HeyJaredCancer Culture
Digging into what we know and how we feel about cancer. Sharing hidden medical history and insights from my patients. No conspiracy theories. Occasional cute farm animals.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 11
- Latest publication
- Sep 28, 2026
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- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest issues
Before the First Cut (opens the original)
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A scared young woman sat across from me. She picked her cuticles and barely made eye contact as I flipped through her paper chart. She had presented to a local ER with several months of rectal bleeding and a hemoglobin of 5. She was admitted to the hospital where a colonoscopy showed a large rectal mass. Biopsy revealed an adenocarcinoma and surgery was consulted. A skilled but ignorant general surgeon recommended an immediate resection. After a few blood transfusions, he took her to the operati
The Sniff Test (opens the original)
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Someone once said that choosing chemotherapy is like choosing to jump off a building when someone is holding a gun to your head. You jump out of fear of death, or at least a fear of the painful and ugly version of death that is cancer, or you jump from a desire to live, even if that life will be for the rest of its duration a painful one.There is a choice, of course, and you make it, but the choice never really feels like yours. You comply out of fear of disappointing others, a fear of being see
What If Surgery Is No Longer the Cure? (opens the original)
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<img alt="surgeons looking down under operating light" class="sizing-normal" height="4800" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1579684385127-1ef15d508118?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxNnx
Do You Have Bad Breath? (opens the original)
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Before diving in, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to everyone. I appreciate how many things compete for your attention. And yet, you chose to spend a few minutes thinking about cancer. Thank you.A bit about me: I grew up on a farm in Illinois, moved to North Carolina for college, travelled around a bit, and settled back in North Carolina. I’ve worked at large, urban cancer centers and small community hospitals. After two decades in practice, I noticed that patients consistently expressed a gap
Making Room for Your Anger (opens the original)
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As an oncologist, I have encountered anger in many forms: clipped answers, crossed arms, a raised voice before I’ve had a chance to take a seat. Most of the time, I understand that the patient or caregiver anger is not directed at me personally. Rather at the situation that has brought us together. A cancer diagnosis immediately demands that a patient wait, accept uncertainty, and trust strangers. That is a lot to ask. And anger is one form of emotional expression to this new state. In this news
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