- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward Creagan, M.D.
"The magic of the electronic village is transforming health information. The mouse and keyboard have extended the stethoscope to the 500 million people now online." — Dr. Edward Creagan
The power of the medium inspires Dr. Edward Creagan as he searches for ways to share Mayo Clinic's vast resources with the general public.
Dr. Creagan, a Newark, N.J., native, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hospice medicine and palliative care. He has been with Mayo Clinic since 1973 and in 1999 was president of the staff of Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Creagan, a professor of medical oncology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, was honored in 1995 with the John and Roma Rouse Professor of Humanism in Medicine Award and in 1992 with the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, Mayo's highest recognition. He has been recognized with the American Cancer Society Professorship of Clinical Oncology.
He describes his areas of special interest as "wellness as a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-financial model" and fitness, mind-body connection, aging and burnout.
Dr. Creagan has been an associate medical editor with Mayo Clinic's health information websites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the website) provide reliable, easy-to-understand health and wellness information so that each of us can have productive, meaningful lives," he says.
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Stress blog
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Sept. 12, 2012
Finding peace in the midst of uncertainty
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
A recurrent theme in the blog comments is loss. Some people are dealing with the loss of loved ones or the loss of relationships. Others deal with the loss of a dream. What do these have in common?
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Philosophers, theologians and scientists have struggled with these issues for a thousand years. As palliative care and oncology specialists, my colleagues and I witness the loss of health and the loss of vitality every day. One reader commented that things never get back to "normal" after a loss, and that we are in a state of constant change and recalibration.
As we reflect on our lives, it's clear that we do have resilience. We can bounce back from adversity. If we couldn't, we wouldn't be here.
So we must accept that life is not fair. Bad things do happen to good people. But we still need to take care of ourselves and recognize that we are not alone. There are others to hold our hands and walk with us as we stumble through the darkest days.
I'm reminded of a scene from a movie. It took place in a grimy pub in Liverpool, England, in the early part of the 1800s. In one corner of the pub were several dozen seamen who were morose, grumbling at the thought of another voyage. On the other side of the pub were the captain and his officers who were having a wonderful evening together, seemingly indifferent to the threats and the dangers that lay ahead. So what was the difference?
The difference is simply that the officers accepted the element of uncertainly. They recognized that although they had no control over the weather or the wind, they could control their attitude.
So it is with all of us. When faced with adversity, we can whine and wallow in our misfortune. Or we can be grateful for what we have and try to find peace and serenity even in the face of uncertainty.
Follow me on Twitter at @EdwardCreagan. Join the discussion at #Stress.
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