Advice from a cancer patient

Hamilton Jordon, the former White House chief of staff for Jimmy Carter died this week of cancer. He had four different types of cancer in his lifetime and was a strong advocate for patients empowering themselves and being active in their own health care. In his 2001 memoir, “No Such Thing as a Bad Day,'’ Jordan outlined his “Top 10 Tips for Cancer Patients.'’ The New York Times Health sections reprinted an interview from webMD. com on those 10 tips. You can find the article here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/one-mans-advice-from-four-cancer-battles/.

Of course not everyone agrees about the advice, as seen by the commenters on the NYT article. Especially No. 10: "Your attitude and beliefs are your most powerful weapon against cancer." But there is something reassuring about a patient sharing what he or she has learned with another patient. Sharing in this way gives both patients a voice.