PRESCRIBING E-MAIL
December 18, 2017 by celiaAs the year 2017 is coming to a close and a new year is approaching I find myself thinking about what has passed and what’s to come. (more…)
Category: communication, family & friends, healthcare professionals, Newly DiagnosedComments (1)
Dual Perspective
October 11, 2017 by celia
Each month I receive an online newsletter from “Cancer.Net”. The newsletter provides approved information to help patients and families make informed healthcare decisions. A recent issue titled “What is Tumor Board?” catapulted me back in time. (more…)
Category: communication, family & friends, healthcare professionals, PatientsComments (2)
RECORDING VISITS REVISITED
August 28, 2017 by celia
A colleague recently forwarded a New York Times article, “The Appointment Ends. Now The Patient is Listening.” The author Paula Span notes new efforts to help patients understand their health status by recording appointments. (more…)
Category: communication, family & friends, healthcare professionals, Newly Diagnosed, Patient Advocacy, PatientsComments (2)
A ROLE REVERSAL: DOCTOR BECOMES A PATIENT
July 26, 2017 by celia
The title of one of my previous blogs in and of itself posed an important question: “What Is A Good Patient?” How one defines a “good patient” varies, as does their reason for wanting to be one. During my tenure as a Medical Humanist at Southwestern Vermont’s Regional Cancer Center I witnessed the difficult task doctors faced in reconciling those who became patients—to their illness. (more…)
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Invisibility Is Not A Natural State
June 28, 2017 by celia“We need to raise our voices a little more, even as they say to us,
‘This is so uncharacteristic of you.’ Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone.”
MitsuyYamada
After each of our SpeakSooner community education programs I would ask myself, “How did this program differ from the one before? And, what was the take away?” I often wonder if others ask themselves the same questions.
What brought this to mind was an e-mail I received from a hospice social worker who often attends our community programs.
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IS WRITING GOOD MEDICINE?
June 7, 2017 by celiaI don’t know who it was that said poetry is defined as a language writing itself out of a difficult situation. What I know is illness is one of those situations. (more…)
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ASKING FOR WHAT YOU NEED…
May 17, 2017 by celiaWhen I was first diagnosed,” she said, “I didn’t feel I needed your help. I know how to get what I need—I’m a nurse, we speak the same language.” (more…)
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Stories Are The Antibodies Against Illness
April 10, 2017 by celia
I often think about what the writer and patient Anatole Broyard said, “Stories are the antibodies against illness.”
It’s hard enough that a diagnosis comes along to threaten our lives—does it also have to threaten our life stories? (more…)
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The Waiting Room Syndrome
February 22, 2017 by celia
“When I think of people in waiting rooms, including myself, I picture us rifling restlessly through battered magazines,” writes Rachel Hadas, Guest Editor of “The Waiting Room Reader II: Words to Keep You Company”.
Category: communication, family & friends, healthcare professionals, PatientsComments (4)
Prescribe The Pen
January 25, 2017 by celiaTo be a person is to have a story to tell. —Isak Dinesen
It’s hard enough that a diagnosis comes along to threaten our lives—does it also have to threaten our life stories? (more…)
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