- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward T. 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 Web sites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the Web site) 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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June 26, 2009
Blog: Averting a meltdown
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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If the stress in your life is more than you can cope with, get help right away.
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If we are attentive and if we listen, we can sometimes learn from others' experiences. A middle-aged professional from a small Midwestern town shared with me the following story.
She was a woman in her early 60s who had undergone major surgery, chemotherapy and radiation for a serious malignant condition. After her treatment, her energy and vitality were half of what they had been. She was restricted to working 20 hours a week, and even then some of that time was not particularly productive because of fatigue. As the weeks passed, however, she felt her energy return to almost normal. But then she made a serious miscalculation.
Rather than nurturing the healing process, she jumped on the corporate treadmill of morning and evening meetings, board activities, speaking commitments and social engagements. You can easily predict what happened. She had, in her words, a "total meltdown" and required medical support and rest to recover.
It is so very easy for us to become overcommitted and over engaged, until we use up our reserves and there is nothing left. So, how do we avoid this minefield? Some of the things that I have learned:
- Know your priorities. Focus on what must be done rather than what would be nice to do.
- Give yourself a break. Get enough sleep and get some time away from the daily demands.
- Learn to say no. Have the confidence and, yes, the courage to say, "No thank you, I will not be able to do this."
What else would you add to this list?
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