Like many people in cancer treatment, T couldn’t help but notice that she wasn’t looking her best. She’d never been obsessed with her appearance but still… losing her hair and feeling tired all the time had her feeling bedraggled and out of step with the rest of the world. While she was grateful for her… Read More »
Let your real self through
My client B has told me for a long time that she’s wanted to publish something she’s written. Sometimes she talks about writing a children’s book, other times about sharing parts of her cancer experience. At times she’s picked up her notebook and begun to write, but she’s always given up after a short time. … Read More »
Would you put your body on the line for cancer research?
I hope you’ve been tuning in to “Cancer: Emperor of All Maladies” on PBS this week. It’s a beautiful interweaving of human stories with the history of successes and deep disappointments in the search for cancer cures. Last night I was deeply struck by segments tracing the development of “gold standard treatments” for cancer. At… Read More »
What do we really know about cancer?
“If you’re a sensitive clinician, you never quite think you’ve got it right.” –Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, author of Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer It’s a remarkable doctor who has the vision to see and the courage to admit that the truth is far bigger than he is. When that doctor… Read More »
Finding Hope on the Darkest Days
Today was dark and gray, like many of Portland’s short winter days. It’s easy for my spirit to fade into the gray, bringing listlessness as the day wears on, even anxiety if I recall that this weather could go on until May or June. I have two strategies to deal with this. First, I take… Read More »