Patient Perspectives
Glass Half Full
We all face challenges in our lives, but it’s how we deal with them that defines us. Whether our troubles are health-related, financial, or linked to relationships or loss, every one of us encounters difficulties. I’ve been told that I have a positive attitude towards life and have been asked from where I derive my spirit and how I view my glass as half full.
I believe that some of my attitude is innate, part of it comes from outside influences and still another portion is my choice. Being blessed with an optimistic outlook is the easy part, choosing to see the good in situations sometimes takes a little practice.
I tend to gravitate… Read More >
- May 14, 2013
- Author: Janet Ippolitto
- Category: Patient PerspectivesSupport GroupCoping with Cancer
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Shelley Nolden’s Essay: Part 5
Six days after Katelyn’s visit, acute pain in my right side wakes me during the night. I ask for intravenous Dilaudid for immediate relief, but the narcotic fails. The physical pain intensifies my anguish over losing Lily and missing Katelyn. My daughter’s growing up without me. What new words has she learned? Does she still ask for me? I don't want her to feel my absence, yet selfishly, I worry that she’ll forget me. Morning takes a month to arrive. Dr. Monroe conducts the daily assessment, and I describe the pain. He loosens his tie and tells the nurse to schedule a CT scan at 2:00 p.m. He looks at his chart and at my face, twisted in agony. “Let’s… Read More >
- Apr 05, 2013
- Author: Shelley Nolden
- Category: Patient PerspectivesYouth Cancer
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Shelley Nolden’s Essay: Part 4
I log into Skype to watch my baby girl, who’s too young to pay attention to me on the screen. Katelyn toddles between her play kitchen and bead maze table. Her disinterest in me is a blessing, for my face remains swollen and my right eye has hemorrhaged, coating my cornea and vision in a haze of blood.
Books, drawing pads, even the television remote control, sit untouched by my bedside. I spend hours staring at the get-well cards and 8”x10” photographs of Katelyn taped to the walls. My parents and Ryan come often. Sometimes we talk, other times we rest. One afternoon, my dad manages to choke out a request: If I die, could I please be buried near their home,… Read More >
- Apr 04, 2013
- Author: Shelley Nolden
- Category: Patient PerspectivesYouth Cancer
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Simplicity
Were you amongst one of the 150 guests that attended the first ever Northern NJ Stupid Cancer workshop?
If you were, your heard our key note speaker, Mathew Zachery who inspired us all with the story of his journey through cancer. He shared the many adjustments he had to make with his diagnosis. For Mathew, one of these was learning to play the piano again….
This video depicts a piece of what was felt on this special day. Young adult survivors, their caregivers, and health care professionals united to learn and raise awareness for this unique population of survivors.
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- Apr 03, 2013
- Author: Stupid Cancer
- Category: Stupid CancerPatient PerspectivesYouth CancerCoping with Cancer
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Shelley Nolden’s Essay: Part 3
The force of the current prevented me from back-paddling and resetting my course. It swept me toward the thundering falls on the left. I should’ve kept my bow perpendicular to the drop-off. Instead, I veered right and reached the ledge parallel to it—the worst possible position. *** Ten hours after arriving at the ER, a hematologist introduced herself to Ryan and me. In a soft voice, with an Indian accent, she said, “You have acute promylecytic leukemia.” What does that mean? My lack of familiarity with the term softened the initial impact of the diagnosis. But once Dr. Singali had explained that it’s a type of blood cancer, I got it: leukemia had killed… Read More >
- Apr 03, 2013
- Author: Shelley Nolden
- Category: Patient PerspectivesYouth Cancer
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