Taking the bull by the horns – Blue Dot Health

Not long after I started working on my Master's thesis, my supervisor took me aside and said we needed to talk. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer and, although currently in good health, was expecting a rough time for the foreseeable future and would understand if I wanted to find a different supervisor. We were both looking forward to the work that lay ahead, but such was Susan's concern for my wellbeing – the fear that her health issues may in some way compromise my (our) research – that she offered to let me go and work with someone else. Thankfully I had sense enough to refuse – finding a competent supervisor, knowledgeable mentor and kindred spirit in the same person was a miracle, so I was damned if I was going to let her off the hook that easily.

She told me that the prognosis wasn't great, but that she was determined to beat it. She then laid out her plan – the plan she had devised – for managing her recovery. I wish I had written it all down, because these years later the fragments I recall are brilliant and relevant on so many levels.

She wasn't going to be a passenger, and God help any doctor who dared try and treat her as one. This was her body, her cancer and her fight. There were going to be a whole lot of people involved in aiding her recovery, but no one was going to heal her alone – they were partners striving for a common goal and that was that.

As an active participant in such an important undertaking, Susan recognised that she needed to be well-informed in order to play her part. She had to be able to make good decisions about courses of action she would undertake, and also be able to participate in discussions about things she really knew nothing about. So she put her finely-honed research skills into action, reading everything she could get her hands on and seeking out people who had the knowledge and experience she so desperately craved. She met and became friends with doctors, nurses, other cancer patients and their carers, and found a wealth of information about treatments, drugs, side-effects, doctors, nurses, hospitals – you name it – from people who really knew what they were talking about.

We discussed her health frequently. In the same way as an architect would speak of a construction project, Susan would tell me about her road to recovery – she knew what she was doing, had the support of a network of friends and carers, and was going to make herself well again. At first I was somewhat sceptical. I mean – if you've got cancer you just listen to the doctor, take your medication, and you'll either get better or you won't, right? Little did I realise it at the time, Susan was a pioneer of a completely different approach to health and wellness, something we now refer to as Health 2.0.

Just like Web 2.0 heralded a new era of mass-participation and a shift away from the days of passively accepting information created by experts, Health 2.0 shows us a world in which we're no longer waiting to fall ill and then hoping somebody will be able to make us better. We can and should take responsibility – individually and collectively – for keeping ourselves healthy, achieving our health goals, and dealing with any setbacks that arise on the way. We have choices and resources at our disposal now that our grandparents would have considered science fiction – all we have to do is choose to use them. In many ways, that simple act of choosing can mean the difference between good and poor health.

I'd love to be able to tell you all about Susan's miracle recovery, but sadly not all great stories have happy endings. Three years after being diagnosed she passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family. I attended her funeral expecting a sombre occasion, and was surprised to instead join a vibrant celebration of a life lived with strength, bravery, compassion and joy. Susan chose to live happy and healthy, right up until her last breath.

What about you? Do you choose to take the bull by the horns, or are you just going to stand there waiting to be trampled?

Please visit our Blue Dot Health website.

Article by Stu Parker.  Stu Parker is Blue Dot Health's digital marketing dude and chief contributor to the Health 2.0 blog. He has a Master's degree in Systems Dynamics and 8 years' consulting experience to leading names in the automotive, airline, technology, FMCG and health sectors. He is a prolific blogger and shameless technology evangelist, whose limited offline hours are shared by two beautiful Labradors, an annoying cat and a very understanding fiancée.