“There is nothing wrong with you for dying,” hospice physician B.J. Miller and journalist and caregiver Shoshana Berger write in A Beginner’s Guide to the End. “Our ultimate purpose here isn’t so much to help you die as it is to free up as much life as possible until you do.” An honest, surprising, and detail-oriented guide to the most universal of all experiences, A Beginner’s Guide to the End is “a book that every family should have, the equivalent of Dr. Spock but for this other phase of life” (New York Times bestselling author Dr. Abraham Verghese). About Our Guest: Dr. BJ Miller is a lon ..read more

Guests Donna Thomson and Dr. Zachary White discuss their book The Unexpected Journey of Caring. Becoming a caregiver is one transformation that comes at us, requiring us to rethink everything we once knew. Everything changes—responsibilities, beliefs, hopes, expectations, and relationships. Caregiving is not just a role reserved for “saints”—eventually, everyone is drafted into the caregiver role. It’s not a role people medically train for; it’s a new type of relationship initiated by a loved one’s need for care. And it’s a role that cannot be quarantined to home because it infuses all aspects ..read more

Our lives are filled with ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, and success and stress. The question is not whether we will experience difficulty, challenge, or trauma; it is what we will do in response to such events and experiences.  In this episode, Dr. Richard Tedeschi joins us to discuss how people can grow in the aftermath of trauma and live great lives — filled with Posttraumatic Growth. About Richard Glenn Tedeschi, Ph.D. Dr. Tedeschi received his B.A. in Psychology from Syracuse University, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Ohio University, and completed his Clinical Psychol ..read more

In this episode, we welcome Dione Detraz, RD, integrative dietitian nutritionist and author of The Cancer Diet Cookbook: Comforting Recipes for Treatment and Recovery, to talk about cancer nutrition for cancer survivors. A healthy, strong, and balanced immune system is critical in preventing infection and in chronic diseases such as cancer. In this episode, you will learn how to use your diet and lifestyle to support a healthy and balanced immune system when living with melanoma.  Dionne Detraz, RDN, is a Cancer Nutrition Expert and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She specializes in he ..read more

Our guest Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor is a renowned grief expert, author, neuroscientist, and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss, and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, which investigates the effects of grief on the brain and the body. In this episode, she discusses groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning about the changes that occur in the brain during the grief process, and how we can develop a toolkit to go about restoring a meaningfu ..read more

Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS from UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, and Vernon Sondak, MD, Chair, Department of Cutaneous Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, join host Raymond Liu, MD, for a discussion about the future of melanoma in 2023 and beyond.  Treatments combining immunotherapies with targeted therapies, which disable the carcinogenic products of mutated cancer cells, have further increased treatment efficacy and durability. Toxicity and resistance, however, remain critical challenges to the field. During this podcast, our guests review past treatment ..read more

In this episode, Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS, AIM's "Ask a Medical Expert" and host of the webinar series, "From the Clinic to the Living Room," joins our podcast as our guest host and welcomes Stage IV Melanoma Survivor, Stephanie Bowen to the program. Stephanie shared her personal journey with melanoma from receiving the diagnosis and going through treatment to her feelings on the other side as a survivor with no evidence of disease.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aimatmelanoma/support ..read more

When faced with a cancer diagnosis, some patients rely on their spirituality to cope and find meaning behind the experience. For some, spirituality is a belief in a higher power. For others, it’s simply a recognition that there is something greater than oneself. In this conversation, Michael Eselun discusses how patients, caregivers, and others facing challenges, rely on or call into question their own spirituality. Guest: Michael Eselun, BCC Michael Eselun, (he/him) BCC, a Board Certified Chaplain, has been named the Dr. John Glaspy Chaplain in Oncology Care for the Simms/Mann‐UCLA Center for ..read more

When going through difficulty, many people turn to friends and family for support. But what happens when those people dismiss your feelings and tell you to “look on the bright side?” While it may be said with the best of intentions, this is an example of toxic positivity. In this episode, Whitney Goodman, author of the book Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy, will define toxic positivity and speak on the importance of allowing ourselves, and those we support, to feel hard feelings. It’s okay to not be okay sometimes. Goodman uses research and client examples ..read more

Many skin cancer survivors develop high anxiety regarding sun exposure and being outside, especially during summer. How can active coping strategies and behavioral changes help patients address these concerns? In this conversation, we’ll discuss the psychological impacts of UV exposure on patients and how you can continue to live life to the fullest while protecting yourself and those you love from harmful exposure. Guest: Kathleen M. Madden, MSN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, APHN & Melissa Wilson, PA-C, MPAS Kathleen Madden, MSN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, APHN is a Family Nurse Practitioner in the melanoma & ..read more