AS AN INTERNIST, I strived to give patients hope by prescribing therapies that increased their chance—their hope—of the best outcome and by encouraging them with hopeful words. My own hope was to care for patients until I was old.

Patients with no firsthand knowledge of Paul Allen’s medical situation are offering explanations of what likely happened. On one blog, a follow-up commenter wondered if Allen’s doctors had made a mistake.

Seems everyone’s an expert these days, which can add to patients’ distress.

After being a nurse for 22 years and an oncology nurse for 12, Susan Sayles, MS, RN, OCN, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Since completing her treatment, she’s been encouraging other breast cancer patients …

A physician's heart may be in the right place while reassuring a patient, "Don't worry. It'll be nothing." Unfortunately, trying to spare patients worry during evaluations can backfire. Patients who are reassured and then find out they have a serious illness may suffer from...

In my last post, I used the example of a false alarm to illustrate how joy can come out of illness. That wasn't the best example, given how the joyful relief of a false alarm can be mixed with anger, embarrassment, self-doubt and other uncomfortable emotions. 

I don't like that I got cancer. Still, many good things have come out of the illness experience. Many joyful moments have happened because of my illness.

I must have been quite a sight, hobbling from display to display on crutches while taking my med-school anatomy final. I remember thinking how much I hated those crutches. Almost forty years later, I rely on a variety of crutches to manage aftereffects of past cancer therapies and (how great to write this) the effects of aging. I love each and every crutch.

I'm reading a popular new book that lambasts screening tests and the medical community that recommends them. Meanwhile, I just read an article put out by the University of Missouri, reporting "A team led by University of Missouri psychological science researchers has determined that patients may want cancer screenings even if the potential harms outweigh the benefits."

What is going on? Why would anyone abandon effective cancer screening tests? Why would anyone want screening tests they've been told are harmful and not helpful?  

An extraordinary woman offers wisdom to all us ordinary people. Colon cancer recently ended her life, but not before she left us words of wisdom in her blog and

How do you deal with the uncomfortable emotion that may arise after someone else dies of the same disease you survived? 

I've been mulling over options for a label to replace "survivor guilt" --the emotion some patients experience after someone else dies from the same disease they had/have. Key ideas about the feeling:

We do patients a disservice by using the term survivor guilt. It focuses on guilt and, more disturbingly, may reinforce any tendency toward self-blame and shame.

Guilt is the unpleasant emotion that arises when you’ve done something wrong. In my April 7th post, I offered 8 things survivors may feel guilty about after the death of someone else from the same disease.

The disquieting emotion survivors may experience after learning someone died of cancer is less troublesome than fear of recurrence. Yet it unsettles enough patients to merit attention. 

As of midnight, my passion project is out in the world. For a peek inside my new book, read on. If you're looking for a gift of hope for the cancer survivors, caregivers and healthcare professionals in your life....

“Things look bleak? The most important thing is hope!” The time has come to change that conversation.