Category Archives: Cancer

Truth at the End of Life

Elaine Waples Posted 3/5/13 on TEDMED Most of us have spent some time thinking about our own deaths. We do it with a sense of dreadful curiosity, but then we push it aside with “well, we’ve all got to go sometime.” Unlike … Continue reading

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Putting Physician Practices Into Context

Brian Klepper  Posted 12/11/12 on Medscape Connect’s Care & Cost Blog  An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.  Jack Welch Physicians and medical societies in all specialties would do well to take … Continue reading

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Getting Engaged

Elaine Waples Posted 9/21/12 on The Doctor Weighs In We hear inspiring things about patient engagement.  The very concept has a hearty, spirited, “do-right” sound to it. I spent many years in human resources. I remember the conversations we had … Continue reading

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Attitude

Elaine Waples Posted 8/31/12 on The Doctor Weighs In I’ve come to believe that seriously sick people are often subject to some very interesting comments from well-intentioned non-sick people. They are frequently inspired by #platitudes from self-help-books, Google chat rooms (heaven forbid), … Continue reading

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Is Genomic Medicine Clinically Useful Yet?

Brian Klepper Posted 7/16/12 on Medscape Connect’s Care and Cost The news of my wife Elaine’s primary peritoneal cancer 27 months ago began a fevered effort to learn all we could about her disease and our options. Peritoneal cancer, which … Continue reading

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Cancer Survivor on N-of-One’s Direct-to-Patient Ombudsman Model

Kevin Davies Posted 5/31/12 on Bio-IT World The long-term success of N-of-One, a Waltham Mass.-based company offering personalized cancer information, will undoubtedly be shaped by the vision of its newly appointed CEO, Christine Cournoyer, and strategic partnerships with companies like Foundation Medicine, … Continue reading

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Four Perfect Questions

Elaine Waples Posted 4/07/12 on Care & Cost In the fall of 2010, Atul Gawande, surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, delivered a touching speech at the October New Yorker … Continue reading

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Marcus Welby, House and the Wizard of Oz

Elaine Waples At a recent dinner party my husband and I joined two other couples in a lively discussion on the frustrations of American health care. We rounded up the usual suspects – cost, quality, access, politics, and broken systems. … Continue reading

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Is My Cancer in the Wrong Body Part

Elaine Waples Recently, our city hosted the fifth annual national marathon to fight breast cancer.  This is not part of the Komen “race for the cure” but rather a grassroots effort that mushroomed from its inception five years ago into … Continue reading

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Hello? Its Your Body Talking

Brian’s Note: For the uninitiated, Elaine – aka “The Boss” – is my wonderful wife, and this is her debut on C&C. As you’ll see, she’s a comfortable writer. Her message here is hugely important, and was made all the … Continue reading

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Seeking What’s Possible

A little more than 13 months ago, my wonderful wife Elaine was diagnosed with stage 3c primary peritoneal (ovarian) cancer. So the last year has been filled with the ravages of chemo-therapy and all the miseries that attend it. A … Continue reading

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An Anniversary!

Elaine Waples I am celebrating an anniversary! It has been one year since I began chemotherapy for stage 3c primary peritoneal (ovarian) cancer. Today I am in remission, enjoying life, and have learned to call myself a survivor.  There were … Continue reading

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