Health Humanities Event News: Thursday, September 19th | “Visual Conversations between the Diagnosed and their Caregiver”
Thursday, September 19th at 2:30pm EDT / 11:30a PDT with Anna & Jordan Rathkopf and Dr. Georgia Anderson
(Still from Public Relations video about the family unit and illness produced by The Royal Family.)
People are talking a lot about Princess Kate Middleton and her family lately. Illness does not honor class or caste. Her experience navigating illness under the age of 50 while balancing public expectations has been both carefully curated and highly controversial. Even with limitless staff, abundant financial resources and no need to generate household income, the burden of concealment weighs heavily. Empathic patients and caregivers managing any illness understand. They can relate.
With cancer under the age of 50 becoming one of the most discussed healthcare topics this year, Anna and Jordan Rathkopf are releasing a new book about their own personal experience on October 1st. HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son, is a unique approach to storytelling around illness told as a visual conversation between Anna’s perspective as the diagnosed, and Jordan’s perspective as the a caregiving partner. The book and the related exhibition(s) are curated from the photos and journals they created over the past seven years along with their son.
After receiving a diagnosis, how do people navigate loss of employment; loss of employer-sponsored commercial health insurance; loss of fertility; distress on a marriage; and the new questions from children about survivorship? What is the aftermath truly like in a household after medical treatment subsides and patients and families are expected to “get back to normal?”
(During Anna Rathkopf’s chemotherapy medical treatment for cancer, on the days she had energy, she would take her son Jesse out for walks. This picture captures Jesse holding his melting ice cream like a treasure. Moments like this helped Anna step out of her illness and rediscover the joy of being a mom, something her treatment had interrupted. She often felt guilt for not being the mother she wanted to be, or the one Jesse needed during that time. Photo by Anna Rathkopf from HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son.)
Join the Conversation >
Thursday, September 19th at 2:30pm EDT/11:30a PDT for “Visual Conversations between the Diagnosed and their Caregiver” with Anna & Jordan Rathkopf and Dr. Georgia Anderson. Georgia Anderson, PhD, MSW, LISW-S, is an associate professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati and a national expert in caregiving and sexual health for cancer survivors.
The Rathkopfs hope their project sparks conversations around the emotional, financial and physical challenges of cancer (illness), caregiving, and survivorship while pointing to the need for more support and resources for navigating illness—especially in the U.S.
This event is presented by the Cancer Survivorship Provider Network.
*RSVP is required. It is free to join the Cancer Survivorship Provider Network. Learn more and RSVP here.
*If you are unable to attend the event midday, the presentation will be available in the Meeting Library one week after the session.