I think I mentioned last week that I had attended a conference on COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). COPD is a serious lung condition that results in many using oxygen 24/7 as the disease progresses. One of the keys to living with COPD is becoming aware of your body, your lung function and those things [...]
Archive for September, 2008
Shame On Advair
Posted in after the diagnosis, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, Having a Voice, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, tagged Advair, Advair Diskus 250/50, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, coaching illness, COPD, Disease Managment, GlaxoSmithKline, Pulmonary Disease, Responsible Advertising on September 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Reach Out and Touch Someone
Posted in after the diagnosis, Caregiving, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, Living with Illness, tagged care for the caregiver, caregiver guilt, caregiver stress, caregiver support, caregiving and technology, durable power of attorney for healthcare, long distance caregiving, skype on September 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Welcome to Caregiver Friday! Years ago the phone company had a campaign that said “Reach out and touch someone”. The goal was to get people to connect with one another. That idea takes on new meaning when we speak about caregiving, in particular, Long Distance Caregiving. Let’s face it, the phone only goes so far [...]
Doctors Should Give Patients More Credit
Posted in after the diagnosis, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, tagged coaching illness, COPD, patient's rights, physician confidence, sleep apnea on September 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This weekend I attended a conference on COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). I was grateful to the coordinators for putting on such a diverse and professional program for those facing this great health challenge. I went because most of my background is in infectious disease, oncology and Alzheimer’s. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with COPD almost [...]
I Hope You’re Shocked and Outraged
Posted in after the diagnosis, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, Having a Voice, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, tagged Cancer, coaching illness, colon cancer, medical follow-up, patient empowerment, Stand UP to Cancer, the journal Cancer, treatment protocols on September 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
We just had the “Stand Up To Cancer” event this past Friday trying to raise funds for cancer research. I think it’s great that researchers are trying to come up with new treatments both in technology and pharmaceuticals but it’s only part of the issue. The other issue is the follow-up care patients receive to [...]
What Do You STAND for?
Posted in after the diagnosis, Anonymity, Caregiving, Community, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, Personal Conviction, tagged ABC Network, America Stand Up, Cancer, Cancer Research, coaching illness, health advocacy, patient empowerment, Stand UP to Cancer on September 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The three major networks did something unheard of Friday evening. The three networks combined forces, resources and audiences for “Stand Up To Cancer”. It was a combination infomercial, telethon, education forum and entertainment. The hope was to raise money for cancer research. The commentators kept referring to the “dream team”. The “dream team” refers to [...]
Caregiving and Identity
Posted in after the diagnosis, Caregiving, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, Integrity, Living with Illness, tagged care for the caregiver, caregiver empowerment, caregiver health, caregiver role, caregiver stress, coaching caregivers, knowing your limits, setting boundaries on September 5, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Welcome to Caregiver Friday! Prior to becoming a caregiver did you really have a sense of your identity? I know many woman who have been mothers talk about being the chauffeur, chef, organizer, etc. and those are the roles that are incorporated into being a mother. Identity plays an important role in our daily lives. [...]
Pain is All Consuming
Posted in after the diagnosis, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, tagged chronic pain, coaching illness, illness and pain, pain, palliative care, patient empowerment on September 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Ever see the television commercial for depression? It talks about how depression doesn’t just impact the person emotionally, but physically, socially and although not spoken, spiritually. It is all consuming, and that’s one type of pain. What about the pain that is associated with illness, wouldn’t that be all consuming? Let’s face it, pain is [...]
Open Yourself to New Opportunities
Posted in after the diagnosis, art and healing, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, Having a Voice, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, tagged ALS, coaching illness, creativity and health, Lou Gehrig's Disease, patient empowerment, poetic medicine, Volunteerism on September 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’m amazed at the transformation we’re all capable of achieving. We all have talents that are often hidden at it takes some dynamic force to unearth those talents and let the light shine on them. I recently experienced this from a dynamic individual I met at my most recent educational endeavor. My retreat roommate, Jake [...]
Medical Training: What Are the Patient’s Rights
Posted in after the diagnosis, coping with chronic illness, coping with life threatening illness, living with chronic illness, Living with Illness, Personal Conviction, tagged coaching illness, health advocacy, hospital care, medical training, patient advocacy, patient empowerment, patient's rights, standards of care on September 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It’s interesting when things I’m reading and watching on TV come together and make me begin to question what’s going on for patients in the hospital. I’m reading Christine Montross’ book “Body of Work”. It’s her story of going to medical school and her experience in the anatomy lab. This book is not good reading [...]
