The heartbreak of counselling younger couples after a cancer diagnosis

My patient mix comes in waves — some months it is mostly women with breast cancer struggling with adjuvant endocrine therapy or men in the aftermath of surgery for prostate cancer. These past two months, it has been young adults, and my heart has taken a beating. There is something quite different from my perspective between talking to a couple who has been together for 30 or more years and hearing the struggles of couples who have been together for one or two years, or at the most, eight. For the former couple — their wrinkles appearing in tandem, their relationship comfortable and weathered by common experiences and life challenges faced and overcome — cancer is a shock, certainly, but they have the shared knowledge of each other and the life they have created to cushion the blow. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs