Do you have an angelic boss who has made accommodations for your illness?  Or, have you been wedged out of your workplace, or cornered into a position where your job is so miserable you want to quit? ABC News interviewed me today about asking for sick leave and keeping your job. I offered them lots...

I keep waking up at 4:48 AM.  Sometimes a few minutes earlier or later.  I hate it.  But I know I’m not alone.  I’ve talked with a handful of breast cancer bloggers this week and discovered we all use blogging as a great way to deal with being awake at night. Sometimes I can clearly identify...

I keep waking up at 4:48 AM.  Sometimes a few minutes earlier or later.  I hate it.  But I know I’m not alone.  I’ve talked with a handful of breast cancer bloggers this week and discovered we all use blogging as a great way to deal with being awake at night. Sometimes I can clearly identify...

I think there’s an expectation that having cancer is going to make my work, relationships, or goals in life more meaningful or important.  But why? Shannon is going to be a guest on tonight’s Stupid Cancer Show about cancer and the environment.   (He’s an environmental lawyer for the Natural...

I’ve had to live with jobs that were way off my career path just to pay my health insurance.  Heidi Adams, executive director of Planet Cancer, is going to be asking President Obama about this very issue on ABC Primetime tonight live at 10 PM EST.  The program is called “Questions for...

When I interviewed Rick Gribenas for my book Everything Changes, his honesty blew me away.  That same kind of honesty lives on in Charissa, his wife who is now widowed.  She is the founder of BRICKS for Young Adults. Yep, that’s her pic above.  I hope this is the first of many guest posts...

Early on in my five-year research stint on young adult cancer, I learned about the down sides of the American Cancer Society.  They have no direct support services, education, or research targeted to young adult cancer patients.   But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.  Here is...

When I’m feeling sick, scared, or overwhelmed by my health, I don’t want friends or family bullshitting me and telling me that everything is going to be fine. It only makes me feel worse.  In fact it makes me want to smack them. I got a facebook message today from the wife of a young adult cancer...

Listen this week to me on the radio talking about how cancer, and my lack of health insurance, made me into an excellent liar. You can hear it this week online too by visiting the home page for The State We Are In and clicking on “This Week’s Show” next to my picture. Mine is the...

I have yet to figure out how Wendy S. Harpham, MD, FACP manages her life as a doctor, cancer patient, author, and mom of three kids. She’s a super warm, kind person too. In the parenting section of my book Everything Changes, I recommend her award-winning book When a Parent has Cancer: A Guide to...