Dr. Susan Love Speaks About Her Own Experience With Cancer: When A Doctor Becomes a Patient

“The only difference between a researcher and a patient is a diagnosis.  We’re all patients.”
— Dr. Susan Love

Today I’m including a newly released video called “When a Doctor Becomes a Patient” which features Dr. Susan Love.  If you’ve had breast cancer or are close to someone who has, you will most likely have heard of Dr. Love.  She’s been both a breast cancer surgeon and on the leading edge of breast cancer research for her entire career.  Her book, “Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book” is the quintessential guide to breast cancer and is considered to be the bible of breast cancer by many.  She has spent her career advocating for women with breast cancer as the President of the Susan Love Research Foundation, an organization which focuses on breast cancer prevention and research into eradicating the disease.  

Dr. Love was diagnosed with leukemia in the spring of 2012.  Her quote above was from a speaking engagement at a medical conference; a few months after the conference she was going in for a routine checkup when her doctor told her that her routine blood work showed that she had leukemia.

In the video below, she discussed how this recent experience as a Leukemia patient gave her a new found appreciation for quality of life concerns for breast cancer (and any type of cancer) patients. In true Dr. Love fashion, she is now using her own experience with leukemia to advocate even more strongly for her patients.   

I’ve had my own personal experience with Dr. Love, you can read how she generously helped me during my own breast cancer diagnosis in 2010.  Her generosity of spirit and passion for helping women with breast cancer is nothing short of inspiring.  This video shares her frank and candid newfound understanding of  the patient/doctor relationship and how even as a doctor, she found herself trying to be “a good patient” and not sharing all of her concerns with her doctor.

And after listening, take a minute to register into Dr. Love’s Army of Women and do your bit in helping find a cure for breast cancer by visiting the Army of Women site.