Category Archives: patient advocate

Shedding Light On the Cancer Journey: the book

Posted on March 15, 2011 by surfingon

My dear and faithful readers: As of today, over 71,000 people have read and hopefully benefited from this blog– beyond my wildest expectation when I started this project  10 years ago. Such strong support has led me to turn Shedding … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer staging, cancer treatments, caregiver to cancer patient, chemo toxicity, coping, doctor patient communication, doctor patient relationship, end of life, hospice, hospitalization, medication issues, patient advocate, side effects of cancer, side effects of cancer treatments, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

SOMETIMES TOO MUCH RESEARCH IS NOT A GOOD THING

Posted on October 25, 2010 by surfingon

We have to do our own research. However, research is a double edged sword: it might save you, but it can utterly devastate you as well. Continue reading →

Posted in cancer treatments, caregiver to cancer patient, coping, patient advocate, side effects of cancer | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

THREE KEY QUESTIONS FOR ANY PATIENT ADVOCATE

Posted on September 1, 2010 by surfingon

Does what the medical professionals are telling me make sense? Are the pain control drugs working in the way they were intended to? Continue reading →

Posted in patient advocate | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

WHEN IT COMES TO SIDE EFFECTS FROM CHEMO/RADIATION, LOUD COMPLAINING IS A SELF-PROTECTIVE STRATEGY

Posted on May 27, 2010 by surfingon

Describing your symptoms in detail and exhaustively listing the side effects you are experiencing is NOT whining– it is a self-protective strategy; your medical team cannot help you if you do not tell them what is going on inside your body. Continue reading →

Posted in doctor patient communication, patient advocate, side effects of cancer treatments | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

THE HIDDEN BURDEN OF BEING A CAREGIVER/PATIENT ADVOCATE

Posted on April 12, 2010 by surfingon

What is not talked about is how little your doctor knows about side effects, how much research the caregiver must do on their own, and the burden of sometimes keeping silent about what you have learned. Continue reading →

Posted in patient advocate, side effects of cancer treatments | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment