Physician | What We Talk About (When We Talk About Cancer)

Surviving to Prosper

Aditya B | Physician | 05-20-2013

The term survivor brings to memory a recent conversation I had with Ms. Jones (not real name) who had completed adjuvant chemotherapy for her breast cancer. I remarked “Congratulations! You are now a cancer survivor”. She excitedly exclaimed “So I am cancer-free!!!?”…

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Taking Care to Heart

Don D | Physician | 04-01-2013

Care is an interesting word- in some cases it is a verb, while in other scenarios it is a noun. I guess it speaks to the importance of this word, especially in medicine. Our objective is to provide care – a service aimed at improving the health of our patients. In order to do this, however, we must actually care – meaning, to take this duty to heart; to truly wish to fulfill our objectives.

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Our Mission

This is a place where anyone who counts themselves as a member of the Mass General Cancer Center community --- patient, family member, physician, nurse, researcher, social worker, care giver, administrator --- can come to read, think, and write about the words we all use, but which we don’t always understand in the same way. Often we use words and phrases that are common, that we use every day. Yet, their very familiarity creates the illusion of common understanding where, the fact is, we are frequently using these words in radically different ways, with radically different meanings. In our small way, WWTA is meant to help us work toward a common language and make the conversations we have about cancer more meaningful.

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