Content tagged with 'Jessie - Cancer Survivorship Series' | back to all topics
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Cancer Survivorship: "I Call Me Lucky"
"I have been treated for five different cancer diagnoses. Some would call me a survivor. I call me lucky," CFAH President Jessie Gruman observes in her lead post in the series, What I Wish I'd Known Earlier About Cancer Survivorship.I Wish I'd Known Earlier...Each New Diagnosis Has Unique Demands
Ever heard the saying "You never step into the same river twice"? It has taken me a long time to apply its meaning to my experiences with five different forms of cancer as well as a variety of serious late effects of my treatments...I Wish I'd Known Earlier...Kids with Cancer Need Emotional Support Too
The word "survivor" is a huge hot button for my older son, Nate, who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) at the age of not-quite-three-years-old. The biggest regret I have from his illness is that we were so focused on saving his life and getting him physically healthy that we didn't think to bring therapy into the process for him in a full way...I Wish I’d Known Earlier...Survivorship Care Is a Mutual Enterprise
I wish I'd known earlier that survivorship care is neither a do-it-yourself project nor is it something that I can simply hand off to experts…As former cancer patients, we can't just walk in to our appointments with our oncologist, survivorship specialist or primary care doctor every six months or year and have survivorship care handled for us…I Wish I Had Known Earlier...If Your Oncology Team Doesn’t Mention the Topic of Fertility, Then You Should Bring It Up Yourself
I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34. When I brought up the topic of fertility with my oncologist, I was presented with a stark choice between life-saving treatment or a chance at becoming a mother.Advocacy: The Road We Decide to Walk on Today
In 1986 I developed a cough that didn’t go away for over a year. A chest x-ray confirmed stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In the years since, I developed what is now termed as numerous “late effects”. Along the way I learned the importance of advocating for myself and others.I Wish I’d Known Earlier...I Still Need a Primary Care Provider Since Most Headaches Aren’t Brain Tumors
My experience has taught me that once active treatment is over, regardless of my tendency to regard every lingering ache or pain as a recurrence, if I’m getting my survivorship care from my treating oncologist or other survivorship specialist, I have to find myself a primary care clinician who knows my health history. Why?I Wish I'd Known Earlier...Palliative Care Is Not a Mandate Not to Treat
When I signed up for palliative care in 2011, I thought I’d made my last medical decisions. In the future I’d take the least-invasive, lowest-cost approach to medical care and forego dramatic, expensive treatments. If only life with advanced cancer were so simple!I Wish I Had Known Earlier...To Cast a Cool Eye on Prognostic and Risk Statistics
For many of us, receiving a cancer diagnosis often includes hearing some statistics about the average or mean survival of people with this stage of this type of cancer. The end of active treatment may arrive accompanied by additional statistics. It is difficult, even for those schooled in the meaning of such numbers, to figure out what they mean for an individual.Why I Don't Like the Phrase 'Cancer Survivor'
Why is it that survivors of other devastating personal traumas – fires, floods, tornadoes – rarely use celebratory hero language? Mostly, they speak of themselves as lucky…I Wish I Had Known Earlier...That For Many of Us, Symptoms and Late Effects Accumulate Rather Than Fade Over Time
The side effects of cancer treatment sometimes fade but can become permanent glitches — disturbing symptoms whose impact we try to mitigate and whose presence we attempt to accommodate.I Wish I Had Known Earlier...Not Every Oncologist Can or Should Deliver Survivorship Care
We are not the only ones who must be convinced that we have unique health concerns following the active treatment of our cancer. Clinicians must also believe that special care for us is important, and they have to learn how to provide that care.I Wish I Had Known Earlier...How Fear Can Get in the Way of Cancer Survivorship Care
A strong emotional response to cancer treatment is common, but I didn’t need to suffer so much or so long from my fears. The lingering intensity of those responses can affect whether and how we attend to the tasks of survivorship.What I Wish I’d Known Earlier about Cancer Survivorship
I have been treated for five different cancer diagnoses. Some would call me a cancer survivor. I call me lucky...BROWSE BY: AUTHOR | TOPIC | MOST POPULAR
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Patient Engagement Is Here to Stay Jessie Gruman | January 15, 2015 |
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Center for Advancing Health Announces Two New Awards to Honor Jessie Gruman Center for Advancing Health | January 7, 2015 |
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Six Things Health Care Stakeholders Told CFAH About Patient Engagement CFAH Staff | December 23, 2014 |
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Patient Engagement – We Have Become Our Parent Kate Lorig | December 19, 2014 |
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Urban Parks and Trails Are Cost-Effective Ways to Promote Exercise |
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Military Culture Enables Tobacco Use |
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Physician Behaviors May Contribute to Disparities in Mental Health Care |
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Depression and Dementia in Older Adults Increase Risk of Preventable Hospitalizations |