from the seriousness of Healthy Survivorship. In particular, pay attention to... the facial expressions on both parties as each "receiver" approaches the... Wendy Harpham Benefits of Physicians' Recommendations tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc66d198833017c350e60d8970b 2012-12-31T08:04:00-08:00 2012-12-31T08:04:00-08:00 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... Wendy Harpham