On being a copycat

In elementary school or when among siblings later in life, being a copycat is not a good thing and can earn you a lot of derision. But sometimes being a copycat is a good thing. When diagnosed with some nasty ailment, all we think we hear from the doctor is bad news - you will need this surgery, course of treatment, will have these side effects and should be fine in the end. We can't get past the words 'should be' and focus on the seemingly dismal survival rates. What we really want and need to hear are the good stories of the people who are still around to talk about it.

In this time of the Internet and patient education, one resource not to over look are the stories from others who are or have gone through what you have. There is nothing more positive than hearing that someone else made it through treatment and is still around many years later.

There are lots of people online in blogs, message boards, articles, and websites who are telling their stories and many more who are reading them. I don't think the majority of them started with any more intention than to keep friends and family informed which is what I did. Some of them go on to turn them into books or non profit or for profit organizations - that is not something I ever plan on doing because that would require organization and work and I've got plenty of other work thank you.

A big emotional positive when diagnosed with anything bad is to find someone with a good outcome to copy and be a copycat. 
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