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As many of you know, a hard part of being in the world of cancer fighters is that sometimes we lose one.

I’m sad to report the passing on AprilĀ 23 of Judy Feder, who shared her powerful e-patient story here just a year ago. Please re-read how, through her e-patient community (BCMets), she learned of a blood test that gained her eligibility for treatment with Herceptin, with magnificent results. First diagnosed eight years earlier, she ended her post with this status:

My enzyme and tumor marker levels have declined dramatically, as has my swollen and painful liver. Iā€™m almost off of the pain meds and about delirious with joy. When my onc did a physical exam two weeks ago, she burst into tears. Not only am I alive and healing because of the wisdom of my fellow patients on BCmets, but Iā€™ve opened up a new avenue for other women with BC mets in my doctorā€™s practice (and, with e-patient power, well beyond, I hope).

A month later several of us got to meet her in Boston at the “Health 2.0 Meets Ix” conference. She was the healthiest looking, most vibrant person you could imagine.

Before she ever found us she had an idea that she called Patient Wisdom: She wrote, “I still remember the moment when Patient Wisdom literally popped into my head. It was almost two years ago, and the marriage of something Iā€™d been thinking about for a while ā€” online patient communities, and something of which Iā€™d only recently become aware ā€” Web 2.0 and the collective smarts of crowds.” How’s that for an e-patient on the hoof?

This March she wrote “Sadly, the old body is crappinā€™ out on me, but the flame burns brightly.” In April I asked how she was doing. She chattily replied that they were on a long weekend in Maine, and asked “Don’t I owe you something about some research?” A participatory e-patient to the end, it seems.

Her New York Times obituary is still available here on Obituary.com. I will miss her terribly; she was such an inspiration.

 

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