In Sickness

For this episode of In Sickness. Men and the Culture of Caregiving we took the podcast on the road. At the invitation of Pfizer, Inc. we recorded our podcast at the company’s New York City headquarters as part of their annual “Patients in Focus” week. Host, Paul Kidwell, had the pleasure of speaking with Pfizer’s VP, Global Patient Advocacy, Emma Andrews and Jason Resendez who is the CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving. Amo...

Stories of individuals living with and enduring the challenges of any disease never fail to move and inspire others. This is especially true when the illness becomes fatal, and life is shortened. Maria Middleton was an exceptional young girl when she was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer and only 15 when she passed away. I use the word exceptional because during her final months when she was experiencing the brunt of her illness, ...

It takes courage and compassion to be a police officer. The same is true for a caregiver. Just ask Clifton Huffmaster whose day job finds him working as a detective in the Special Victims Unit with the Concord Police Department in Concord, California. This takes courage. He’s also a graduate from the Theological Union at Berkeley College from which he holds a PhD. Maybe that’s where compassion comes from. When Clifton’s wife Lauren...

For all caregivers, their lives are divided into two parts. Before diagnosis and After Diagnosis. This is particularly true for those who must manage one of the more insidious illnesses, Alzheimer’s Disease, where the changes taking place before the diagnosis and once the disease has become fully onset, are significant for the patient and care partner alike. Marty Schreiber is the former Governor of Wisconsin, author of, My Two Ela...

For Josh Argall, life couldn’t get much better. He was a 25-year-old first-time father of, Devin, who quickly became the center of Josh’s universe. Josh’s world was rocked when he and Devin’s mother noticed that their three-year-old son was somewhat slow in reaching some of the physical milestones like crawling and walking that are typically associated with children his age. In the months following, Josh’s world changed dramaticall...

When you have a child diagnosed with any illness, you can only hope your efforts don’t require a lifetime commitment. The hope is for a short-lived illness that comes with a diagnosis followed by a cure. For former MassBio President, Bob Coughlin, he has lived through the in utero cystic fibrosis diagnosis of his son, Bobby, the physical challenges of caring for a young CF patient, and the constant involvement as a CF patient advoc...

At 17, Mason Smith was your typical teenager and living a life filled with school, sports, lots of hanging out with friends and more growing up. That all came to an abrupt stop when his mother was diagnosed with a fatal and ultra-rare neurodegenerative disease, adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP). This young man who was just sprouting his wings took a harsh turn into adulthood as part of ...

If you’re looking for a fair fight, don’t pick one with cancer. Odds are that cancer rarely loses and its adversary won’t have a puncher’s chance of bringing on defeat. Anyone confronted with caring for someone with a cancer diagnosis typically has no shortage of personal will, but not necessarily successful in finding a way to beat cancer. Just ask Miguel Barron who supported his wife in her two-year ordeal living with metastatic ...

John Crowley’s life was on the upswing after completing his MBA studies at Harvard Business School and beginning a new position as an investment banker. Without any warning his seemingly good fortune changed dramatically with the diagnosis of two of his children who contracted a rare, inherited disorder for which there were few treatments. His new path directed him towards creating a start-up biotech company that would research thi...

Coming Soon: In Sickness. Men and the Culture of Caregiving is a monthly podcast that will focus on stories of male caregivers who have supported individuals with various diseases and medical conditions across all therapeutic areas including select cancers, ALS, Alzheimer’s, and numerous rare diseases. The podcast will highlight the growing population of male caregivers who are caring for their spouse, life partners, children famil...