By James Tulsky, MD James Tulsky, MD, is chair of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Dana-Farber, with a longstanding research interest in clinician-patient communication and quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. He is also founding director of VitalTalk, a non-profit with a mission to nurture healthier connections between clinicians and patients through … Read more
A cancer diagnosis can cause significant changes to your life – including at work. Many patients have to stop working during treatment, take significant time off, or alter their schedules, all of which can take a significant mental, emotional, and financial toll. Some patients may have jobs that provide flexible hours or work-from-home options, but … Read more
No one is prepared to tell a loved one they have cancer. But the conversation becomes even more difficult when it’s your child who is diagnosed. How should parents and patients tell family members and friends, and who should be taking the lead? While there are some universal recommendations, much depends on the child’s age … Read more
When you learn your child has cancer, the natural response is to do anything possible to make them happy. However, it is important to balance this desire to comfort with an understanding of what is in your son or daughter’s best interest. This is especially true when your child with cancer exhibits difficult behaviors. “Even … Read more
This much is known: A sedentary lifestyle raises the risk of cancer, while physical activity – even moderate exercise – can reduce the risk not only of developing cancer but having a recurrence following treatment. What’s not so clear is exactly why. “It’s still a little unknown,” says Jeffrey Meyerhardt, MD, MPH, co-director of Dana-Farber’s … Read more
As a girl, Paula Kaufman loved playing with the buttons that her grandmother, a seamstress, had in abundance. Later, while in treatment for stage III colorectal cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Kaufman – then a mother of three in her late 30s – gained strength from a jar of buttons her grandmother bequeathed to her. … Read more
For many parents, their first concern after a cancer diagnosis is the impact it will have on their children. There’s a lot of medical information to digest and decisions to be made, including how and when to tell your children. There are good reasons talk to your children as soon as possible after your diagnosis. … Read more
For people with cancer, deciding how, and what, to tell others about the diagnosis can be a challenge. How do you tell your loved ones, or your employer, that you have cancer? For parents, there’s another degree of difficulty: What do you say to your children? How much will they understand, and what’s the best … Read more