Ellen Reed

As time goes on in my cancer trajectory, I realize how a downward health spiral can easily affect how I feel, how I lead my life, and even the quality...

Sometimes when alone and feeling scared and rather sorry for myself, I ask how I got here. Foremost, I acknowledge my blessings. However, managing advanced ovarian cancer creates many obstacles...

Long ago, before we had laptops, Health Union, and the Social Health Network crew to turn to, I learned the importance of being well-informed and advocating for others. As a...

Metastases is a dirty word. For me and many others in the advanced ovarian cancer network, it defines a change, the spread of cancer cells from where they first formed...

It's that time of year when folks traditionally review the many events that bring meaning to their lives. We especially tend to revisit those occurring throughout this last year. Admittedly...

Sometimes, people admit they work best with a deadline or in crisis. It is so common to intellectualize things away rather than to face our reality and feelings. Occasionally, I...

Admittedly I am now and have always been a worrier. But, generally, people take on this style of being as the result of life experiences. This was my case when...

No matter how difficult to accept, we all know life has limits. That is, there is a beginning and an end. Even the noblest will someday die. Death is not...

Winter holidays are filled with miracles of birth and light. Although we sometimes overdo it, is it possible we all need a prescribed time to bring joy into our lives?...

As a therapist, I'm bewildered when I hear the message, "It's me. It's not you." People use this statement to indicate ownership of an interpersonal problem. However, does taking responsibility...

I realize now, more than ever, that we are the sum of all our experiences. As a result, we create meaning in every highly-stressful event and those that bring great...

Four years ago, I learned that my life was about to change. Like many others, I discovered I had advanced ovarian cancer with a life expectancy of about 4 years...

This morning, I remembered an experience from long ago. My children were just 2 and 3. Although so very young, they attended Montessori preschool. Like many mothers, I dropped them...

My code throughout life includes accepting responsibility for my words and actions. I see this way of being as an essential virtue at home and work. As a therapist, I...

At this time in my life, I hear more about friends and family facing cancer. Yet, for many years I have known that this disease could easily be part of...

I'm not quite sure when it all started. Despite being dedicated to planning for our future, everything suddenly stopped in the fall of 2018. I mark this date as it...

Learning you have cancer and coping with the news can bring on many complicated responses. Most of us begin by trying to cope through denial. Self-talk may sound like, "We...

I have been in love with life for the last 74 years. Yet, like many, I experienced great joy and unimaginable loss. Out of this and my advanced nursing background...

Buried away in the world of chemotherapy, I lost my faith that I would emerge again with strength and wholeness. I isolated myself trying to reduce the potential for infection...

Many people dislike change. As a result, they plan their lives intending to maintain the status quo. They may even look for ways to keep things the same when change...