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MGH Cancer Center

What We Talk About [When We Talk About Cancer]

A Mass General Hospital Cancer Center Community Conversation

Physician

Trust develops over time

Don | Don D | Physician | 06-25-2015

Trust is knowing that someone has your best interests at heart; Continue…

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The epitome of the cancer experience

Don | Don D | Physician | 06-09-2015

Change is the epitome of the cancer experience. It is reflected when one goes from being “normal” to one living Continue…

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The notion of “gift” evolves as we age

Don | Don D | Physician | 04-12-2015

What is a gift? I think it can be a loaded word after confronting a diagnosis of cancer. Most of my patients see time as a gift. One that is so precious- as if looking at life in such a new way, with profound Continue…

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There is strength in numbers, I feel it every day

Don D | Physician | 02-04-2015

Strength sounds like a physical attribute, but for me, it is more synonymous with fortitude. With cancer, both patients and clinicians deal with situations that are at times unreal and Continue…

| 7 Comments | Comment

‘Wish’ is a verb and a noun

Don | Physician | 09-28-2014

Wish is a verb and a noun, an action in some instances and something tangible in others. Continue…

| 3 Comments | Comment

We mustn’t hide our wishes

Daisuke F | Physician | 07-29-2014

There are wishes that every single person wants to attain – such as happiness, love, and peace, while there are wishes that are interesting for somebody but not for everybody – such as Continue…

| 1 Comment | Comment

We Each Need Our Own Support

Don D | Physician | 03-03-2014

Support is the the assistance we all rely on. It is the spouse who greets you at the end of the day, the friend who is there to hear you gripe, and the colleague

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Optimism is Hope

Don D | Physician | 12-22-2013

To be optimistic is to see the proverbial glass half full. For me, optimism is seeing the sun rising on the horizon and

Continue…

| 1 Comment | Comment

Optimistic or Realistic?

Daisuke F | Physician | 12-11-2013

Being optimistic is not as easy a task as it looks.

As a clinician, I encounter many people who have been struck by serious illnesses. I am confident Continue…

| 1 Comment | Comment

The Mission of Family

Aditya B | Physician | 11-17-2013

While the term family is generally used to imply members of the same kin or sharing a common ancestor, it can also be used in a broader sense.

Continue…

| 6 Comments | Comment

Not a Helpful Word

Don D | Physician | 10-09-2013

To me, battling is a part of the language of oncology that concentrates too much on the imagery of cancer as a war. Battling brings to mind fighting, a struggle, often against…

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| 2 Comments | Comment

The Fears of a Parent

Don D | Physician | 09-17-2013

I don’t think I ever understood fear until my children came into my life. Perhaps it’s because I never really was afraid of anything before…

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| 1 Comment | Comment

The Will to Prosper

Aditya B | Physician | 08-04-2013

“Healthy” does not necessarily mean absence of disease. During a home visit with medical students I recently saw a patient who was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 11….

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Health That Can Transcend Sickness

Don D | Physician | 07-21-2013

Everyone strives to be healthy. But, when one sits back to think about what that means, how can one gauge it? In its simplest form,…

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More Than a Survivor

Don D | Physician | 06-17-2013

As I think of the term “survivor”, what comes to mind are figures of people who have lived through something horrific- war, famine, tornadoes, natural disasters; those who have walked through the darkness and…

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| 4 Comments | Comment
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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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