… to The Patient Path blog, your key to medical awareness and healthier living.
I started The Patient Path and The Patient’s Path websites in 2013, when I was diagnosed with uterine (endometrial) cancer. As I talked with other women and heard their stories, the sites later expanded to include their journeys with cancers and other serious health challenges.
Over the years, it has become apparent that an even wider range of health issues not only have a direct effect on women’s cancers, but are equally important to women’s health in their own right.
To broaden the scope of articles on women’s health topics, we are constructing this new blog. And men will find something for them here, too!
Please check back soon for new health content and stories. And join me on “The Patient Path” to informed, empowered health and well-being.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. — T.S. Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’ from Four Quartets
Welcome to the first post on The Patient Path Blog (TPPB).
In the tradition of The Patient Path – Coping with Women’s Cancers and The Patient’s Path – Peer Health Stories & Education, TPPB will discuss various medical conditions from the perspective of personal stories—because those of us with health issues are on “the patient path” to wellness, requiring a level of self-empowerment far exceeding what we needed in the past when we relied solely on our healthcare practitioners for advice and treatment.
Our world in general has become more complex, affecting our lives and health in complicated ways that require increased professional specialization and enhanced personal knowledge. In The Patient Path series, our goal is to help patients navigate the world of modern healthcare armed with the information they need to make informed decisions along with their healthcare teams. And—pun intended—this requires a great deal of patience during all stages of getting help for what ails us: diagnosis of symptoms, research and decision-making about treatment options, getting second opinions, undergoing tests and procedures, and pursuing follow-up care.
The Patient Path began in November 2013 when I was diagnosed with uterine (endometrial) cancer. Now, almost five years later, I have had no recurrence of gynecologic cancer. However, I am currently undergoing diagnosis and treatment of various gastrointestinal (GI) problems, which I will be following in real time on TPPB: