“The Dallas Buyers Club” Takes on AIDS, Peer Patients, and Not Taking “No” for An Answer

Published trials can be flawed. Even if they’re well-analyzed, the findings can be hard to interpret when it comes to a single patient’s course and well-being. What’s a dying man to do?

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, Infectious Disease, Life, Movies, Patient Autonomy, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on “The Dallas Buyers Club” Takes on AIDS, Peer Patients, and Not Taking “No” for An Answer

Should People With Health Problems Talk About their Conditions?

Do you need to explain to the person on the checkout line or, say, a mother organizing a bake sale, why your back hurts? Or why you need a seat on the bus?

Posted in Communication, Essential Lessons, from the author, journalism, Life, Life as a Patient, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , , , 8 Comments on Should People With Health Problems Talk About their Conditions?

Can Anyone Be a Patient Advocate?

Can a good doctor, or a nurse, or a physical therapist, or any other person employed by the health care system, serve as a patient advocate?

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, Ideas, language, Patient-Doctor RelationshipTagged , , , , , , , , 23 Comments on Can Anyone Be a Patient Advocate?

On Sheryl Crow’s Report that She Has a Meningioma, and Singing Loud

Fortunately the LATimes and People magazine got the story right. Their headlines, and text, emphasize the benign nature of Crow’s newly-diagnosed condition, a meningioma.

Posted in Breast Cancer, Communication, Essential Lessons, Music, Public IllnessTagged , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on On Sheryl Crow’s Report that She Has a Meningioma, and Singing Loud

Illness is Not Discrete. On Feeling Sick, and Not Knowing What’s Next

A broken arm, a low-stage breast cancer that’s treated and done with, a bout of pneumonia – these are things that a career can afford, an editor can handle, friends can be supportive. But when you have one thing, and then another, and then another, it gets scary, it weighs you down.

Posted in Essential Lessons, Life, Life as a Patient, Life as a writer, Patient AutonomyTagged , , , , 2 Comments on Illness is Not Discrete. On Feeling Sick, and Not Knowing What’s Next

New Article on Mammography Spawns False Hope That Breast Cancer is Not a Dangerous Disease

Few forms of invasive breast cancer warrant no treatment unless the patient is so old that she is likely to die first of another condition, or the patient prefers to die of the disease….“Mammograms Spot Cancers That May Not Be Dangerous,” said WebMD, yesterday. This is feel-good news, and largely wishful.

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer screening, Communication, Diagnosis, Essential Lessons, journalism, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged , , , , , 6 Comments on New Article on Mammography Spawns False Hope That Breast Cancer is Not a Dangerous Disease

Why I Support Health Care Reform

Profit is not what medical care is about, or should be about. What we need is a simple, national health plan, available to everyone, with minimal paperwork and, yes, limits to care.

Posted in Essential Lessons, Future of Medicine, health care costs, health care delivery, Medical Ethics, PolicyTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on Why I Support Health Care Reform

A Good Personal Health Record is Hard to Find

Over the weekend I developed another bout of diverticulitis. Did the usual: fluids, antibiotics, rest, avoided going to the ER, cancelled travel plans. One of my doctors asked a very simple question: is this happening more frequently? The answer, we both knew, was yes. But I don’t have a Personal Health Record (PHR) that in […]

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, health care delivery, Health IT, Life as a PatientTagged , , , , , , 6 Comments on A Good Personal Health Record is Hard to Find

Thoughts, on Getting My Photo Taken at a Medical Appointment

A funny thing happened at my doctor’s appointment on Friday. I checked in, and after confirming that my address and insurance hadn’t changed since last year, waited for approximately 10 minutes. A worker of some sort, likely a med-tech, called me to “take my vitals.” She took my blood pressure with a cuff that made […]

Posted in Essential Lessons, Future of Medicine, health care delivery, Health IT, Life as a Patient, Patient-Doctor Relationship, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , 2 Comments on Thoughts, on Getting My Photo Taken at a Medical Appointment
newsletter software