In Sickness

Rosalynn Carter redefined the role of caregivers in American life, spotlighting their burdens and needs long before they became a national conversation. She founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute in 1987 which continues today as a guiding light for professional and family caregivers. This episode of In Sickness. Men and the Culture of Caregiving explores her deeply personal legacy and how that translated into a lifelong and very public commitment to caregivers and families through her work with The Carter Center and beyond. That work continues with an equally committed group of individuals who are ushering this legacy boldly into the future. Two of whom are featured on this podcast. To learn more, go to insickness.org.

The latest episode of In Sickness. Men and the Culture of Caregiving honors Henri Termeer’s legacy as the ultimate patient advocate and caregiver. What better way to offer this tribute than with a group of people who knew him best and considered him a friend and mentor. Deborah Dunsire, John Crowley, David Meeker, John Maraganore, Bob Coughlin and Tamar Thompson reflected on Henri’s legacy and his personal influence on each and our industry. The conversation was rich, lively and filled with anecdotes, lessons learned and how Henri’s legacy continues to define the life science industry. To learn more go to insickness.org [https://www.insickness.org].

Living with male breast cancer presents unique physical, emotional, and social challenges, many of which stem from the rarity of the condition and the societal stigma surrounding it. There are many misconceptions about this rare form of cancer, but in this episode of In Sickness. Men and the Culture of Caregiving, our two cancer patients – Arvind Natarajan and Steve Del Gardo - share their graphic stories and dispel much of the erroneous information about this condition. One patient even served double duty as his caregiver as well. We also were fortunate to have a clinician and male breast cancer specialist, Dr. Jose Pablo Leone, from Dana Farber Cancer Institute join the discussion and relate that although it might be rare, this disease is not uncommon.  This episode also represents a departure from our norm as we invited fellow podcaster and cancer caregiver, Charlotte Bayala, to join us. She was wonderful and after you listen to her on our podcast you can check her out on, The Cancer Caregiver [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cancer-caregiver/id1504166813].

Compassion fatigue is quite literally, the emotional cost of caring. The physical and emotional exhaustion experienced by caregivers is a common thread in the caregiving experience. It’s a serious condition that affects anyone finding themselves in a helping or caregiving role. This episode of In Sickness had the privilege of speaking with three of the authors – Peter Dudley, Antoinette LeCouteur, Tammy Hurst - of the extraordinary book, Relit [https://www.amazon.com/Relit-Rekindle-Yourself-Darkness-Compassion/dp/B0DFY1F22Q?crid=9VJ36FQ76A3G&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dfGeTtA8jSx6_RYUqzAYUIWwfUBR_O8BvywlSNXNV1uloWy-DATXFq5Bhwc6817BEJ0NOxXehMGjekl11XstknceZnZZGmdNAkJ9lifAak9LHQgo2XVnDbr3BDo5YCvP8BMuPOS8nYuCZtQvETzkXlY3csCUy90fq9h75U9A4E7lXfevs04MA0iTplUQgzYU7jgDjBBk22SWMhO5LCgAbac6aStEuHN9NBDRWLI4iqw.KJ1_AnVWrrDQv8LRycNQi1tmO8ATUBINxJQQ_dww-tY&dib_tag=se&keywords=relit&qid=1744286343&sprefix=relit%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-6]. It’s a collection of essays by individuals engaged in a “heart-based role” who succumbed to the eventual care inertia. Think the heart writ large. To learn more, go to insickness.org [https://www.insickness.org].

In this episode of In Sickness, we were the fortunate guests of Takeda Pharmaceuticals as they asked us to take part in their annual celebration of Rare Disease Day by recording our podcast in front of an audience of over 50 energized employees. What a thrill for Bob and I to speak with three of their employees who are also caregivers. Equally delighted to field questions from the audience. Takeda is a company that clearly understands that by supporting caregivers, they can improve patient outcomes. After hearing from our hosts at Takeda, which included one of their executive leaders I believe they also do this because it is the right thing to do. To learn more, go to insickness.org.